Maximum safety

Kendrion has excellently equipped test laboratories in Villingen-Schwenningen and Aerzen, and is currently building an additional extensive laboratory in China. On the numerous different test benches, brakes can be tested in advance under all operating conditions in the field. The customer benefits from optimum safety regardless of the particular application.

"No matter what conditions occur later in use - we can simulate them in our test laboratories," emphasizes Bernd Fürst from Kendrion. "This includes special loads as well as extreme temperatures and humidity." Basically, the test labs are used for worldwide quality assurance and qualification of customer projects, with the same processes being applied at all locations. Among other things, the test rigs can be used to determine the torques and switching times of brakes under the influence of temperatures ranging from -60...180 °C/humidity range 10...98% rH.

It is also possible to simulate life cycles on the basis of torque, speed and torsion angle. The safety parameters B10, B10d for safety-critical applications can also be determined at up to 15 switching operations per second. "However, we also use the test laboratories for basic investigations, for example in the testing of new types of friction linings," describes Philip Sewelies from Kendrion. "In this way, we are prepared for new applications and can respond flexibly to our customers' requirements." Speaking of flexibility: For customer-specific requirements, Kendrion builds individual test benches as needed, which can also be used to simulate special operating conditions. This allows customers to take advantage of Kendrion's know-how and shorten their time-to-market periods.

In order to always remain at the cutting edge of technology, all test labs are continuously updated and supplemented when necessary. Currently Kendrion is working on an increased automation of the processes: This reduces the setup effort and also the testing time. "Thanks to increasing automation, standard tests can be performed faster," concludes Philip Sewelies. "This gives our team more time to take care of individual customer requests or development projects.