How strong are vibrations in the e-chains?
Energy supply systems should have lowvibration, so that the precision of machinery and equipment are not affected negatively. However, commercially available models show considerable differences in the vibration behaviour. How strong are the vibrations of energy chains of different manufacturers? The Laboratory for Machine Tools and Industrial Engineering (WZL) of the RWTH Aachen wanted to find out.
The researchers tested five chains on a test rig: the two energy chains E6 from igus and three chains from other suppliers. During the test, a direct drive moved a carriage over the travel of 800mm – with a feed force of 14,000N, accelerations between 10 and 20m/s2 and speeds between 25 and 200m/min. Sensors mounted on the moving end and the support tray measured the vibrations with a sampling frequency of 6,000Hz. The RMS value (root mean square) is the measure of the vibration energy at the measuring point.
The researchers’ conclusion: The energy chain system E6 is currently the lowest vibration solution, at low and high speeds alike. The RMS value is on average 28 percent lower than competing systems. The different acceleration rates had no significant influence on the vibration values of the energy chains.
