Introduction
Wear from abrasion and impact is one of the biggest challenges faced by industries dealing with material transport and processing. Belts, silos, chutes, feeders, and mills are constantly exposed to particles that reduce their service life, increase operating costs, and require frequent maintenance.
To address this scenario, Vulcaflex, a Brazilian company with a global footprint and more than 35 years of experience in the sector, developed Vulcalox, a high-performance rubber and ceramic lining that combines resistance, durability, and ease of application.
What is Vulcalox?
Vulcalox consists of rubber plates with inserts containing up to 95% alumina, available in hexagonal or square shapes. This composition provides exceptional resistance to wear and impact, making the product ideal for severe applications.
The specially developed polymeric base provides excellent elongation and resilience, while the ceramic tiles offer high hardness — characteristics that together result in a highly reliable solution for various industrial sectors.
Technical Advantages
Vulcalox stands out by combining cutting-edge technology with ease of installation. Among its main advantages:
- Application versatility: can be installed via cold vulcanization (with a self-vulcanizing CR layer), hot vulcanization (with Vulcaflex Bonding Rubber and Fast-Drying Multi-Purpose Adhesive), or with a bolt system on steel plates.
- Unmatched resistance: offers a service life far superior to wear-resistant steel linings available on the market.
- Weight reduction: compared to steel, it provides the same durability with less thickness, making handling and maintenance easier.
- Lower noise level: thanks to its rubber base, it generates less operational noise compared to metal solutions.
- High-purity alumina: with up to 95% Al₂O₃, it delivers hardness close to that of diamond on the Mohs scale, ensuring high resistance to heat and wear.
Key Benefits of Use
Adopting Vulcalox plates generates practical, direct benefits for operations:
- Greater operational efficiency, with reduced unplanned downtime.
- Lower maintenance costs, since plate replacement occurs less frequently compared to other types of linings.
- Superior equipment protection, extending service life and reducing the need for replacements.
- Flexibility of use, adapting to different equipment and industrial needs, such as chutes, mills, cyclones, silos, and feeders.
- Ergonomic gains in the maintenance and installation of linings.
Success Stories
The performance of Vulcalox plates has already been proven in challenging applications in various countries:
- Coke transport (Vulcalox SWQ): service life proved to be almost 3 times longer compared to wear-resistant steel linings (Hardox).
- Concrete plant (Vulcalox SW): in stone transport, the product showed durability 4 times greater than steel.
- Sand and gravel transport (Vulcalox SW): the mixing ducts had a significant extension of service life, with fewer plate replacements in the impact area.
These examples show how Vulcalox has established itself as a high-performance alternative for high-abrasion and high-impact environments, delivering superior results in practice.
Conclusion
The Vulcalox plate is more than a lining: it is a complete solution that combines technological innovation, durability, and operational efficiency.
By investing in this product, companies not only reduce maintenance costs but also ensure greater reliability and performance for their operations, along with ergonomic benefits for the maintenance team.
With Vulcalox, Vulcaflex reaffirms its technical authority in the market and its commitment to offering world-class solutions for the challenges of modern industry.
And you — have you already considered the positive impact a high-performance lining could bring to your operation?
