insight.

02|2005

The magazine for Simrit customers

Simmerring PTS
A broad range
of applications
Low temperature PU
Cool seals

Simrit seals in the

Three Gorges dam
A colossal infrastructure project
 Editorial

Dear Customers,

Dr. Jan Gupta,

Several months have passed since the Simrit® Europa

Hannover Trade Fair; nevertheless, I would

like to begin this edition by thanking you:
Thank you for the enormous amount of
interest in our products and for all of the The cover story provides me with an oppor-
numerous, fine discussions at the fair. And, tunity to point out the huge amount of impor-
above all else, thank you for the wealth of tance that Simrit ascribes to the Asian
suggestions that you made to us - and con- market. Already in the early 1990’s we,
tinue to make on a daily basis. You can be together with our Japanese partner NOK,
certain that each of these suggestions is were present in China with several plants.
taken very seriously by our product mana- Since mid-2005 we have our own site,
Editorial information gers and developers, and checked for their staffed with with Simrit specialists, located
implementability. just outside of Shanghai. Just as we have
Simrit® insight is the In this edition we also introduce an abun- regularly done in the past, at the end of
magazine for Simrit
dance of Simrit innovations. Beginning with November 2005 we will be represented at
customers.
coated ISC O-Rings on to Simmerring® PTS the PTC Asia in Shanghai.
Publisher:
Freudenberg Simrit
with a vulcanised PTFE sealing collar all the Our partnership with NOK in Japan goes
GmbH & Co. KG, way to the new KL and VL hydromounts. In back almost five decades. In 2000 we
D-69465 Weinheim, addition, there is the new low-temperature founded, together with NOK and our Indian
Germany material 92 AU 21100, which allows for the partner Sigma, a joint venture in India and
Responsible: manufacture of reliable sealing systems with have since continued to further develop it.
Michael Littig a temperature range from –50 to +100 de- (Page 9).
Telephone: grees Celsius. This innovation proves once Since the beginning, Simrit has made “Local
+49(0)6201-805433
again our expertise in materials, which goes Globality” its motto - for the benefit of our
E-mail: [email protected]
back more than 50 years (in regard to customers. You can be certain: wherever
Coordination: Matthias
polyurethane, for instance). By the way, you are, with Simrit you will find a compe-
Arnold, Mathias Burkert,
Christian Favetto, Rainer none of the innovations presented in this tent specialist nearby to contact for all of
Laesch, Udo Lange, magazine are simply laboratory prototypes - your seal and vibration control problems.
Klaus Liesegang, they will be available for delivery soon. The With this in mind, I would like to wish you
Meike Rinnbauer numerous practical examples in this issue productive talks and a lot of fun reading
Internet: www.simrit.de underscore that. this issue of Simrit insight.
Editorial & design: Our cover story reports on one of the most
Trurnit & Partner
colossal infrastructure projects in the history Sincerely,
Mediengruppe
of mankind: the Three Gorges Dam in cen-
Reproduction only with
tral China. Inside of this immense technical
approval of the publisher
Total circulation:
machinery are sealing products from Simrit;
26 000 copies in French, inconspicuous yet vitally important and
English, Italian and efficient parts (Page 6). Dr. Jan Gupta
Spanish.

+ + + www.simrit.com + + + www.simrit.com + + + www.simrit.com + +

2 Simrit insight. 02/2005
 Change of leadership
Cover Story
insight.
02|2005

The magazine for Simrit customers

New directors
The Three Gorges Dam is the
greatest geographic infrastructure As of July 1,
project in the history of mankind. Christian Favet-
These Chinese characters stand for to (43) has
three (san) and gorges (xia). The assumed duties
Yangtse River will be backed up Simmerring PTS as the successor
A broad range
for a length of 660 kilometres. The of applications to the late Josef
hydroelectric plant will generate Low temperature PU Jäger, who re-
Cool seals
85 billion kilowatts of electrical po- cently passed
wer annually. Within this immense away, as Regional Sales Director
Simrit seals in the
technical machinery are sealing Three Gorges dam for France-BeneLux-Iberica.
A colossal infrastructure project
products from Simrit that perform a Favetto, previously national sales
show of strength; inconspicuous yet manager for France, has a gradua-
vitally important parts. te degree in economics and has
been with Simrit for 18 months.
Prior to Simrit he was employed for
Contents 18 years by a leading company in
the field of seal technology, in his
News 4
last position as sales manager for
France, Africa and India. Favetto is
Cover Story 6 married and has two children.

Simrit Global 9
Starting 1 Octo-
ber 2005, the
Fields of Application 10 new Regional
Director for
Simmerring® 12 Germany will
be Ralf Schmid.
With the newly developed
Schmid (40)
Simmerring® PTS design type, Simrit
has a master’s
reacts to the continuously increasing
degree in economics, is married
demands in machinery manufacturing
and the father of two children. He
has performed various manage-
Vibration Control 14 ment functions, both domestically
and abroad, in the areas of marke-
Simrit hydromounts resolve the conflic-
ting/sales, logistics, controlling
ting goals of vibration reduction and
and purchasing at a leading com-
structure-borne noise insulation
pany in the chemicals industry.
Most recently he was responsible
ISC O-Ring 16 for the area of brake fluid and refri-
gerants in the automobile industry
Materials 18 and commercial markets in Europe.

