It's the inside that matters
Sandvik PowerCarbide® grades represent our most advanced materials technology and can optimize any drilling application – to significantly enhance both drilling performance and cost effectiveness.
PowerCarbide® – a family of advanced carbide grades
Building on Sandvik’s world-leading R&D and expertise, the Sandvik PowerCarbide® range is the most significant carbide innovation in the rock drilling industry for decades. Our PowerCarbide® grades – DP55, DP65, GC81, GC85, SH69, SH70, SH75 and XT49 – offer unique combinations of strength, hardness, toughness and wear resistance to optimize any drilling application.
Our unique capabilities behind PowerCarbide®
We continuously work to develop new cemented carbide grades to offer our customers improved products for more productive and efficient operations. Our innovative PowerCarbide® grades enable our buttons to retain their shape as long as possible. This ensures longer grinding intervals, fewer bit changes and improved safety.
Our ability to develop the most advanced material compositions for our cemented carbide buttons is based on our extensive knowledge and experience, and our world-class R&D center in Sweden. Our own tungsten mine also offers unique capabilities in terms of product development and quality control – to provide us with unique competitive advantages in the rock drilling industry.
Reduced environmental footprint
To minimize the environmental footprint of our own operations and our customers, we encourage customers to return used carbide tools to us for recycling. In this way, our unique global carbide recycling system contributes toward a more sustainable future.
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Powercarbide grades brochure (PDF)Rock Tools different insert types
The Sandvik PowerCarbide® grades
Dual Property grades
DP55 has wear resistance similar to our standard grades, but offers greater toughness. It is especially suited to large ballistic inserts, accommodating the higher loads the insert may be exposed to due to a longer protrusion. DP65 has similar toughness to our standard grades, but a considerably higher wear resistance. This grade works best when drilling in very abrasive rock with large spherical inserts.
Gradient Carbide grades
GC81 is developed for hard and abrasive ground conditions. Our innovative manufacturing process makes it possible to produce buttons that are wear-resistant on the outside, while the center provides a toughness that further extends service life and grinding intervals.
Self Hardening grades
SH69 (Down-The-Hole), SH70 (Top Hammer) and SH75 (Rotary) are grades with homogeneous properties throughout the material. It is “self-hardening” as it has the ability to become both more wear resistant and tougher as drilling progresses.
The hardness of the insert surface continuously increases during drilling, which means that the hard top never wears off. The self-hardening effect is greatest in hard and competent ground.
XT70 and XT90 (cutting grades)
The XT70 is a grade perfect for cutting in hard and abrasive rock, and offers the best high temperature wear resistance of all hard metal grades for longest pick wear life.
The XT90 works at its best in hard to very hard but less abrasive minerals. It is also a snakeskin stopper. The toughest cutting grade.
XT49
XT49 takes the standard straight grade XT48 to the next level. Our manufacturing process enables the reduction of early breakages of the insert. As this grade is more resilient to breakage, it enables more protrusion and a sharper geometry.
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PowerCarbide® - SH69
PowerCarbide® SH69 is a major innovation in Down-The-Hole drilling, capable of increasing your service life with up to 45%. The PowerCarbide® family includes Sandvik’s most powerful carbide grades and the SH69 is no exception. The truth is, the harder you make it work, the better it performs.
PowerCarbide® - GC81 and SH70
Our latest PowerCarbide® addition is the most significant carbide innovation in the rock drilling industry for decades. The new grades, the GC81 (Gradient Carbide) and SH70 (Self-Hardening), are based on improved knowledge about the wear of the drill bit in different types of rock.
PowerCarbide® - SH75
PowerCarbide® SH75 from Sandvik offers superior wear resistance in hard or abrasive rock compared with conventional carbide grades, extending bit life and reducing the need for bit changes.