Front loader test rig

Weather influence as in practice
The front loader test rig is part of the 3,800 m2 igus ® test laboratory. The aim of this test rig is to test various plain bearing and shaft combinations for the agricultural and construction machinery industry under realistic conditions. Different combinations can be tested in direct comparison in each test. This makes it possible to test different iglidur® materials on one side and metallic bearings on the other.
The test rig thus makes it possible to compare existing customer solutions (e.g. steel bushings, metallic rolled bearings with Teflon coating, bronze bearings, etc.) in the real application with maintenance-free iglidur® bearings.

The results are not only meaningful with regard to front loaders, but can also be transferred to other applications in the heavy-duty sector. Similar parameters can generally be found in all applications that are driven by a hydraulic cylinder.
We would be happy to carry out a test for your plain bearing application. Depending on the required parameters, further test rigs are of course available to test the application as realistically as possible.

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Key data of the test rig

Tank	Volume flow	Working pressure	Motor	Control systems
300l	66l/min.	Max. 220 bar	11kW	PLC controlled with 10" touch display

Various modes possible

Travels	Vibrating operation	Maximum Load	Vmax
Single trip	Easy	500kg (variable)	4 cycles/min. at full pivot
Single trip combined	Multiple
Synchronous travel

Test results in detail

iglidur Z plain bearing on galvanised shaft

Plain bearing on galvanised shaft
In comparison: metal composite bearing, iglidur® Q2 and iglidur® Z plain bearing

Test result: Not all iglidur® materials are suitable for use on galvanised surfaces.

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Plain bearing on hard chrome-plated shaft CF5
In comparison: metallic rolled bearing, iglidur® Z and iglidur® Q plain bearing

Test result: The combination of the bearing material iglidur® Z with a hard chrome-plated shaft CF53 shows the lowest wear rate.

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High loads on stainless steel?
In comparison: metal composite bearing and iglidur® J plain bearing

Test result: Even with high loads, the wear on iglidur® J plain bearings is far lower than on metal composite bearings.

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iglidur Z plain bearing on nitrocarburated St52 shaft

Bearing on nitrocarburised shaft St52
In the test: metal rolled bearing, iglidur® Q, iglidur® G and iglidur® Z plain bearing

Test result: iglidur® Z delivered by far the best result.

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Previous test results

We show you the current test results in detail here

The front loader test rig is part of the igus® test laboratory. Here, various plain bearing and shaft combinations are tested on the front loader for the agricultural and construction machinery sector under realistic conditions.

Bearing point P1: Robustness of iglidur on galvanised shaft

How robust is a galvanised surface?

Wear if pivoting, single trip mode
Test result: Not all iglidur® materials are suitable for use on galvanised surfaces.

Test report on bearing point P1

iglidur Z with hard-chromed CF5 shaft

Wear if pivoting, single trip mode
Test result: The combination of the bearing material iglidur® Z with a hard chrome-plated shaft CF53 exhibits the lowest wear rate here.

Test report storage location P2