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10 March 2020
Powered by the sun: 3,022km
through the desert
Aided by igus motion plastics, Team Sonnenwagen from Aachen raced its
way to the sixth spot at the World Solar Challenge
The goal of the World Solar Challenge
was to cover 3,022 kilometres of the
Australian desert powered only by the
sun. One of the participants was Team
Sonnenwagen from Aachen. To develop
their solar-powered car, the students
relied on the lightweight, wear-resistant
and lubrication-free iglidur plain bearing
technology made of durable tribo-polymers
from igus. This enabled the team
to comfortably finish sixth in the race.
From Darwin to Adelaide: 3,022 kilometres
across the Australian desert.
The participants of the World Solar
Challenge had exactly one week to cover
this distance. The cars could only be
propelled by solar power. The student
teams from all over the world developed
various vehicle concepts for this
purpose, demonstrating the colourful
diversity of sustainable technologies.
One of this year's participants of the
race came from Aachen. Team Sonnenwagen
participated in the biennial
competition for the second time and
finished in sixth place. This was enabled
by the plain bearing technology made of
iglidur tribo-polymers from the motion
plastics specialist igus.
"The bearings are immensely important
because they hold the car together,”
says Kersten Heckmann of Team
Sonnenwagen. "If a bearing fails, the
repair is extremely time-consuming."
In addition, the bearings used had to
be wear-resistant and lightweight. Because
the lighter the solar-powered car,
the more efficient it can drive and cover
a longer distance.
Sonnenwagen relies on the diversity
of igus tribo-plastics
The lightweight iglidur plain bearing
technology of igus can be found in
countless places in the solar-powered
car. Self-adjusting igubal clevis joints
made of iglidur J are used in the telescopic
mechanism for the solar car
cover and in the steering wheel. The
same material is also found in the form
of plain bearings in the suspension of
the rear wheels and in the steering gear.
The wear-resistant and lubrication-free
endurance runner has a very low coefficient
of friction on a variety of shaft materials,
especially in dry operation and
is vibration-dampening. An advantage
especially for the steering. In the hinges
of the cover lock there are also plain
bearings made of the material iglidur G.
The tribo-polymer is cost-effective and
has a high wear resistance.
Special solution printed quickly
The cover of the solar car posed a special
challenge to the team. The driver
must be able to open and close the car
independently when entering and exiting,
which was one of the rules of the
Challenge. A difficult task, because the
cover is 5 metres long, hardly one me-
Kiwi owned
company is No1
Kiwi owned and operated
business, TransDiesel Ltd, was
ranked number one in new construction
equipment sales in
2019. The business, with their
head office based in Christchurch,
received 15.9% market share in
this highly competitive sector.
TransDiesel was established over
30 years ago and has grown from
a small local supplier to being
New Zealand’s leading supplier
of construction equipment and
diesel engines in 2019.
The business is the sole supplier
of Volvo and Yanmar machinery
into the New Zealand marketplace
and, with the sale last year of
the New Zealand Caterpillar
dealership to a Malaysian conglomerate,
they are now one of
a very few 100% New Zealand
owned sales and service dealers
of heavy equipment and engines.
The annual sales results,
compiled by the New Zealand
Equipment Suppliers Association
placed TransDiesel first in sales
of excavators, dump trucks
and loaders, which collectively
accounts for over 80% of new
construction machines sales in
any given year.
“Over the past twelve months,
in a declining overall NZ market,
TransDiesel has sold an increased
level of equipment into the
regions which are enjoying
growth in the construction and
forestry, quarrying and civil works
sectors. Five years ago, we set a
goal to be the number one sales
and service organisation in our
industry and with the support
of our partners such as Volvo,
Yanmar and Perkins we have
achieved that in 2019. The next
goal is to sustain that over the
long term,” says Mike Mckessar
ceo of TransDiesel.
TransDiesel also has 45% market
share of the diesel engine
business in New Zealand, mainly
through supply to Original
Equipment Manufacturers (OEM)
who incorporate diesel engines in
their finished products.
In January, the company
was also appointed official
distributor of Shell motor oils
and lubricants in New Zealand.
Under the partnership agreement
TransDiesel will manage distribution
of Shell’s complete range of
products.
tre in width and weighs 25kg with the
solar cells. So far, the opening was jerky
and needed a lot of force. The problem
lay in the heavy, printed bearings made
of standard polymer. The team gave
an urgent order to igus for 3D printed
bearings made from high-performance
polymer iglidur I3. The laser sintering
material is characterised by its low coefficient
of friction and, like all iglidur materials,
is resistant to dust and dirt and is
ideally suited for the desert. Thanks to
the use of the printed bearing, the driver
now only needs a few seconds to get in
and out.
The young engineers support
promotes innovative projects
Projects such as Sonnenwagen from
Aachen are supported by igus as part
of the "young engineers support" (yes)
programme. With the university initiative,
igus and Treotham want to support
pupils, students and lecturers with free
samples, sponsorships and the development
of innovative projects.
Some 3,022 kilometres across the Australian desert: with
its solar car, Team Sonnenwagen took on the challenge.