Abrasion Resistant Track Shoe Grouser

A track shoe for a track-type machine, the track shoe comprising:

• a base plate;
• a grouser projecting away from said base plate, said grouser being integral with said base plate, said grouser including a distal edge surface facing away from said base plate, said grouser further including a first lateral face extending in angled relation away from said distal edge surface and a second lateral face extending in angled relation away from said distal edge surface;
• and
• a capping surface structure of substantially horseshoe shaped cross-sectional profile including a first covering segment disposed in covering relation to at least a portion of said first lateral face adjacent to said distal edge surface, a second covering segment disposed in covering relation to at least a portion of said second lateral face adjacent to said distal edge surface, and a third covering segment disposed at least partially across said distal edge surface, said capping surface structure being formed from a composite of tungsten carbide particles embedded within a steel matrix at a packing factor of not less than about 0.6 as measured by area occupancy ratio of the tungsten carbide particles within a defined measurement zone within the capping surface structure, the defined measurement zone extending from a surface of the grouser to a position about 3 mm above the surface of the grouser, wherein said tungsten carbide particles are characterized by a size distribution in the range of about 14 to about 120 mesh prior to introduction to the steel matrix and not less than about 3 percent by weight of said tungsten carbide particles are characterized by an effective diameter small enough to pass through a 60 mesh screen prior to introduction to the steel matrix and not less than about 40 percent by weight of said tungsten carbide particles are characterized by a grain size diameter large enough to be blocked by a 32 mesh screen prior to introduction to the steel matrix.