Mr Ottersbach, you have presented tribologically optimized Iglidur plain bearings in the P4.1 chain system as a highlight. This is the first time you have combined your core expertise in plain bearings with your core expertise in cable carriers. Why only now?
The demands on energy chains are becoming ever greater. The distances are getting longer, speeds higher, additional loads greater, environmental conditions more demanding and more extreme. Everything is demanded of the chains within a very short space of time. If you look at the major ports around the world, for example, where our products are used in numerous applications on ship-to-shore cranes, in wind and weather, ice and snow and heat, the enormous mileage required of the chains becomes clear. Container unloading is all about time, and the trolley speeds are no longer one or two meters per second, but rather four meters per second - we are currently receiving inquiries for projects with speeds of five meters per second. This makes it clear that we need to take the chain to the next level in terms of materials and performance data.

How should the user imagine the technological improvement of the P4.1 in concrete terms?
For example, we have changed the geometry of the chain, added a few tricks, but the highlight is that we have used plastic plain bearings from our other division as bearings on each chain link. There is already a concrete application of the P4.1 in the Netherlands on a crane under the harshest environmental conditions, specifically when unloading coal. Measurements and tests show that we are at least doubling the service life here.

How do I have to imagine these tests in order to achieve the result of double the service life?
The application has already been running live for two years at the Dutch customer with the first optimized P4. e-chains, which are in use here. We are constantly removing parts, examining them, measuring them and comparing them with the available reference data. Experience from the field and concrete results from the test laboratory verify the result: thanks to the tribo bearing, the chain lasts at least twice as long.

Maintenance-free plain bearings and wear sensors ensure a significantly longer service life for the P4.1. in crane and gantry systems compared to conventional roller chains. © Igus

Did you develop a new plain bearing for the P4.1, or were you able to make use of your Iglidur plain bearing kit?
We used a standard plain bearing material - the shape of the bearing is a special shape - especially for the P4.1 (with anti-rotation protection, lubrication- and maintenance-free plain bearing).

Who at Igus actually came up with the idea of using know-how from the Slide Bearings division for the Energy Chains division?
We have always had demanding applications under extreme loads, with oils and high abrasive influences in the past. The impetus to install a suitable plain bearing in the chain to increase the service life came from the development department. We have now made a real leap forward with the doubled service life, probably even more.

Optionally, you can integrate a wear sensor for predictive maintenance. What specific parameters does this sensor measure?
The wear is recorded, so the sensor measures the distance, the resulting play that we want to avoid. But other sensors can also be adapted, for example the prevailing tensile or thrust force.

What options does the user have to adapt the monitoring system to their needs?
There is a modular system from which users can choose which parameters they want to record using sensors.

Which customers would you like to see using the tribo-enhanced energy chain?
There are certainly applications with extreme material stresses, i.e. outdoor applications, at extreme temperatures, with long travel distances, with high push and pull forces, with high additional loads, high speeds and with fast cycle times.

Your energy chain portfolio is extensive. You must already have something new up your sleeve - will you tell us?
We are constantly working on many exciting innovations, including the new products that we will be presenting at the next trade fairs. For example, we can already reveal something about a design study: a type of cable system for long travel distances, but without the conventional guide trough and without any thrust forces. With this new type of levitation system, only tensile forces act; it is not really a chain at all. The special feature is that only tensile forces are absorbed even during a pushing movement, which we achieve by means of a deflection. We call the system Pull-e-Chain, it is already running and we want to get it ready for series production in order to take a really big step forward in terms of speed and wear. Our aim is not only to bring out extensions to the size range or improved functionalities for existing series, but also products that are not yet available, but which we believe will enable us to serve new niches.

The industry remains tense.
Mr. Ottersbach, thank you very much for the interview.