+ www.simrit.com + + + www.simrit.com + + + www.simrit.com + + +

Simrit insight. 02/2005 3
News

Positive echo worldwide

Simrit: a magnet
Drive and fluid technology profes-
sional circles still speak enthusiasti-
cally about the Simrit appearance
From left to right:
at the Hannover Trade Fair in
Dominique Roche
April. More than 1500 trade visi-
(Purchasing, Borg
tors from all continents met at the
Warner), Patrice
bi-level stand in Hall 19 in order
Lagrange (Quality
Two awards for Simrit to inform themselves about new
Assurance, Borg
developments at Simrit. This out-
Warner),
Jean-Luc Paris (Sim- High product and delivery quality standing number of visitors excee-
ded all previous years by a large
rit France), Alain
For the fourth time, Simrit has been duct quality and delivery perfor- margin! The guests were anxious to
Schmitt (Product
recognised with the John Deere mance. Furthermore, Simrit also hear about the multitude of perfor-
Marketing, Meillor
Award. The evaluation criteria for received the “Supplier Quality mance advantages that Simrit’s
Cylinder Head
the honour, awarded by all John Award 2004” from Borg Warner product lines have to offer, as well
Gaskets), Serge
Deere plants, are based on the for excellence in quality and parti- as about the newest product inno-
Soulier (Quality As-
areas of purchasing, QA, enginee- cularly for service. Simrit supplies vations - from hydraulic mounts for
surance, Borg War-
ring, logistics and spare parts. Borg Warner with, among other reducing vibration and for insula-
ner), Thomas
John Deere recognised Simrit things, Meillor cylinder head ting against structure-borne sound
Gropp (Purchasing,
above all else for its superb pro- gaskets and membranes. (report on pg. 14) on through to
Borg Warner)
Simmerring MSS1+ Condition Mo-
nitoring. This particular innovation
Simrit Tech Day in Kolding A personage attracted the prolonged attention of
trade visitors within the framework
Hearty response Josef Jäger † of the VDMA special programme
“Condition Monitoring” in Hall 24.
Danfoss and Simrit - both com- Josef Jäger, The live panel of experts, presen-
panies have been partners for Regional ted at the stand throughout the day,
decades. Sales Direc- met with great approval for the
Yet, although the acquaintance is tor for the quality of detailed information on
deep and goes back many years, France-Bene- Simrit product advances that they
the Simrit Tech Day on 21. June Lux-Iberica re- communicated.
2005 at Danfoss in Kolding gion, born on
(Denmark) showed that there is still 11. March
a great deal of interest across a 1955 in
broad range of areas on the Weinheim,
part of the developers, design had made a
engineers and purchasers at textbook career within the Freu-
Danfoss. From the first presenta- denberg Group, in the course of
tion to the last, all seats in the which he held management positi-
conference room were taken. ons in Germany, Belgium and then
The materials, product develop- France. For years he battled his
ment and product marketing illness with the sort of courage that
experts expounded upon the instilled respect in everyone. We
fascination of modern elastomer will all remember Josef as one who
materials on through to trendset- worked tirelessly and was guided
ting products and manufacturing by his devotion to the interests of
methods. They were also available his company as well as his team.
for individual contact throughout As a bridge between two cultures,
the entire event day. he earned the highest regard.

4 Simrit insight. 02/2005

 News

Epidor and Simrit

50 Years of partnership for our customers

This year both Epidor and Simrit Barcelona and numerous other chose to enter a partnership
celebrate a common anniversary: locations on the Iberian Peninsula, with Simrit. It has developed
the 50th year of their successful is specialised in sealing techno- into a strong bond from which,
partnership. The Spanish firm, logy. Due to the high quality and above all else, customers profit.
with its headquarters near large variety of products, Epidor

15th Simrit Innovation Forum on 17. November 2005 Bellows product line

Personal attendance or via the Internet Expanded

Simrit’s 15th Innovation Forum on third of them online. Registration Simrit has more than doubled its
17. November 2005 should not under: bellows product line offerings in
be missed by anyone. The focus www.simrit.de/innovationsforum the newest edition of the Simrit
this time is on innovations in the catalog. A total of 450 design
areas of Simmerrings, elastomer types are depicted in the catalog -
compound and precision molded logically sorted and extensively
parts, Merkel hydraulic compo- described. The customer can
nents, new elastomer materials, choose from a comprehensive
the new O-Ring coating concept, selection and expect rapid
as well as Lube & Seal. Again at delivery. Simrit bellows are used
this forum you have the possibility in agricultural and construction
to attend in person at the Wein- machinery, in equipment manufac-
heim municipal centre or via the turing, in conveyor systems and
Internet. All presentations will be electronics, as well as in medical
simultaneously translated into and foodstuffs technology. At the
English and French. Nearly Hannover Trade Fair in 2005
182 guests took part in the last Simrit introduced a bellows that
event in March, approximately a permanently seals cable guides.

Trade Fair and Events 2005

Month Dates Trade Fair and Event Stand No. City Country Link

November 17 15th Simrit Innovation Forum Weinheim Germany www.simrit.de/

innovationsforum

22.-23. FVA Information Conference of the Research

Federation for Drive Tech. Würzburg Germany www.fva-net.de

28.11. PTC Asia International Fair for Power

to 1.12. Transmission and Control Hall 3 Shanghai China www.ptc-asia.com

Simrit insight. 02/2005 5

Cover Story

The largest hydro-

electric plant in the
world is being
built on the
Yangtse river: it
can generate up to
85 billion kWh of
electricity per year.
The dam has a
width of 2.3 km.

