October 2019

TECHNOLOGY n IT INFRASTRUCTURE SOFTWARE & SERVICES www.rittal.co.uk Catalogue Out Now NEW EW t l gue Out DANISHDEVELOPERS have come up with a pair of electrically conductive sealing materials that, they say, can provide reliable electrical connections between moving parts in components such as bearings and springs.  The materials could be used in electric motors, for example, to avoid the corrosion caused by electric currents jumping gaps between components. This phenomenon can cause sparks or stray currents, resulting in hardware pitting and carbonisation of lubricants. Electrically conductive seals or bearings could prevent such issues by creating conductive paths between components, thus earthing the motor system. The new materials have been developed at Trelleborg Sealing Solutions’ plant in Helsingør, Denmark. The company claims that they are the only PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) based electrically conductive materials for use in spring and elastomer-energised seals. They have been engineered specifically for use in dynamic applications, seals and bearings. Although conductive plastics already exist, they have limitations, as Soeren Roepstorff, Trelleborg’s development manager, explains.“Conductive elastomers are available,”he says,“but these are primarily only for static applications, while the conductive, injection-mouldable plastic materials that exist have low flexibility and are less suited for sealing purposes and for installation in closed grooves.” Konrad Saur, Trelleborg’s vice-president of innovation and technology, calls the new materials “unique”, adding that they have been“specifically developed for use in spring and elastomer- energised seals, as well as bearings, in response to a strong market demand to support electrification of drives, eMobility, sensing and IoT solutions”. PTFE is naturally an good insulator but, by adding conductive carbon fillers, composites can be produced that can conduct electricity. This capability was discovered by accident. The newmaterials – Turcon MC1 (medium-to- high conductivity) and MC2 (high-conductivity) – were developed specifically to conduct electricity in dynamic sealing applications and their sealing performance has been optimised. Tests have shown that they exhibit high conductivity even with low contact pressures and when running in oil. In addition to their potential use in motors, the new materials could transmit signals to or from sensors, enabling manufacturers to develop more complex systems incorporating aspects of artificial intelligence without adding electrical circuitry.   www.tss.trelleborg.com ‘Unique’ conductive sealing materials could help to tackle motor corrosion Trelleborg’s conductive sealingmaterials can provide reliable electrical connections betweenmoving parts EUROPEAN RESEARCHERS have embarked on a €20m, three-year project to build a flexible platform for creating digital twins for industrial plants. Funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, the IoTwins project will experiment with new technologies for digitising industrial processes and products, with 12 testbeds that will create“digital twins”– virtual copies of industrial processes that can be used to test plants and infrastructure tools in advance. By collecting large amounts of data, digital twins can simulate scenarios to define corrective actions, optimise efficiency, and diagnose problems before they become serious. The project is being coordinated by the Italian power transmission manufacturer Bonfiglioli Riduttori. The other 23 participants, from eight countries, include Siemens, Thales and the Fraunhofer Institute in Munich. The aim is to build a reference architecture for developing and deploying distributed and edge- enabled digital twins of production plants and processes.  The platformwill evaluate, virtually, the advantages and disadvantages of industrial processes that will be then applied to production. The tools that emerge will be suitable for use by SME manufacturers. €20m EU project will create digital twin platforms