SEALS FOR BALL SCREWS IN SPECIAL PTFE

Scenario

In the aeronautical industry the need of exceeding limits and improving performances is considered a must. Innovation is the key, but ecah solution has to guarantee the maximum safety.

Challenge

In the aeronautical industry, ball screws represent a perfect synthesis of technology and innovation. Here research and development of new materials are aimed at constantly overcoming the limits of duration and efficiency. Moved by those goals, ATP has studied a new PTFE-based plastic material, characterized by a low sensitivity to thermal variations (expansion), efficient and resistant to external agents such as sand, dust and ice.

Solution

In ball screws, the seals are used to retain the grease inside the nut and prevent the introduction of particulate from outside. In this industry the main requirement of all components is the  resistance to a very high thermal range, without compromising tightness and developed friction. Therefore PTFE, thanks to his capability  of withstanding thermal ranges between -200 ° C and + 200 ° C, is the most used material and there  are several PTFE-based compounds historically used for this application.

ATP  has bet on PTFE for several years now opening an internal laboratory dedicated to the study and production of special fluorinated materials (PTFE activated with specific fillers). Moved by the desire for continuous innovation, ATP carried on a long research to improve the characteristics of the material of the application in terms of abrasion resistance, friction and dilatometric coefficient which needed to settle on low values.

For this application, ATP has therefore developed the SINTEK 310, PTFE with carbon fiber and other special additives which has proven to have excellent compressive strength (and so the ability to keep constant the shape of the sliding surfaces) and high resistance to loads and stress. wear, while maintaining a very low coefficient of friction and limited thermal expansion.

Seals’ geometries have been developed in partnership with the customer according to the specific characteristics of the component, in order to allow the best performance.

Thanks to SINTEK 310 it was possible to find the right balance between innovation and defined standards, without accepting any compromise between functionality and reliability.

Testimony

“Thanks to this material we can offer an excellent product, able to meet the requirements of the application. The seals, if geometrized and made correctly, give an excellent sealing features, limiting the variations of the absorbed torque when the temperature changes “