Simrit seals in the Three Gorges dam power plant in China

Multifunctional infrastructure project

Within the grand scale of the immense technical machinery to be used in the Three
Gorges project in China, seals from Simrit are inconspicuous but absolutely vital parts.
Compact

■ The hydroelectric plant at the Three Gorges dam can generate The Yangtse river (in Chinese improve ship travel, and - last, but
85 billion kWh of electricity per year - 1/9 of China’s current Chang Jiang = long river) is, with not least - provide 1/9 of China’s
annual production. a total length of 6300 kilometres, current total annual electrical
■ Each of the 26 generators, with 700 MW of nominal output, the longest river in China and the power output.
will exceed the output capacity of the Itaipu in Brazil - the lar- third longest in the world. It flows
Backed up for more than
gest hydroelectric plant in the world up until now - by more through a quarter of the arable
660 kilometres
than half. farm land and provides for a third
■ Regarding the dam’s metallic construction, a total of 116 hy- of China’s rural population. The Between the major cities
draulic cylinders will be installed for the opening and closing Yangtse also serves as the lifeline Chongqing and Wuhan, the
of sluices and the gates of the 5-stage ship locks. between western China, which is mighty river forces its way
■ The highest demands for dependability are placed upon the rich in natural resources, and through a 200 km long stretch
seals that are used. eastern China (Shanghai) whose between steep chasms in the
■ Since September 2001 Simrit has been providing Merkel economy is developing most Sichuan highland down to the
chevron seal sets from the ES/EK line to the Chinese cylinder dynamically. central Chinese lowlands.
manufacturer. In the past, the river has also Here the world famous “Three
■ Simrit seals (U-Rings with PTFE back-up rings) are also used brought hardship and death Gorges” (Chinese: San Xia) are
with the so-called servomotors which the energy technology through disastrous flooding. located: Qutang, Wu und Xiling.
specialist Voith Siemens Hydro from Heidenheim, Germany A massive dam, hydroelectric It is at the outlet of the gorges
provides for the San Xia project. plant and ship lock project should that the world’s largest dam and

@
More information under www.simrit.de/insight/titel now, however, tame the river, hydroelectric plant have been
Contact: [email protected] bring water to parched regions, under construction in the last few

6 Simrit insight. 02/2005

 Cover Story

city per year. Its 26 generators,

each producing 700 MW of
power, will exceed the capacity
of Itaipu in Brazil - the largest
hydroelectric power plant in the
world up until now - by more
than half.
Both the left and right halves of
the dam have a length of more
than 600 metres. The dam should
also absorb the periodic high
water levels, thus preventing
flooding. The Yangtse is the
most important trade route in the
particularly populous regions of
China. By channeling the gorge
currents beneath the surface
of the water, it is expected that
ship traffic will increase by
a volume 5 times today’s rate.
Ships of up to 10,000 tons
should be able to navigate to Merkel U-Rings with PTFE
the important port of Chongqing back-up rings are the seals
in the future. of choice in the hydraulic
And finally, the dam is supposed cylinders for the power plant
to provide the arid northern turbines delivered by Voith
years. There are even more super- provinces with water. Siemens Hydro.
latives: the San Xia project in Dam construction began in
China is the largest geographic December of 1994. The last
infrastructure project in the history generators are supposed to go The San Xia project in China is the largest geographic
of mankind. The Yangtse will be on line in 2009 and the artificial infrastructure project in the history of mankind. The con-
dammed over a length of 660 km lake will reach its normal level struction project encompasses a dam, high water leve
and the project will, once comple- by 2013. The entire cost of the canal system, a hydroelectric power plant and ship locks.
ted, have forced more than 1 milli- Three Gorges project is estimated
on people to resettle. at 224 billion Yuan (approx.
Along with the dam and the hydro- $27.3 billion).
electric plant, the complex com-
Seal technology from Simrit
prises an elevated canal and a
in the hydraulic cylinders
series of ship locks. The dam is
2309 metres long and 185 metres A total of 116 hydraulic cylinders
tall. Upon completion the reservoir will be installed for the dam’s
will have a volume of 39.3 billion metallic construction in order
cubic metres of water. Under nor- to open and close the sluices and Merkel chevron
mal conditions, the flow of water the gates of the 5-stage ship locks. seal sets from the
will be 16,000 cubic metres in per These cylinders have a piston ES/EK line are
second; at a peak level expected diameter of up to 650 millimetres used as seals in
every 10 years, a flow of 55,000 and a stroke of up to 15 metres. the 116 hydrau-
cubic metres per second is This places the utmost demands lic cylinders for
expected. on the reliability of the seals in the opening and
use. Simrit proposed using the closing of
Every generator produces
Merkel ES/EK chevron seal sets. sluices.
700 megawatts
These seals are in particular
The hydroelectric power plant will characterised by their extreme
produce 85 million kWh of electri- ruggedness in regard to

Simrit insight. 02/2005 7

Cover Story

environmental factors and

by their superb operational safety.
The chevron seal sets and the
corresponding design solution
were consequentially specified
for the project.

Approved by officials
Since September 2001, Simrit
provides seals to the Chinese
cylinder manufacturer.
The first series of cylinders has
already been accepted by the
responsible public authority.
Seals from Simrit (U-Rings with
PTFE back-up rings) are also
used in the so-called servomotors,
supplied by the energy technology
specialist Voith Siemens Hydro,
from Heidenheim, Germany,
for the San Xia project.

Positive experience
The servomotors are hydraulic
cylinders for regulating the
control device for a Francis
turbine.
As Voith Siemens Hydro found it
had excellent experience with
The Francis tur-
Simrit products in the past, use of
bines from Voith
the products in the Three Gorges
Siemens are
project - where the smooth
designed for a
interoperation of parts from
nominal power
various suppliers is particularly
output of
critical due to the shear magnitude
700 MW each.
of the entire challenge - was
imperative for reasons of
International Fair for Power Transmission and Control (PTC Asia) reducing risk.

