Minimal wear and tear in mechanical engineering
27.04.2022
In the stretch blow moulding process to manufacture PET bottles, each machine can produce up to 90,000 bottles per hour. The most important components facilitating this exceptional technical feat are made in Switzerland. Wetzikon, to be precise, where Eugen Seitz AG has been manufacturing high-performance valves since 1958.
„Our valves are complex systems in which the interplay of seal, surface and lubrication ("tribosystem") determines the valve's life span", explains Dr Pasieka, an expert in sealant technology and tribology at Seitz. Ematal has proven to be the ideal surface for the target market of PET-bottle production. In combination with the initial lubrication, the friction between the aluminium components and seals is minimised. It is important to ensure here that the lubricant adheres well to the Ematal coating and is not stripped off, so as to guarantee constant sliding properties.
At the Seitz test laboratory, the "tribosystems" of newly developed valves are tested in up to 60 million operational cycles with a frequency of 2.5 Hz. Over a period of 14 months, appropriate valves are additionally pressured 150 times a minute. Only through perfect design and manufacturing, coupled with a suitable choice of materials and seals, can this extreme stress be withstood. "We have found we are able to use Ematal both as a hard-wearing functional coating and also as a defining design element", says Dr Pasieka.
As such, more than 1.5 million valve components have been Ematal-coated by BWB-Betschart AG in Schlieren over the last 10 years. All resulting valves were tested on a specially developed test bench before leaving the Eugen Seitz AG factory. The Ematal coating withstood both the internal tests and the stresses to which it was exposed at the customer's end. "We are not aware of any surface defects causing customer complaints", says a satisfied Mr Girelli, COO of Seitz.
Do you also have special requirements for the surfaces of your aluminium components? Then we'll be glad to help you find a suitable coating.
Rubbi Rothenfluh
Operations Manager Schlieren
+41 58 861 90 82
rubbi.rothenfluh@bwb-group.com