Go zero lubrication in the industry with lubrication-free plastics

By OEM Update Editorial May 7, 2024 7:24 pm

At the 2024 Hannover Messe, igus showcased solutions that eliminated the need for lubricants, along with the integral role played by AI. This innovation aims to address the annual $990 billion global expenditure on lubrication.

Lubricants are a part of everyday industrial life as a cup of coffee every morning. Every year, 240 billion dollars is spent on lubricants across the globe. In addition, studies have shown significantly higher costs for maintenance personnel. However, inadequate lubrication still leads to machine downtime, resulting in losses worth $750 billion annually. Igus now combines 60 years of motion plastics expertise with hundreds of thousands of test data and millions of applications in an AI that immediately takes users to lubrication-free movements in their systems. Everything has been successfully tried and tested, from excavators and agricultural tractors to water turbines.

A study by RWTH Aachen University demonstrates the explosive nature of the topic. At the Hannover Messe, the plastics specialist presented 247 new products, showing that everybody can achieve “zero lubrication”. People discussing the most important future innovation rarely mention a lubrication-free world. However, a study by RWTH Aachen University is the first to prove the positive impact that lubrication-free plastics have on companies’ profitability and sustainability. An example of a world-renowned beer bottler is that using lubrication-free polymer bearings in all conveyor belts at its 160 sites saved €6 million a year otherwise spent on lubricant and staff. The positive environmental impact is also considerable. Simultaneously, an annual CO2 equivalent totalling 28,814 kg. can be saved.

At Hannover Messe 2024, igus showcased hundreds of proven applications that operate without lubrication for as long as the machines are designed—and often even longer. New products are expanding the industry’s possibilities, whether for linear guides, rollers, gears, or gearboxes.

A clean revolution with artificial intelligence 

“igus, make my excavator lubrication-free!”: The prototype’s new version of the igusGO app, which was presented for the first time last year, makes this possible. By voice, photo, or text, users are immediately shown the proven solutions for various points in their excavator and 600 other applications. If they cannot find their application, they can request it via AI chat in the app and are guaranteed to receive an answer. The AI is based on data from millions of applications of igus products over the past decades. It also provides functions for determining the application’s service life in their scenario – based on hundreds of thousands of test values from the in-house laboratory, which

 igus describes as the largest of its kind in the world. Tobias Vogel, CEO of Plain Bearings and Linear Technology at igus, says, “Today’s role of AI is overwhelming. Suddenly, we can turn all the ‘zero lubrication’ proof of the last decades into a safe and simple tool for everyone in the industry.”

 Another brand-new feature is a calculation of saved lubricant in the igusGo app, which indicates when users select a plain bearing or gear, for example.

 The “Next Best Catalogue Part” AI service is also new. Suppose customers upload the CAD file of a plain bearing they have designed to be installed in a bicycle without lubrication. In that case, AI automatically displays the catalogue part closest to the special part. By using the catalogue part, the customer saves costs and also benefits from fast delivery times. For even greater functional reliability, igus is now extending its 4-year guarantee for chain flex cables to all other motion plastics products with an online service life calculation.

247 innovations for zero lubrication

 In total, igus launched 247 new products in time for Hannover Messe 2024 – many among them in line with the principle “Go Zero Lubrication”. The igus offers a further three-product series of high-load plain bearings for construction machinery, cranes, and agricultural machinery, all of which have been tested and proven in practice. One of them has a granulated base on igus plastics from production waste. The new PTFE- and PFAS-free materials for plain and linear bearings and a new slewing ring bearing made of 50 percent wood and 50 percent high-performance plastic are also important components for real

 sustainability. New, separable tubal flange mounted bearings reduce the time it takes to replace lubricated ball bearings by up to 80 per cent, for example, in conveyor belts with bearings close to the motor. New 3D printing materials and liners combine freedom from lubrication with explosion protection (“ESD capability”).

In the same way, a new series of linear systems in hygienic design merges food suitability with “zero lubrication”. In terms of intelligent condition monitoring, an abrasion sensor for spherical bearings now complements the existing smart plastic solutions for bearing technology. The final innovative example is a newly evolved gearbox. It works with electric drives with an 18:1 transmission in one stage, requires less installation space, costs 70 percent less than metallic versions, and requires no lubricating greases or oils. “We are looking forward to the dialogue with users at the Hannover Messe, where they can experience all of this life and try it out for themselves,” says Tobias Vogel. “We are certain that we can already avoid at least 10 percent of global lubrication costs. And the ‘Zero Lubrication’ journey continues – we still have a lot of development work to do.”