Come visit us in Hall 3 of the International Fair for Power Transmission and Enormous dimensions
Control (PTC Asia) in China’s most modern trade fair centre in Shanghai. It is The detailed data for the Francis
the most influential industrial trade fair in the Asian-Pacific region. The turbines delivered by Voith
exhibition takes place between 28. November and 1. December 2005 in an Siemens reflect the gargantuan
exhibition area encompassing 80000 square metres in the new, completely scope of the entire geographic
booked-out Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). infrastructure project:
the diameter of the massive
416 tonne turbine rotor is
10 metres, the water flow per
second is almost 1000 cubic
metres, the drop of the water
80 metres.

8 Simrit insight. 02/2005

 Simrit Global

Sujay Dutta, Simrit India

“Geographic proximity is important to our customers”

Simrit is, as a global technology specialist, at home in all markets of the world. Our column “Simrit
Global” takes us this time to India, where Simrit has been present for many years with several Simrit
Service Centres. In 2000, the joint venture Sigma Freudenberg NOK Pvt. Ltd. was founded, headquar-
tered in New Delhi. There, Simrit insight spoke with Sujay Dutta, Sales Director for India.

Mr. Dutta, how long has Simrit employees have to your custo- were also trained extensively by
been producing in India? mers? experienced Simrit engineers.
Production began in November Mostly through personal talks.
2001 and has been continuously Many customers visit our factory If you were to summarise the
increased in recent years. Together and inform themselves there. Of philosophy of Simrit India in a
with the products imported from our course we also conduct seminars single sentence, what would
European and Asian manufacturing and courses, and attend trade you say?
facilities, we are able to offer our fairs. As a technology specialist for
Sujay Dutta
Indian customers an incomparably seals and vibration control, we
broad spectrum of sealing Which trade fairs in India are im- want to provide our customers
products. portant for you? with reliable long-term help in
Above all else it is the Imtex, optimising their internal processes
Which products do you manu- India’s largest trade fair for and bringing innovative, top-quali-
facture in India? manufacturers of components for ty products into the market.
In our ultra-modern factory machinery and equipment.
in Mohali, 270 km outside of
New Delhi, we primarily manu- Are your specialists in regular
facture Simmerrings, but also contact with research and develop- Simrit Service Centre
shock absorber seals and ment at Simrit? New Delhi A-62
valve seals. We supply Indian Yes, of course. By the way, when Rewari Line Industrial Area
customers as well as Simrit’s the joint venture was founded in Phase - II, Mayapuri
international customers in India. 2001 the core team from our plant New Delhi - 110 064
spent six months in Germany Tel.: +91(0)11-2811 7960
In other words, you are both local- being trained. Our sales engineers E-mail: [email protected]
ly and globally oriented?
The geographic proximity is
very important for our Indian
customers. Our customers expect
individual solutions to their techni-
cal and economic problems, provi-
ded by local specialists in their Tibet
respective native language, as Mohali
well as just-in-time deliveries from Pakistan New Delhi
a local depot.

INDIA
Which of these Indian customers
Pune
are also worldwide Simrit custo-
mers? Chennai
A lot of them. Case New Holland,
JCB, John Deere, Cummins, just to Simrit’s presence in
name a few. India includes 3 ser-
vice centres as well
How do you convey the global as the factory in
technical knowledge that your Mohali.

Simrit insight. 02/2005 9

Fields of Application

Low-temperature PU material in mobile hydraulics

A forklift with real cool seals

With the newly developed low-temperature material 92 AU 21100, Merkel sealing
systems from Simrit don’t exhibit even the slightest leakage while in use under extreme
conditions in STILL GmbH forklifts in a Danish refrigerated warehouse.

In mobile hydraulic systems, used in

either naturally or artificially cold
environments, demands on the
sealing system utilised are exceptio-
nally high. In some applications,
excavators, snow-cats or mobile
cranes are subjected to night-time
temperatures as low as -50º. Even
under these extreme conditions, full
and immediate operability is expec-
ted of seals. Even the smallest leaks
are unacceptable, both economical-
ly and ecologically. Even in artifici-
al cold zones, such as filling
systems for liquid hydrogen, where
temperatures of -40º C can occur at
filling nozzles, or in regard to spe-
cial-use vehicles with hydraulic
components in use in refridgerated
environments, great demands are
made in terms of the resistance
to cold temperatures.
Mathias Burkert, Product Marketing
Manager at Merkel Mobilhydraulik,
cites as an example a forklift from the
Simrit customer STILL GmbH which is
Compact

■ A forktruck at STILL GmbH is operated a maximum of 2 hours in a In mobile hydraulic systems, used in either naturally or artificially cold environ-
warehouse refrigerated at a constant -23º C. ments, demands on the sealing system utilised are exceptionally high.
■ Due to the brief operating periods, the hydraulic fluid is just briefly
warmed up before quickly cooling again.
■ The sealing system, based on the low-temperature material A material for extremes
operated in a Danish refrigerated
92 AU 21100, shows no leakage even under these extreme ware-house and is equipped with Engineer Thomas Acksen, Director
conditions. Simrit seals based on the newly de- of Development at the Center of
■ The PU material 92 AU 21100 has significant advantages com- veloped low-temperature polyure- Components Cylinder of the STILL
pared to conventional materials used previously, particularly in thane material 92 AU 21100. Seals GmbH, and responsible for deve-
regard to sudden shaft movements at low temperatures. made of this material are still suffi- loping hydraulic cylinders in the
■ Compared to standard materials, better sealing attributes are ciently flexible even at temperatures Linde group, describes the appli-
attained not only at low temperatures with 92 AU 21100, rather down to -50º C. “92 AU 21100 is cation’s ambient temperature:
throughout the entire range of applications. an example of Simrit’s material ex- ”After half an hour of operation,
pertise, which goes back 50 years the temperature of the forklift hy-
More information under www.simrit.de/insight/anwendungsfelder in regard to their polyurethane ex- draulic fluid is +21º C, while the

