Customer case

Strenx® offers a concrete solution for lighter, more durable concrete boom pumps

January 29, 2021 6 min read

Case details

Product Strenx® 700 product group

Country Turkey

Company Betonstar

Industry Lifting

Brand program My Inner Strenx^®

When Turkish concrete pump manufacturer Betonstar wanted to introduce design and technology innovations in their concrete boom pumps, they turned to Strenx® high-strength structural steel from SSAB. What did they get? Lighter-weight boom structures with greater strength, durability and high safety.

Case details

Product Strenx® 700 product group

Country Turkey

Company Betonstar

Industry Lifting

Brand program My Inner Strenx^®

Long before the concrete boom pump company Betonstar was established in 2008, its founders were familiar with Strenx^® performance steel. Like manufacturers in many other sectors, they wanted to make their vehicles stronger yet lighter with high-strength steel grades that outperform mild steel and grades below 700 MPa (101 ksi) in tough environments. High yield-strength steels like Strenx^® steel are designed to work under heavy load stresses without causing equipment failure.

And when they looked at the two primary considerations for ensuring customer satisfaction – lighter weight and high safety – they knew the way forward was to continue using different Strenx^® steel grades in their products.

Safety first – safe products, reliable brands

Erol Yıldız, factory manager at Betonstar, is involved in the day-to-day production and is no stranger to Strenx^® steel and its key benefits.

“In our products, we have to provide the lowest possible weight combined with the highest possible safety,” he says. “Workers need to be safe when operating these products. We can only achieve this with SSAB’s steel products. We use Strenx^® in all steel structures of our concrete boom pumps.”

"In our products, we have to provide the lowest possible weight combined with the highest possible safety."

Erol Yıldız, factory manager at Betonstar

Concrete boom pumps weigh less yet can take the stress

Their R&D design team started producing steel booms using Strenx^® 700 steel. The company then moved on to Strenx^® 900 steel, which guarantees a minimum yield strength of up to 900 MPa depending on thickness, for its longer products that needed to reach higher. Higher grades of Strenx^® steel enable designers and manufacturers to use thinner dimensions at the same load levels or have an increased load level if the same dimensions are used. Betonstar uses thicknesses ranging between 3 and 50 millimeters (0.1 to 2.0 inches) in its concrete boom pumps.

“Our products are used on all sorts of construction sites, from a small building in a tiny village to the highest towers of the world,” Yıldız says. “Our concrete boom pumps are mounted on the customer’s trucks. The fact that the pumps weigh less provides many advantages, like less fuel consumption, the possibility of purchasing trucks with a shorter wheelbase, and pouring concrete using less fuel – and, of course, less fuel is consumed when you drive a lighter truck.”

Reaching farther with high-strength steel

The company recently started using Strenx^® 960 and Strenx^® 1100. Here’s why:

“We’re always looking to come up with new and longer boom designs and to originate new lightweight solutions,” says Selim Alver, R&D manager at Betonstar. “Even one kilo (2.2 pounds) less in our product means that the customer carries less weight. And this leads to less fuel consumption.”

Betonstar specializes in truck-mounted concrete pumps, but it also makes stationary pumps and spider-type concrete distributors. Their truck-mounted concrete pumps can reach between 20 and 58 meters (66–190 feet).

“Boom pumps that reach over 50 meters (164 feet) are in a special class,” Alver says. “To manufacture those, we require special engineering and materials, and that’s why we need Strenx steel.”

Game-changing design innovations

If a current design works well with lower-strength steel, switching to Strenx^® steel can make it even better. But by taking a more innovative approach like Betonstar did, the potential for weight savings grows even more.

“We have great design flexibility thanks to Strenx,” Alver says. “We can change our designs whatever way we want to. Thanks to this, for our latest 52-meter pump model we could switch from 5 foldable booms to 6 foldable booms. We got a lighter concrete pump, and we decreased the weight from 41 tons all the way to 39 tons. This is crucial for the end user, because we were able to mount the pump on a 12-meter vehicle that does not require a special permit to travel on the roads.”

SSAB steel used in Betonstar’s concrete pumps
Strenx^® 700 and Strenx^® 900 in all steel structures of the products Starting to use Strenx^® 960 and Strenx^® 1100 for the stronger and lighter boom structures to reach even higher.

Guaranteed properties for optimal workshop performance

Another reason Betonstar appreciates Strenx^® steel is for its workshop properties.

“We love using this material because it gives us high-quality results in production when cutting, welding and bending,” factory manager Yıldız says.

Strenx^® steel has extremely consistent properties, ensuring precision and efficiency in the workshop. It is delivered with a set of guarantees for tight thickness tolerances, tight flatness tolerances and bending guarantees – a safeguard for trouble-free production with every batch of material. Also, the steel can generally be processed by the same kind of machinery and technology used for conventional steel.

Customer benefits

End users get products with a longer service life, low maintenance and high resale value
Thinner dimensions of stronger steel helped to slash the weight of truck-mounted concrete pumps and other models
More flexible, innovative design options – company can produce longer booms with greater reach or reduced vehicle length with increased strength
Guaranteed properties and close tolerances for consistent results and superior workshop performance
Priority technical and marketing support as a My Inner Strenx^® program member

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My Inner Strenx®-certified concrete boom pumps help business boom

Since 2016, Betonstar has been a qualified member of the My Inner Strenx^® program. As such, their concrete boom pumps that have been certified by SSAB display a decal with the My Inner Strenx^® logo and a unique, traceable ID. This sign assures its users that the product is made to the highest standards using Strenx^® steel and is optimized to be strong and light for demanding applications.

The program brings value both to Betonstar and to its own customers. Işıl Köker, purchasing manager at Betonstar, has this to say:
“With the traceability IDs, we can trace all the components of our concrete pumps, which manufacturer they came from, who welded them, and who operated them. The My Inner Strenx decal on a used product makes it attractive and gives it a higher resale value, because it shows that you’re buying a reliable product that was manufactured using a reliable production process.”

For Betonstar, this benefit is crucial in the newer markets the company is entering. “We notice that end users recognize the quality of SSAB products, so the label on our concrete pumps actually helps to improve our growth and reputation on the market,” Köker says.

Betonstar’s R&D manager appreciates the close technical support they get during the design process.

“For instance, with SSAB’s help we can plan ahead to form the sheets during production,” he says. “With SSAB's technical support, we can achieve the advantages of these sheets with fewer tests and less waste. SSAB can even do the calculations for us when welding the sheets! And SSAB has supported us in every area from day one.”

Strenx® High-performance steel

Strenx^® performance steel can make your products stronger, lighter, safer, more competitive and moresustainable. We call it performance steel, because it adds performance beyond ordinary structural steel.

Find out more