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Live front loader test
Climatic influence as in practice
Located in the 29,600 square foot igus® test laboratory, the front loader test rig continuously operates under real-world conditions.
The goal of the test rig is to assess various plain bearing and shaft combinations for agricultural and construction machines.
Each test is conducted to directly compare the shaft and bearing combinations. iglide® materials are tested on one side, and metallic bearings are tested on the other. This allows the experts to compare existing customer solutions (steel bushings, metal-rolled bearings with Teflon coating, bronze bearings, etc.) with maintenance-free iglide® bearings in an operating application.
The test results are not only relevant for front loaders, but can also be applied to other applications that handle heavy loads. Generally, similar parameters can be found in all applications driven by a hydraulic cylinder.
Upon request, igus® tests plain bearings in desired applications for customers. More test rigs are available to match customer applications as close as possible.
iglide® Q290
Self-lubricating, handles high loads, compatible with several shafts.
Product overview of iglide®
Self-lubricating and maintenance-free iglide® plain bearings.
**Basic data of the test rig:
**
Tank
Volume flow rate
Operating pressure
Motor
Control system
300 l
66 l/min
220 bar max.
11 kW
PLC controlled with 10" touch display
Various modes possible
Drives
Vibration operation
Max. load
Vmax
Single trip
Simple
500 kg (freely selectable)
4 cycl. /min at full pivot
Single trip combined
Multiple
Synchronous drive
Previous test results
Front loader test rig
Wear pivoting; single drive mode;
Bearing point P1:
Pivot angle: 55°;Load: 3,191 psi
Test results:
The low wear rate is due to the combination of the plain bearing material iglide® Z with a hard-chromed CF53 shaft. The iglide® Q290 material offers a cost-effective, 100 percent corrosion-free solution in combination with a 304 stainless steel shaft.
The test with the lubricated steel bearing was ended early, as the system began to fail.
Front loader test rig
Wear pivoting; single drive mode;
Bearing point P2:
Pivot angle: 48°; Load: 4,279 psi
Test results:
The iglide® J material shows consistently successful results, and has the lowest permissible surface pressure of all the materials tested. Evidently, seeming more “tough” (metallic bearings) does not correlate to wear resistance. The test “bearing point P1” using a lubricated steel bearing was also unsuccessful.
The images of iglide® Z on hard-chromed shafts shows no evidence of damage or wear.
Front loader test rig
Wear pivoting; single drive mode;
Bearing point P3:
Pivot angle: 7°;Load: 4,279 psi
Test results:
Although the sliding path is low due to the 7 degree pivot angle, the lubricated steel bushings failed and the test discontinued early. This could have been caused by the need for extra lubrication at smaller pivot angles. igus® will examine this in further tests.