@ Contact: [email protected] perience.”, says Burkert.” ambient temperature in which the

10 Simrit insight. 02/2005

 Fields of Application

vehicle is operated is a constant

-23ºC. Under these conditions, the Dynamic calculations on a 3-D model
vehicle is operated continuously
for a maximum of two hours, Material A: Conventional material
whereby the hydraulic fluid and Material B: 92 AU 21100
Geometry: U-Ring
the components are only briefly
Dimensions: 50–65–10
warmed up before quickly cooling Cylinder deflection: +/- 0.15 mm in 0.2 sec.
down again.”
The existing sealing system, con-
sisting of a dual wiper and shaft
0,3mm
seal made of conventional polyu-
rethane, proved to be unsuitable
for the extreme conditions and
constantly leaked. In response to
this, Simrit delivered the previously
mentioned seals in the newly deve-
loped low-temperature PU material Testing the cold flexibility of the seal
92 AU 21100. With seals and wi-
pers made of this material the fork-
lift now runs problem-free in the re-
frigerated warehouse. “The impro-
Contact period for touching the cylinder
vement was a achieved solely by at different temperatures for standard polyurethane 92 AU 21100
using seals made of this innovative 1,E + 03
material for our cylinders”, states 1,E + 03
Standard PU

Thomas Acksen, adding “Nothing

1,E + 02
in the design of the guide cylinder
1,E + 01
was changed.”
1,E - 01 92 AU 21100
Test bench and field tests 1,E - 02
“Together with Simrit, we tested 1,E - 03
Contact period in sec.

the suitability of the material for 1,E - 04

extreme temperatures and optimi-
1,E -05
sed frictional behaviour with tests -40 -30 -20 -10 00 +10 +20 +30
on the test bench and in the field”, Temperature in °C
emphasised Thomas Acksen,
Contact period for touching the cylinder, for different materials
continuing: “Principally, guide
cylinders are subjected to great
shear forces, and in the full exten-
ded position a sudden deflection From -50 up to +100º C always leakproof
can occur. In regard to this sudden
deflection at low temperatures, the The new polyurethane material 92 AU 21100 was especially conceived
PU material 92 AU 21100 proved for use in low-temperature applications down to -50º C. However it is
to provide significant advantages also suitable for standard applications up to +100º C. What is distinctive
compared to conventional materi- about 92 AU 21100 is its exceptionally advantageous visco-elastic
als.” Mathias Burkert explained behaviour. This means that the soft parts of the material remain flexible
the test sequence at Simrit: “The across a greater temperature range and only grow stiff at very low
cold flexibilty of the part is deter- temperatures. That way these seals immediately exhibit the necessary
mined by deliberately deflecting sealing qualities in operation, even at the lowest temperatures.
the piston rod. The quicker the the Other important sealing traits, such as hardness and tensile strength, are
seal can follow the deflection, the not negatively affected; to the contrary - with the new 92 AU 21100,
better its low-temperature beha- significant improvements compared to conventional polyurethane
viour. The loading frequency and materials can be attained throughout the application range.
loading speed play an important
role here.”

Simrit insight. 02/2005 11

Simmerring®

Simmerring PTS with vulcanised-bonded PTFE chevron seal

Modular design – broad application range

With the newly developed Simmerring® PTS, Simrit reacts to constantly rising demands in
machinery and equipment manufacturing. Furthermore: completely new applications are
possible with this innovative Simmerring.

This axial piston pump is a likely ap-

plication for the new Simmerring PTS.

Simmerrings are proven machine countless thousands of operating now was offered by PTFE seals.
parts which reliably fulfill the hours. And, to keep it that way, PTFE’s unique attributes, such as
sealing function for an enormous Simrit engineers continue to de- its outstanding high and low
variety of shaft designs over velop Simmerings further in order temperature resistance of
Compact for them to also adapt to new -60° C to +260° C, and its
ambient technical conditions. resistance to virtually all sorts
■ A combination of a partially rubberised support housing and For instance, for new high- of media, make this material
vulcanised-bonded PTFE chevron seal additive synthetic greases or indispensable for seal technology.
■ Secure static sealing even with pressure impact, up to at least even materials which are difficult
A broad spectrum of
10 bar to lubricate, which compromise
possible uses
■ Leakage rate reduction by factor 14 compared to conventional an elastomer seal, especially
PTFE seals when at the same time greater In order to provide a reliable seal,
operating tolerances are being Simmerings made of PTFE require
required from equipment. The only a helical return groove in the seal
Contact: [email protected] solution to these demands up until edge. This kind of Simmering has

12 Simrit insight. 02/2005

 Simmerring®

been used very successfully for

years to seal crankshafts. Under
certain operating conditions, such
Abrasive wear in dry run
as when under a pressure load or Simmerring PTS 40-55-7, runtime 72 hr, 8,000 1/min, two test specimens each
with reversing rotation of the
shaft, the sealing performance is 0,8
unstable due to the material-rela-
0,7
ted traits of PTFE. With the new
Simmerring PTS Simrit has succee- 0,6
ded in combining the outstanding
0,5
advantages of PTFE with the func-
tional characteristics of elastomers. 0,4
With this, Simrit offers a Simmer-
0,3
ring which is distinguished by its
uncommon versatility in regard to 0,2
the most varied demands. With
Wear in mm

