If you are looking for the best possible sealing system, you can have a highly competent service and development partner at your side: the Engineering Services team, a unit of the Oil Seals Industry Division. The team was formed three years ago.
The Engineering Services team in the Oil Seals Industry Division has been around since 2019. Taking a holistic approach, it deals with the complex interactions of the three main components of a sealing system – or rather on their perfect interplay. The focus is on concrete applications in specific situations. “We sell radial shaft sealing rings. They are very good, of outstanding quality. That is our main business. But even the best seal by itself is no guarantee that the overall system consisting of Simmerring®, shaft and lubricant is a good fit,” said Christian Wilbs, Director, Global Product Development, Simmerring Engineering.
“In product development, we do long trials and perform measurements, calculations and analyses to improve sealing systems when it comes to friction, wear and lubrication. We interpret and evaluate the results. Three years ago, we developed this expertise further, creating a standalone business model that is open to all of our customers,” Wilbs said. There is demand for the services of the interdisciplinary team. Its eight members come from the fields of mechanical engineering, chemistry, metrology and tribology. The customers include manufacturers of lubricants, additives and gearboxes, along with end-customers and equipment operators and manufacturers.
Detective-like Intuition
For example, increasingly efficient production processes for shafts are changing the topographies of shaft surfaces. Do they still fit the seal ring? Similar questions about compatibility are raised for newly developed lubricants or lubricant additives. “Our preference is to help our customers as they look for improvements for their sealing systems and ways to optimize them, along with new approaches,” Wilbs said. The Engineering Services team is also appreciated when companies try to learn from their mistakes. “It’s not the seal ring that leaks – it’s the sealing system. Then, with detective-like intuition and know-how, we figure out where the problem is,” he said.
Analyses with microscopes, computer tomography, x-rays or infrared spectroscopy, static and dynamic test stand trials, simulations and algorithms offer insights. The Simmerring® test bay and the corporate function Freudenberg Technology Innovation provide valuable help in this process. “For us, the crucial part is properly interpreting test results and measurements and drawing constructive conclusions from them. This is our very special expertise, and it offers our customers important added value,” Wilbs said.
The findings generally result in recommendations for specific actions to optimize the sealing system in question. In return, new projects and business for FST may develop. “Many customers don’t even know that they are getting the help from us. We give them valuable information on how they can improve the efficiency, quality and operating life of their products long-term,” he said. He expects steadily growing demand for the team’s services.
