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Testing with a cool head - Zwick testing machine at ebm-pabst

Zwick testing machine at ebm-pabst

The ebm-pabst Group is the world's leading manufacturer of innovative high-efficiency motors and fans. In the product development department Zwick testing machines play their part in helping to make products better - only to be optimized themselves in the process.

Top product quality is only achieved by keeping it in mind right from the start – of this Klaus Kramer is certain. As a member of the Reliability and Testing department of ebm-papst's R&D headquarters in St. Georgen (Germany) he is responsible for the qualification of mechanical connections on motors and fans. He can call on a varied range of testing and measuring equipment for his work, including two Zwick table-top testing machines. These can accurately measure forces from 0.4 N to the maximum value of 20 kN and are actually intended for materials testing. "But that's just one of the areas we use them for here," confides Kramer. The department also uses the AllroundLine machines for testing glued, crimped and welded connections, springs, strain-relief bushings, breaking strengths and for flexure tests during in-depth investigations of rubber magnets.

If for example a new motor is being developed, he and his colleagues measure the strength of the magnet bonding and the force at which the pressed-in shaft becomes detached from the rotor or ball-bearing. Establishing these limits helps designers to optimize the design of new products. They are also essential in order to enable the production department to set press-in force limit values accurately on their machines. This plus close collaboration with the project teams ensures that ebm-papst is able to offer products which meet customers' requirements.

Kramer's searching eye does not confine itself to the company’s products, however. Some time ago he noticed that the fan which cools the control electronics of the testing machine frequently switched on during the testing process, announcing itself clearly and audibly as it did so. During the next visit by a Zwick representative the problem was discussed, proposals were drafted and solutions were tested in the ebm-papst air and acoustics laboratory. The testControl II measurement and control electronics now benefit from an ideal airflow, generated by an emb-papst 3414 NG fan which draws in cool air below; the waste heat generated by the electronics is then transported away with the rising warm air.

The optimised table-top testing machine is meanwhile ensuring optimum product quality at an additional point in the value stream. For new automotive projects ebm-papst recommends that customers and suppliers use a Zwick machine to obtain proven qualityand achieve reproducible test results at the supply stage.

Details

  • 64625 Bensheim, Germany
  • Zwick

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