0,1
the Simmerring PTS the PTFE seal
collar is vulcanised-bonded on an 0
elastomer. PTFE 537 PTFE 537 18169 18169 18225 18225
Together with a partially rubberi-
sed support housing, the Simmer- Wear values in dry run for various PTFE composite materials

ring PTS ensures:

■ The full functional advantages of

PTFEs for the seal edge
■ A stable, static seal effect, even Friction point development under load
if the pressure impact on the
retainer seat reaches 10 bar n = 2.000 1/min
■ Thanks to the rubberising of the 0,7
support, no pasting in of the Conventional seal
seal in the housing. 0,6
Simmerring PTS
0,5
An integrated protective lip made
50 %
of elastomer prevents external 0,4
contaminants from reaching the
seal lip. 0,3 Wear reduction
This way two seals can often be
replaced by one. Furthermore, 0,2
Friction point in Nm

new highly wear-resistant and

0,1
anti-abrasive optimised PTFE
compounds have been thoroughly 0
tested - also for use in the food- 0 2 4 6
stuff industry. Pressure in bar

Leakage rate improved by With the new Simmerring PTS, a reduction of friction of up to 50 % can be achieved.
up to factor 100
With reversing shaft rotational direc-
tions, PTFE seals are usually used made, then the Simmerring PTS also offers the Simmerring PTS with
without media return structures. with reversible torsion is available. reversible torsion for applications
With the new Simmerring PTS, the With pressures up to 0.3 bar the with a predefined rotational direc-
leakage rates could be reduced by measured leakage rates are re- tion. This way, for instance, shafts
a factor of 14 in comparison to duced in fact by up to factor 100 with hydrostatic drives can be
standard PTFE seals. If extremely compared to common commercial- reliably sealed with pressures of
tight sealing requirements are ly available seals. Simrit, however, up to 6 bar at 6.3 m/s.

Simrit insight. 02/2005 13

Vibration Control

Innovative Simrit hydromount

Optimum solution to a goal conflict

Simrit Hydromounts solve the goal conflict between effective vibration reduction
whilst achieving good structure-borne sound insulation.

frequency mechanical vibration.

At the same time, low frequency
oscillation of the suspended
Figure 1: The structure must be controlled.
Simrit’s KL hydro- Both of these goals, which place
mount excels at conflicting demands on the parts
efficient, narrow used, were taken into account
bandwidth, ad- in the development of the new
justable vibration Simrit hydromounts for use in
damping at low suspending operators’ cabs or
frequencies. At the similar application areas.
same time it offers Controlling the effects of cabin
a significant im- resonance requires a mounting
provement to with a high degree of rigidity and
noise behaviour. damping. However, good acoustic
isolation from engine noise for
example, requires low stiffness
and damping.

Individually matching
customer requirements
The KL and VL hydromounts from
Simrit provide an almost perfect
solution to the conflict of goals.
The innovative approach allows
for an individual match to the
customer’s particular situation.
Thus the hydraulic mount KL
(Figure 1) permits the efficient,
narrow bandwidth damping effect
to be adjusted across a broad
frequency range. The details speak
for themselves:
Increased comfort expectations
that the legal environment and ■ Suspension of cabin weights
customers place on cabin suspen- between 500 and 1000 kilos
Compact sion for agricultural and construc- ■ Excellent vibration reduction in
tion machinery can no longer be the low frequency range, to
■ Simrit Hydromounts solve the goal conflict between effective fulfilled with conventional elasto- control cab oscillation
vibration reduction whilst achieving good structure-borne mer mounts. Hydraulic mounts ■ Good insulation from mechani-
sound insulation present the optimum solution. cal vibration
■ Innovative design of the hydraulic components They are utilised where cabins, ■ Maximum damping between
■ Developed for use in agricultural and construction machinery machinery, equipment assemblies adjustable from 5-15 Hz
or other components need be ■ Amplitude-independent damping
Contact: [email protected] elastically insulated from high- effect

14 Simrit insight. 02/2005

 Vibration Control

■ Customisation of the product to

customer requirements and
constraints
■ Short development time and
quick delivery of sample parts
■ Support for the layout and
optimisation of the entire cabin
suspension system as additional
service

The new KL hydromount from Simrit

integrates known technical principles
and implements these in a new way.
Starting with the dynamic vertical
displacement of the conical bea-
ring, a liquid is pumped back and
forth between the main chamber
and a compensation cavity. This
creates currents which result in
mass effects as well as fluid dam-
ping. Due to the novel design of
the fluid components, very efficient
solutions to the goal conflict can
be realised. The Simrit KL Hydro-
mount offers a marked improve-
ment in vibration isolation.
It is therefore ideally suited to Figure 2: The VL hydromount from Simrit provides broad bandwidth vibration
those applications requiring high damping at low frequencies.
levels of noise and vibration con-
trol, in order to meet regulatory
combustion engines, for example, due to their suspension can potential-
requirement. The VL Hydromount
which simultaneously generate vibra- ly benefit greatly from improved
offers a wide spectrum damping
tions in different frequency ranges vibration and noise control through
characteristic (Figure 2).
and are subject to other vibrations the use of Simrit hydromounts.
Compared to other types of
hydraulic mounting the lower
chamber of the VL mounting has a
much lower rigidity. This allows for VL, hydromounts, low damping in acoustic range
a better compromise between
500
effective vibration reduction, and
450 Competitor’s displacement bearing, approx. 65 ShA
the reduction of structurally borne
400
noise. (Figure 3).
350
Specific damping effect (Nmm/mm)

Usage not limited to con- 300

struction and agriculture 250 s = ±0,05 mm

Although Simrit hydromounts were 200

conceived for agricultural and 150 VL hydromounts, 65 ShA

construction machinery cabin 100

suspension, their usage is not 50
limited to these applications. 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450
The products offer the same advan-
Frequency (Hz)
tages for other types of vehicle
cabins to which similar factors Figure 3: The Simrit VL hydromounts offer substantially reduced damping and thus
apply. However, other machinery, improved structure-borne sound insulation than comparable hydraulic
plants and equipment, such as bearing from other manufacturers.

