The hybrid category
The beauty of hybrid category materials is that they can be tweaked and optimized to utilize the strengths of both the tough and the flexible material strategies.
Surface hardness can be increased with minimal trade-off in terms of increased brittleness, since backing material will absorb most of the impact energy. And with a harder, more rigid surface, the risk of tears and erosion – a major concern for flexible materials – are significantly reduced.
Photo: HX900 plate
This makes these hybrid materials an excellent choice for more complex applications that combine several challenging wear protection aspects, such as high throughput, high material velocity and high levels of impact energy, perhaps in combination with sticky materials.
We’ll go deeper into these different material strategies in the next section of the Knowledge Hub – Common wear-related challenges.