Targeting heavy-duty applications in the construction machinery or agricultural industry, the motion plastics specialist - igus has introduced a new tribo-material iglidur TX2, which works without lubrication.
Typically even a small excavator still needs about 50 litres of lubricant every year. However, the wound plain bearing bushings can withstand even strong forces and increase wear resistance by a factor of 3.5 in load ranges with more than 100 MPa surface pressure.
The construction or mining industries are exposed to challenging environmental conditions every day. Cold, heat, dust and dirt have a substantial effect on the bearing points. The company offers an alternative to frequently used metallic solutions with its plain bearing technology. Another material combination for wound bushings complements the range of injection-moulded bearings in the heavy-duty range.
Technology for higher load and lower wear
The tribo plain bearings made of high-strength filament fabric are used where very high loads occur. The strong filament in its specially interwoven design ensures maximum resistance and enables a maximum permissible compressive strength of 400 MPa.
The newly developed material was extensively tested on the indoor and outdoor test rigs at the company's test laboratory. Pivot tests on hard-chrome shafts showed that iglidur TX2 is around 3.5 times more wear-resistant than the standard heavy-duty material TX1.
The company said that, like all iglidur plain bearings, iglidur TX2 is self-lubricating and operates dry. As a result, it prevents dirt from adhering to the bearing points. Besides, it also reduces maintenance and repair costs and machine failures due to insufficient lubrication. As the material is also highly resistant to temperature, chemicals and moisture, plain bearings made of iglidur TX2 can be used in many other areas. Due to the freedom from corrosion and seawater resistance, they can also be used, for example, in moving applications in the maritime sector, the company said.
According to igus, diameters of up to 2,800 millimetres are feasible. In any case, the application of iglidur TX2 considers increased sustainability requirements, both underwater and onshore.
Stefan Loockmann-Rittich, Head, iglidur Plain Bearing Technology Business Unit, igus, said, 'Since the iglidur TX2 bearings do not need lubrication, the customer benefits threefold: not only saving costs for oil or grease and maintenance time but also no lubricant is released into the environment.'