Energy chains long enough to reach around the earth almost five times
pwirth | 21. February 2022
A total operating distance of 197,120 km: No problem for igus E4.Q-series energy chains – provided that the conditions are right. And the conditions can be determined in a matter of seconds – with an online service life calculator.
A production plant in Hamburg, nine o’clock in the morning: Out of nowhere, a machine suddenly breaks down because the energy supply has a defect. Fill weight load and acceleration were too high over time. The production line is down. And that is expensive. Because the plant normally produces 600 units of a product per hour at a profit of 25 euros each, 60 minutes of downtime means 15,000 euros of lost revenue. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. The term for this is true downtime costs (TDC).
Repair costs and ongoing labour costs are also very costly. And let’s not forget that inventories shrink. So after shutdown, it is necessary to compensate for the lost productivity in order to be able to meet customer requirements as usual and retain customer confidence. Many plants then work overtime, causing stress and driving up costs even further. Ouch!
Don’t choose an energy chain that “should work”.
Why am I saying all this? Because this is the only way to show how important it is to have the perfect energy chain for machines and systems from the outset. The failure in the above example was unnecessary, for instance. When the managers were choosing the energy chain, they should simply have taken more time to consider the exact parameters of the production environment – such as fill weight, acceleration, and temperature. Due to time constraints, they chose a product that “should work” instead of doing the work and finding the ideal model. This does not mean that the product was bad. It may have proven itself thousands of times over in other applications. But in this particular case, it didn’t work and caused the equipment to fail because its service life is too short.
More reliability: Online tool calculates expected e-chain service life in seconds
Admittedly, carrying out a comprehensive compatibility check for each of thousands of components in machines and systems for a reliable service life estimate is time-consuming. But the good news is that for energy chains, it takes seconds thanks to our online service life calculator. An intuitive interface enables users to specify application parameters with just a few clicks. An example: An e-chain’s travel is 4,000mm, its speed 1m/s, its acceleration 2m/s2, and its fill weight 3kg/m. The temperature is around 40°C, the environment is lightly contaminated by dirt, and there are no severe shocks. If the user selects an E4Q-series energy chain, the system calculates that the e-chain will withstand 24,640,000 double strokes under these specific conditions – a total travel distance of 197,120km. Almost five times around the earth!
Calculation based on data from the igus test laboratory
The second piece of good news is that the user can rely on the predicted service life. This is because the service life calculator works with data from the igus test laboratory. Experts have been carrying out endurance tests for many years in the 3,800 square metre laboratory – including in climatic chambers at down to -40°C, in cleanrooms that meet IPA standards, and in outdoor facilities with travel distances of up to 200 metres. The findings are so reliable that users can request a warranty certificate with an above-average term (36 months) in the online lifetime calculator. Amazing what technology can do these days, isn’t it? But of course it does not replace people. And so we come to the last bit of good news: For any question you may have about energy chains, experienced experts from igus are here to help! By phone or e-mail or on-site!
https://www.igus.eu/info/energy-chains-service-life-calculator