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BAUMA show news from BETEK:
Stabilising the clever way

With the innovative XR range of tungsten carbide tools, Betek is setting new standards at BAUMA for the durability and cost-efficiency of consumable tools. Developed together with partners Wirtgen, the XR range is designed specifically for soil stabilisation and cold recycling applications.

Using bonding agents, such as lime or cement, soil stabilisers transform difficult substrata into ground on which roads can be built or other construction work done.
In cold recycling the existing road surface gets ripped up, crushed, remixed and immediately relaid – all in one operation.
The demands placed by both types of machine on the tungsten carbide tools fitted on them are extremely formidable and special. The best available solution at present for both applications is generally bits that consist of a steel body with tungsten carbide tips soldered on to it and a relatively thin wear disc.

Now for the first time ever Betek has developed a range of bits specifically designed for these two applications. The range, named XR, sets itself apart from traditional products through a new tool design, a different way of working and a new combination of materials.
New and innovative stages in the manufacturing process enabled the tools’ material properties of “extreme ductile quality while at the same time being extremely hard” to be matched perfectly to the two applications. A new material alloy for optimising bit performance is being used here for the first time.
The structure of the tool components per se is also new: the milling head gets a new shape matched to the application and a holder-protection component that rotates when the tool is in use has also been added. Wear discs are dispensed with completely.

In stabilising and cold recycling applications it is in most cases not just the tungsten carbide cutting edge of the tools used that wears away, but inevitably the steel body as well. The result is holder systems in which the tools no longer sit properly in place and thus work much less efficiently. Major holder wear can even lead to tools falling out, making the holder unusable and necessitating complete bit / holder system replacement. The XR range of bits has therefore been provided with special protective features: due to the solid form of the cone, which is fitted onto the bit pin such that it can rotate, both the tungsten carbide cutting edge and the steel body wear down evenly. The conical shape acts as additional protection for the holder.
The greater mass of the cone, compared to a wear disc, assists the rotation. Both the solid cone on the bit pin and the complete tool in the holder rotate. The tools thus work much more effectively than standard tools. The XR tools therefore wear down much more evenly both in diameter and along their length and last a great deal longer without breaking. As with the XR range the cone is made of significantly more wear-resistant material than the bit head of a standard bit, the holder stays protected longer even in the event of a complete loss of the tungsten carbide cutting edge as a result, for example, of hitting boulders.

The entire handling by the machine operator, e.g. monitoring, maintenance and swapping out tools, is made appreciably easier. Downtime on construction sites is reduced and projects can be finished a great deal faster.
Unscheduled replacement of bit holders on the construction site is time-consuming and costly. Using XR bits such interruptions can be significantly reduced. Interim checking of the bits can also be cut right back, as the tool’s shape and material combination mean the holder is ideally protected. This thus produces benefits both for the milling machine driver, who has to change tools less frequently, and for the milling company, as expensive machine downtime is substantially reduced. Through the longer service life of the tools and holders operating costs are cut and valuable raw materials are spared.

So that machine operators are able to fit the XR bits with greater ease and less exertion, the sleeve, which fixes the bit in place in the holder, gets pre-stressed by the wear cone. It is only once the bit is completely sitting in the holder hole that the sleeve opens and takes over its holding function.

For Betek it is a matter of course to provide tools for use in all areas: in order to meet the differing demands on construction sites all over the world, the company has developed a complete 4-model range of bits that satisfies the full breadth of requirements, ranging from loose and soft soils all the way to the hardest, stony substrata.

Detailed literature is available from: info@betek.de