Plastic ball bearing defeats metal bearings in salt water test

Details: Released: 25.07.2018; Last updated: 18.04.2023; Hits: 6743

Igus operates the world's largest test laboratory for plastics in moving applications in Cologne. Over 12.000 tribological tests alone are carried out here every year. This also includes tests that examine the use of a wide variety of materials in a wide variety of environments in real tests. During the salt water test on a "Xiros" Flanschkugellager and a metal bearing has convinced the Xiros bearing through the use of lubrication and maintenance-free tribo-plastics.

The engineers at the test laboratory filled a container with sea salt water and heated it to 80 ° C. Then two bearings were placed in it for 120 hours: a classic 2-hole flange bearing made of metal and a Xiros flange bearing made of "Xirodur B180" - a high-performance plastic that Motion Plastics has optimized over the years with regard to wear and media resistance. Both bearings were not completely covered in the test, but had contact with air in order to trigger the corrosion effect.

Metal bearings corrode after a few hours

After just a few hours, the metal warehouse began to corrode. At the end of the test, significant traces of rust were visible on all bearing components. On the other hand, the 120 h plastic bearing was unaffected by aggressive saltwater and high temperatures. No color change, no trace of rust. A clear advantage, especially for clean room applications and applications in food and medical technology, where rust poses a hygiene risk.

Special flange bearing enables 360 degree scanner rotation

The Xiros ball bearings usually consist of four components: inner and outer rings, cage made of plastic and balls made of stainless steel or glass. Unlike metal bearings, the wear-resistant polymer bearings enable a particularly smooth and hygienic dry run without a single drop of lubricating oil and are maintenance-free. Their long service life can be easily calculated online. In addition, the plastic bearings are electrically insulating, temperature-resistant from -40 ° to + 80 ° C, non-magnetic and 60% lighter and up to 40% cheaper than comparable metal bearings.

Housing bearing replacement saves significant TCO

They are suitable for absorbing medium loads and have been reliably used by users around the world for many years - for example in conveyor belts, labeling, conveying and packaging machines as well as in filling machines.