iglidur® plain bearing in ship doors

What was needed:
Slide bearings for yacht door hinges

Requirements:
Seawater-resistant, corrosion-free, suitable for high loads, good sliding properties

Industry:
Shipbuilding

Success for the customer:
Quickly deliverable and cost-effective plain bearing solution that fulfils all requirements.

Problem:
Lethe was looking for plain bearings that could withstand the environmental conditions, e.g. contact with seawater and high loads, as well as fulfil the requirements for high-quality design.

Solution:
iglidur® G plain bearings can be used in the prevailing ambient conditions and blend in with the high-quality design of Lethe ship doors, as they do not require any additional lubricant and the door hinges are therefore always clean.

Ship doors, such as those manufactured by Lethe Exterior Doors GmbH, must be extremely well sealed and withstand high water pressure even in the interior. Fire protection is just as important. Here, the doors take on the task of separating fire protection segments from one another.

The design also plays a very important role. Vice President Axel Kruse: "We never manufacture products 'off the peg'. Our doors are always customised to the appearance of the yacht." The rules and regulations of shipbuilding must be observed. The motto here is: "The bigger the yachts, the stricter the regulations."
 
Lethe not only develops and manufactures the doors, including frames, but also installs them on site and takes care of the adjustment. The package also includes maintenance hatches etc. and electrically operated sliding doors, with large and correspondingly heavy door panels and yet smooth-running guidance. Another area of responsibility is sliding windbreakers, which are also electrically operated.

Seawater resistance is a prerequisite for the hinges, as is the perfect appearance of the high-quality visible parts made of hand-polished stainless steel and the smooth operation of the door, even when it weighs a lot.

Axel Kruse: "Anyone who has a 70 or 100 metre yacht built expects this." In addition to the freedom from tension, it is above all the plain bearings in the door bolts that enable smooth operation. They exert a very high load on a very small area of a few square millimetres, which nevertheless has to be easy to move in the rotary axis.

Lethe uses flangeless igus® plain bearings made from the high-performance polymer iglidur® G in the door hinges. There are several good reasons for this. Axel Kruse: "This material is seawater-resistant, corrosion-free, very resilient and offers very good sliding properties. Lubrication-free operation is very important - not least because of its appearance. And with their black colour, the bearings blend in well with the design of the hinge."