newsonline24

Schaeffler DuraSense ensures that lubrication is delivered only as and when required, reducing lubricant consumption by up to 30 percent. This offers major benefits, particularly in machines that use cooling lubricants, as it significantly reduces downstream oil separation costs.

Factory floor applications show that DuraSense can also reliably detect installation faults and carriage installation damage even before the plant is commissioned. This means DuraSense can spare manufacturers costly repairs and delays when commissioning machines in their clients’ factories. Plans for additional functionality include the ability to use DuraSense data outputs to detect various types of damage to linear guideways, such as pitting and damage caused by foreign objects.

User interface to raw data now available
In addition to the above core functions, Schaeffler is now providing an interface that its customers can use to access raw data from the DuraSense system’s vibration sensors. This functionality comes in response to customer demand, with many manufacturers keen to harness the DuraSense system’s potential as a machine condition monitoring tool. One such customer is Andritz Kaiser, a leading manufacturer of automatic stamping presses. Its head of product development, Paolo Matassoni, gave the following assessment: “The sensors are perfectly positioned for data-driven analysis of machine condition because they are located right at the interface between static and moving parts. We use DuraSense in our latest-model machine, the Top Line 2000. All we have to do now is convert the captured data into human-readable language.”

Schaeffler DuraSense as retrofit kit
Schaeffler is now also offering a DuraSense retrofit kit for the countless legacy plants and machines currently in use in the manufacturing industry. When it comes time to swap out carriages in their systems, customers will receive replacements with integrated sensors. However, carriages that are low-use and therefore do not need replacement can be upgraded by installing sensors using the new retrofit kit. This kit is also the ideal option for users wanting to try out the DuraSense system and learn how it works.