Additive manufacturing allows components to be manufactured flexibly. This manufacturing process is particularly suitable for products with a unique character. In the production of large components, which have previously been manufactured by casting, this offers the advantages of greater flexibility in design and the elimination of the need to build molds that are only used once for unique items. To manufacture large components additively, a consortium of five companies is developing a new 3D printer for XXL products. For quality assurance, IPH - Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover has implemented two monitoring systems. These capture the geometry using three laser line scanners and regulate the manufacturing process during printing using two different software systems.
XXL products, large components, additive manufacturing, 3D printing, quality control
What factors influence the running behavior of idlers? How do they behave in heat and cold; how resistant are they to water and dust? All this can be investigated with the new test rigs at IPH. Even motor-driven idlers are tested there.
idlers, rollers, test rig, belt conveyor system, bulk material handling, energy efficiency
3D printing of large mechanical engineering components with a unique character, such as ship gearbox housings, has great development potential as so-called additive manufacturing. As an alternative to casting with complex mold construction, additive manufacturing of such large products offers significantly greater design freedom. To this end, a consortium of research institutes and companies from Hanover, Langenhagen and Hamelin is jointly developing an XXL 3D printer with an installation space of 4.5 m * 3 m * 1.4 m. The printer will be used for the production of large parts.
Additive Manufacturing, 3D printing, XXL-products, Production of unique pieces, quality control
Whether transporting salt, sugar or any other bulk material, belt conveyors are ideal for achieving a continuous mass flow. Important components of belt conveyors are idlers. These support the belt and the bulk material on it. The Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover (IPH) has developed a test rig for the examination of idlers.
idlers, rollers, bulk material handling
Belt conveyor systems are an excellent way of conveying bulk material. With increasing load and transport distance, these systems become larger and energy efficiency becomes an important factor. Rollers are an integral part of belt conveyor systems. The running behaviour of idlers during operation has an impact on the energy efficiency of the entire system. The development of driven idlers is seen as one way to reduce the energy consumption of belt conveyor systems. This contribution shows that the investigation of conventional and driven idlers under different conditions is necessary and that a test rig for the investigation of these idlers has been developed at the Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover.
idlers, rollers, driven idler, bulk material handling
Belt conveyor systems are an excellent way to handle bulk material. As loads and distances increase, those systems become bigger and energy efficiency becomes an important factor. The energy consumption of belt conveyor systems is primary determined by the drive power. The drive power is the sum of the main drive power and the power of all intermediate drives, if present. The implementation of driven support rollers allows to reduce the load on the conventional drive based at the head of a conveyor system, by splitting it to multiple driven rollers. The main drive can be build smaller, which leads to a lower energy consumption and therewith to cost savings during the production. Furthermore, driven rollers enable the concept of modular belt conveyor systems, what would be impossible with the conventional head drives. This gives planners more flexibility for engineering new or modifying existing conveyor systems.
Despite the great opportunities and promising characteristics of driven rollers, they yet have not been used in daily operation. Without having sufficient knowledge about the behavior of driven rollers under certain conditions, as heat or cold, and the economic efficiency of them, the benefit is questioned. To bridge the lack of knowledge, investigations and research need to be done. A test rig for driven rollers is indispensable to develop this technology into a marketable commodity. At the same time a test process needs to be implemented.
This paper gives an overview about driven rollers and an accurate insight in the development of a test rig for investigating driven rollers. With this test rig, the use of driven rollers can be simulated under certain climatic conditions. Moreover, different loads and speeds can also be simulated by using state-of-the-art technology.
Driven roller, belt conveyor system, energy efficiency, test rig, cost savings
