Quickly printed replacement for wearing parts during maintenance

Easy, fast and cost-effective manufacture of custom-made solutions with iglidur® Tribo materials for 3D printing

If an important bearing in bottling equipment or in a bread-baking machine fails, a replacement costs the plant operator a great deal of of time and money. Thanks to igus®, the customer can make the wearing part himself easily and cost-effectively using Tribo-Filaments and a 3D printer or he can submit an order online asking us to print it for him via our 3D printing service, allowing him to then fit the new part within just a few days. Due to the savings in respect of tool costs, 3D printing is worthwhile even in the case of prototypes or small series of components.
In the event of an unexpected failure of a custom-made bearing used in a belt conveyor, production comes to a standstill immediately. For the manufacturer, a shutdown of the machine takes up a lot of important time for maintenance and repair and also entails high costs as a result. 3D printing of custom-made wearing parts can therefore be a fast solution for the problem or can be a cost-effective alternative for use in the case of prototypes or small series of components. igus is the only supplier in the market to offer an all-round 3D printing service for custom-made wearing parts. By sending us a 3D scan or a technical drawing, the user can submit an order online asking us to print the desired replacement part or can use our wear-resistant iglidur® Tribo-Filaments to make it with his own 3D printer. In this way, wearing parts are not only replaced quickly but often have a longer service life, which can be determined online with the igus service life calculator. For example, a customer in the packaging industry can save up to 270,000 euros by printing the gripper for his application himself instead of getting someone to mill a new gripper made of metal as was the case previously.

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3D printing service provided by igus® enables fast delivery

In the event that a custom-made component in a production machine fails due to wear, igus® offers an all-round 3D printing service: from the 3D scan to 3D printing of the tribologically optimised customer-made part within 48 hours. To order a new part, the customer simply has to click on the ordering page of the 3D Printing Service, where he can upload his 3D printing data in the form of a STEP file. The customer can then enter the desired quantity and choose the right wear-resistant 3D printing material from igus®, take a look at the prices and request a formal quotation for his product or directly order it online. The machine operator thus receives his wearing part, printed and delivered within an extremely short time and without any complications. If the customer does not have any 3D data for the part he wants, he can send the defective part to igus® where it will be scanned and then printed so that he receives his wear-resistant replacement part within just a few days.

Large selection of materials for the FMD method

Offering a total of six different iglidur® Tribo-Filaments, igus® enables the customer to easily print the custom-made part for his application himself on his own premises with his own 3D printer or to have it printed on his behalf by way of the printing service provided by igus®. The desired wearing part can thus be printed by the customer in just a few hours using his own 3D printer, after which it can be immediately fitted in the machine. The Tribo-Filaments from igus® are subjected to innumerable stress tests in the company's own 2,750 square metre test laboratory and are up to 50 times more wear-resistant than the standard ABS materials that are otherwise used in 3D printing. Series of tests in the igus® test laboratory have also shown that the wear resistance of printed Tribo parts is comparable to that of iglidur® injection-moulded parts or milled iglidur® components made of bar stock.
 
Among the materials, all-rounders such as iglidur® i180 are to be found as real specialists. For machines used in the food industry, the Tribo-Filament iglidur® i150 is suitable, being the easiest to process filament for 3D printing and also being compliant with EUR directive 10/2011. If the customer wants to know how durable his wearing part is so that he can plan the maintenance periods for his machines, he can use the igus® online service life calculator, which shows the service life of his custom-made part on the basis of test data from the igus® test laboratory.

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SLS printing as a cost-effective alternative

If a large, complex customer-made component has to be made, the customer can take advantage of the igus® 3D printing service and use the Tribo material iglidur® I3 for the SLS method of the motion plastics specialist. Its abrasion resistance is up to 3 times better than conventional laser sintering materials and it not only very precise and durable but also extremely cost-effective. The iglidur® I6 now offered by igus® as well is a laser sintering material that is especially suitable for the additive manufacture of gear wheels. The new material is characterised by its excellent wear resistance, which is at least six times greater in the case of gear wheels than that of standard materials. The customer receives his desired tribologically optimised custom-made part in just 2 to 5 days after receipt of the order.

Manufacture of small series of components by means of a 3D-printed tool

If a customer wishes to build up a stock of lubrication-free wearing parts that he has to replace at regular intervals, the best way to do so is small-series production by igus® by means of a 3D-printed injection moulding tool. Whereas the manufacture of injection moulding tools made of steel is very expensive and is only worthwhile if large quantities of components are then made, the maintenance engineer can arrange for igus® to manufacture small series of up to 500 pieces not only quickly but also extremely cost-effectively by means of a 3D-printed tool. To this end, the customer can choose from a range of 50 tried-and-tested iglidur® materials for applications involving either high loads or high temperatures.

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