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• What was needed: Plain bearings made of iglidur G, thrust washers made of iglidur G
• Requirements: A bearing needed to be found that is resistant to high speeds off-road as well as rain, snow, dust, and dirt and that requires little maintenance.
• Industry: Scale models
• Success for the customer: Among other things, the iglidur bearings are resistant to dirt, shock-absorbant, maintenance-free, lubrication-free and lightweight. The friction-optimised material was successfully tested on prototypes, for example in shock absorption, even under high loads in endurance tests.

The XRV-05 is a tracked vehicle that can also drive off-road in mud, rain and snow thanks to its robust construction. The bearings on the crawler tracks and shock absorbers were realised with iglidur plastic bearings.

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► Sample box: iglidur plain bearings
► Sample: iglidur G plain bearings

Problem

The XRV-05 is a remote-controlled scale model powered by two brushless motors. The special features of the prototype: the RC vehicle is a tracked vehicle that was built for particularly adverse environmental conditions. This is because the 1:5 scale model is not only used outdoors, it is also intended to operate smoothly at high speed in rough terrain.
When designing the XRV-05, attention was paid to a robust construction, whereby the choice of materials also played a role, since the off-road vehicle is designed to continue operating reliably even in dust, dirt, mud, rain and even snow. The installed bearings in particular are a limiting factor here. For example, the bushings in the shock absorbers of the remote-controlled car are quickly damaged under adverse conditions and therefore have to be replaced or cleaned frequently. Although metal bushings would present a good solution for wear-resistance, they rust extremely quickly in wind and weather. Another disadvantage of the material: electrolytic corrosion quickly occurs if two different metals are used that come into contact with moisture.
The aim was to find an alternative to metal bearings that reduces maintenance work and operates with as little friction as possible, even under heavy loads.

Solution

For the XRV-05, sliding inserts made of brass were originally planned for tensioning the chains. Shortly before the first prototype was produced, however, the decision was made to use low-friction plastic. The same approach was also used for all other bearings. This was the case, for example, with the choice of track bushes, for which bearings made of the high-performance polymer iglidur were used. The second prototype also had shock absorbers for greater force absorption, which were placed inside the vehicle for greater durability. The swing axles also required a bearing for this purpose. iglidur bearing products were also used instead of metal bearings for the upper and lower shock absorber mounting points. The advantage of the iglidur material: It is durable, resistant to dirt, free from corrosion, has shock-absorbing properties, and is also particularly light. The friction-optimised material can therefore also be used under high loads in continuous operation.
For the shock absorber, for example, two bushings made of iglidur G were used at the top and bottom (Art. No. GFM-0608-04) and washers also made of the material iglidur G (GTM-0612-015). There are also two shaft seals between the guide elements. This combination allows smooth linear movements, watertight shock absorbers and high wear resistance.