E-Z-Braze

The E-Z-Braze Difference

E-Z Braze (or Firmex Orange) and Mangabraze (or Firmex Blue) are engineered alloys, not generic AR plates with fancy names. The high levels of Nickel (1.3%) and Manganese (1.8%) allow special mill processing which increases depth of hardness.

E-Z Braze is made in controlled electric furnaces to minimize impurities, which detract from a material’s toughness. The molten metal is vacuum-degassed to draw off impurities (e.g. sulfides). Any microscopic impurities that remain are then refined to neutralize their effects upon the steel. This process is known as “inclusion shape control,” and is the same type of process used in refining impurities in the most critical applications (e.g. airplane landing gear). This process also increases the ability of the plate to resists weld cracks.

High levels of Manganese are added to allow the formation of extremely hard alloy carbides which resist wear similar to the way carbide tool bits resist wear.

High levels of Nickel are added to promote deeper, more uniform hardening. Not having such high levels of Nickel, commercial AR plate products are only able to develop irregular surface levels of hardness. Note that in recent mill evaluations heavy sections of E-Z Braze actually displayed increased hardness toward the mid-area of thickness.

Manganese and Nickel together, present in the levels established for E-Z Braze, allow the employment of a very high-temperature tempering process, which follows heat treatment. This process removes mill rolling stresses and has the unique ability to add toughness to the steel. In steels that do not have the rich chemistry of E-Z Braze, a lower temperature tempering process must be used to remove the thermal stress caused by heat treatment. Lower temperature in this process results in decreased toughness in the steel.

In severe service this combination of Manganese and Nickel also promotes additional “cold-working” hardness of up to 17% of the as-delivered hardness. This additional hardening allows the plate to “self-polish,” providing the added benefit of minimizing drag when moving bulk materials.

There are many AR plate products that are economically produced to what is commonly referred to as the “Chrome-Manganese-Boron” formula. This formula does not produce a steel in the class of E-Z Braze. Close inspection of their composition reveals that they are all very similar. The hardening ability of moderate amounts of Boron to achieve an erratic, not uniform, low-depth hardness that lacks toughness and is unpredictable in service.