Simrit insight. 02/2005 15

ISC O-Ring

Coated ISC
O-Rings make
mounting much
easier, which
leads to substan-
tial savings
through-out the
process chain.

Coated ISC O-Rings

Fewer faults – fewer costs

ISC O-Rings with different coatings improve not only the service life and the dynamic
usage applications of the seal element, they also provide for better mounting
conditions, which can in part lead to dramatic savings in regard to processes.

That O-Rings have to have excel- ting. For the medical technology mounting. A decision was there-
lent sealing attributes goes without specialists at Dräger Medical, for fore made for an ISC O-Ring from
saying. The demands, however, go instance, the parameters “long Simrit made of 70 EPDM 281 with
far beyond this actual use pur- service life” and “low wastage” a plasma coating, which also
pose: Customers also require are way up at the top of their list performed very well in endurance
above-average performance of demands. ISC O-Rings with tests during service life testing:
values in upstream processes such custom coatings are the ideal ”In internal tests, in regard to dura-
as handling, sorting and moun- solution for these kinds of bility the required test cycles were
Compact customer requirements. all passed.” states development
enginer Dirk-Stefan Reichert. For a
Application example in
The advantages of coated ISC O-Rings different application at Dräger Me-
medical technology
(ISC = International Specified Certified) dical a reduction of contact friction
■ Ease of mounting (no damage, no sticking, no twisting, no For example, the filling nozzle of coated O-Rings is decisive: In a
contamination) of an anasthesia vaporiser: drive for a respiratory ventilator,
■ Reduction of insertion force (reduced, work-friendly insertion Dräger requires a service live an O-Ring, upon which a slide
force, consistent insertion force after repeated mounting and of between five to seven years coating (SCA) has been applied,
demounting, reduced risk of shearing) for these seal elements. is used as a damping part. The
■ Suitability for dynamic usage (reduced wear and wastage of As O-Rings can be easily dama- design appears as a motor that
O-Ring. Reduced wear while operational - extends the service ged due to their prominent locati- drives a spindle, which itself
life) on, a coating should provide moves up and down.
protection. In order to protect the spindle from

@ More information under www.simrit.de/insight/iscoring

Contact: [email protected]
At the same time Dräger wanted to
prevent sticking of the rings during
damage in case of failure, there is
an O-Ring mounted as a damping

16 Simrit insight. 02/2005

 ISC 0-Ring

part between the receiver plate repeatedly. By using a coated repairing damaged parts as well.
and spindle nut. “With uncoated ISC O-Ring we were able to re- Along with these improvements the
O-Rings, the O-Ring sticks to the duce the mounting error rate for assembly time could be cut back
plate.” explains Kai Wegener errors from 3% to .02%.” by 4%. This is made possible by
from Dräger. the low-friction, worker-friendly
Savings potential up to a
The friction point was so high with mounting as well as the shorter
7-digit sum in Euros
uncoated rings that the spindles time needed for sorting the
often got stuck. With the slide coa- That had a very positive effect on O-Rings.
ting the problem could be solved. the overall calculation. As a result Rainer Laesch sums it all up:
Rainer Laesch, Product Manager of the drastically reduced error “Just the direct economic total
for ISC O-Rings, summarised in rate, the number of possible rejects benefit for the customer due to the
three points the essential advanta- at final inspection dropped shar- previously mentioned functional
ges of coated O-Rings: “Ease of ply, and with it not only the effort chain amounted to 45,000 Euro
mounting, reduced insertion force, for damage analysis rather for per year.”
and better suitability for dynamic
applications.”

Drastically reduced frictional

forces
As described in the application
Low-force mounting
example cited above, a coating
300
reduces frictional forces, which Uncoated
has a positive effect on mounting.
This way the danger of damage to
200
the ISC O-Ring is minimised, as
well as speeding up the overall
time required for insertion and
100
removal. When used in a plug Coated
Force in N

system a low-force mounting is

possible. “When coated with a 0
slide coating containing silicone 0 20 40 60
(SCA type coating), the frictional Distance in mm
values and insertion force can be
reduced by about 85%, for exam- Reduction of insertion force
ple”, says Rainer Lesch.
Low frictional values also aid the
dynamic usage of the seal ele-
ment, which makes an impact in
terms of a longer service life. Longer service life through low frictional values
“With a coating of dry slide coa-
ting (SCB coating type), for exam-
2,0
ple, the friction in dynamic use
Uncoated
can be reduced by around 75%”
1,5
explains Laesch.
The rationalisation process by
means of O-Ring coating is large. 1,0
Coated
Rainer Laesch describes the start
Frictional values in µ

situation: “At one of our customers’ ,5

2.2 million O-Rings are mounted
manually per year. 0
The span for mounting the O-Ring 0 300 600 900 1200
is 20 mm, whereby twisting, Glide path in m
erroneous mounting and damage
of the seal element occurred Friction value reduction in dynamic use

Simrit insight. 02/2005 17

Materials

Media resistance of elastomers in oils and greases

Greases and seals as overall solution

The effectiveness of a seal material depends to a great extent upon the respective ambient medium. The
Simrit service offering “Lube & Seal” provides the customer with a chemically and mechanically-dynamic
product programme that is perfectly matched.

