Raex and Optim Steel

Developed by Finnish steel expert Ruukki, hard and ultra-high-strength materials Raex and Optim are designed to bring trailer design to a new level.

Raex is an extremely hard and wear-resistant steel, whilst Optim is a very high-strength structural steel. Together, they enable trailer builders to create a lightweight steel structure without sacrificing hardness or strength – a crucial detail in the tipper and tanker game.

“The hardness and strength of special steels is often offset by the fact that high-strength steel which is less than 5mm thick cannot be rolled as a wide plate,” according to Shane Mathias, General Manager of XPress Steel, who represents the Ruukki brand in Australia. “The extreme limit for strip width is about 2.2m, but many products require a wider sheet than this.”

Ruukki uses laser welding to join thin and ultra-high-strength steel sheets. “Naturally, this calls for unique expertise,” says Ryan Sanders, Country Manager for Ruukki in Australia. “Ruukki is the only steel supplier in the world to be able to deliver ultra-high-strength steel sheets 4.5 metres wide and 18 metres long.“

A laser-welded sheet joint is consistently strong and in practice corresponds to mechanical properties of mild steel. “A laser-welded seam is about a millimetre wide and extremely consistent in quality. When coated, a laser seam is barely visible, which gives product appearance entirely new dimensions,” says Tero Rasmus, Product Manager at Ruukki.

“Thanks to the durability of Ruukki material, the useful life of the tipper body remains unchanged and is in some cases even prolonged – although it is lighter than a common construction.”

In addition to traditional sheets, Ruukki can also supply ultra-high-strength sheets already formed and cut into components to speed up a product’s assembly time.

For more information, please visit www.xpresssteel.com.au.

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