New slewing ring bearing is made of wood and plastic

(See igus at MachineBuilding.Live, 2 October 2024, on stand 56)

By using 50 percent wood and 50 percent high-performance plastics, customers receive a cost-effective and lubrication-free slewing ring bearing. It strikes a good balance between strength, durability and eco-friendliness with a proven low CO2 footprint.

"As a plastics expert, we are now also using wood;" explains Rob Dumayne, director of Drytech bearings at igus UK. "Last year, for the first time, we presented wooden shafts for our drylin linear bearings. This year, we are integrating the wood directly into our products."

In doing so, igus can rely on its tried-and-tested injection moulding. The WPC material is a mixture of wood fibres and iglidur high-performance plastics. This contains solid lubricants that make the slewing ring bearing smooth-running, lubrication-free and maintenance-free. The wood content gives the product a natural look and both the housing and the component are made of the WPC material. The only metal components are four screws which connect the two parts together.

Cost-effective, low CO2 footprint and tested

Specially developed for the common PRT 02 size, the slewing ring bearing from igus represents an alternative to the cost-effective PRT made of solid plastic at the same price, without compromising on performance. It allows for easy adjustments, including in furniture technology, while offering a robust design that meets the needs of various applications.

A special feature of this new product is its extremely low CO2 footprint of just 0.0577 kg. By way of comparison, PRT-02-30-ECO, which consists of 97 percent regranulated material, has a CO2 equivalent of 0.819868 kg.

To ensure the reliability and performance of the new slewing ring bearing, it was subjected to extensive tests under real conditions in the igus in-house 4,000 square metre laboratory. These tests confirm the high quality and reliability of the product under various operating conditions.