The ideal material

275
PTFE Conditionally suitable
250
Maximum operating temperature (°C)

FKM Not suitable for seals where

225
there is contact to oils
200 VMQ
FVMQ
175
ACM
150 AEM EPDM
HNBR
HR
125 ECO
CR
NBR
100 AU BR
SBR
NR
75
50
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Swelling in reference oil IRM 903 (in %)

Relative heat and oil resistance of elastomers for use in motor and transmission applications with usage of standard reference oil.

Compact

■ The effectiveness of a seal material depends to a great extent In addition to the application selecting seal material; that means
upon the respective ambient medium. temperature range, the chemical that a covalent material (such as
■ Testing of the behaviour of rubber-elastic materials in resistance and the swelling be- EPDM) is not resistant to a
comparison to liquids is performed in accordance with haviour of the elastomer are of covalent medium. Further, many
DIN ISO 1817 in the medium to be used or in a standardised great importance when selecting material attributes such as hard-
test liquid. a suitable material for a seal. ness, density, tensile strength and
■ Expanding application temperature ranges, longer oil That is why information about elasticity as well as electrical and
change intervals and the trend to completely synthetic which fluid or gas media the optical attributes such as the
lubricants require specifically proven and selected materials. material will come into contact colour and texture are also
■ With the service offering “Lube & Seal” Simrit offers a with plays such a decisive role as changed in reaction to media.
functionally perfectly matched comprehensive package. to the application and performan-
Complex processes
ce effectivity of a material.
The old maxim of chemistry “simi- The effect of media, such as oils
lia similibus solvuntur” (same dis- and grease, always cause two dif-
Contact: [email protected] solves same) applies in regard to ferent processes which could nega-

18 Simrit insight. 02/2005

 Materials

tively influence the elastomer, therefore not only with the manu- intervals and the trend to comple-
hence the sealing function: the facturer, rather are also due to tely synthetic lubricants require
physical swelling and the chemical extraneous influences such as specifically proven and selected
impact. With the latter, the the effects of oils, greases, gases materials. To this end, Simrit has
material is - in contrast to simply on the elastomer, which can then developed the new service offe-
swelling - irreversibly chemically cause chemical as well as physical ring “Lube & Seal” together with
altered by the medium. changes. its affiliated company Klüber
Regarding swelling, diffusion Testing the behaviour of rubber- Lubrication, in which the functional
causes the absorption of the elastic materials in regard to relationships between seal and
medium into the rubber structure. fluids is done in accordance with lubricant have been exhaustingly
The medium can hereby combine DIN ISO 1817 in the media which tested. This way Simrit is in a
with the polymer chain or extract is used in the application or in position to offer its customers a
compound ingredients from the a standardised test fluid (e.g. perfectly matched “seal and
rubber structure, which can lead to ASTM-Öl No.1, IRM 903, FAM- lubricant” system.
a change in the seal volume and Prüfkraftstoffe). Standardised test
weight. Volume swelling does not, media have the advantage that the
under certain circumstances, composition of the lubricant is
present a risk to the fulfilling of known, hence a direct comparison
the rubber seal function. of different materials is possible.
A shrinking of volume, however, Elastomer test speciments are
leads to a loss of the sealing capa- stored in 80 times their volume of
bility in the form of leakage. If the the test medium at a prescribed
medium dissolves into (in either temperature and time period.
gas or liquid form) the media, Heightened temperatures can in-
without going through pores or crease the oxidation of the elasto-
cracks, it is referred to as permea- mer, its evaporation or the disinte-
tion. Such a process leads to seal gration of the test fluid and also Test area for
leakage. The causes of damage lie sharply increase the effects of che- the functional
mical additives in the medium. In tests “seal
order to simulate operating condi- and lubri-
tions when using the application cant” for
fluid the test conditions should be Simmerrings
made similar to the operating con-
ditions and the temperature should
be the same or higher than the
operating temperature.

High demands
Continually increasing demands
are being placed on seal materials Based on extensive static and dynamic test series, Simrit
in the area of motors and transmis- can offer its customers an exactly matched system “Seal
sions. Along with a plethora of ba- and Lubricant”.
sic oils, the new generation of syn-
thetic oils contain a high propor-
tion of additives. These serve to in- In practice, along with media
crease the long-term stability and resistance there are a number of
function of the lubrication media other factors that influence the ap-
as well as to prevent corrosion, plication suitability of an elastomer
contamination and foaming. At the for certain uses. That is why it is
same time the “additive packages” recommendable to make the selec-
can chemically attack and destroy tion together with the seal manufac-
Media submersion of elastomer test the seal materials. Expanding ap- turer, who knows best the possibili-
specimens in the 80x the volume of the plication temperature ranges of ties and limitations of each of the
lubricant –40 to +175° C, longer oil-change respective materials in detail.

Simrit insight. 02/2005 19

Simrit_Dachmarke_gb KDM05.qxd 29.09.2005 10:30 Uhr Seite 1

The Simrit Service Package

Solutions for Your Success

Simrit, Your Global Technology Specialist

for Seals and Vibration Control, offers you
a complete service package.
Make the most of the Simrit service When will you benefit from Simrit’s
package offering numerous benefits: service package? www.simrit.com

The technological edge due to

constant innovations

Savings in cost and time by using Headquarter

a single source for a uniquely wide Freudenberg Simrit KG
range of products 69465 Weinheim, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 1805-746748
Increased efficiency, using unique Fax: +49 (0) 1803-746748
materials expertise to extend the e-mail: [email protected]
service life of your components

The competitive edge due to our

wide range of value added services

Simrit, Your Global Technology Specialist

for Seals and Vibration Control, offers
you all this from one source.