GGB (company)
| GGB | |
|---|---|
| legal form | |
| founding | 1899 |
| Seat |
Annecy , France
|
| Number of employees | 1,100 |
| Branch | Manufacture of plain bearings and polymer coatings |
| Website | www.ggbearings.com/de |
GGB (formerly IHG, then Glacier Garlock Bearings , then GGB Bearing Technology ), a subsidiary of the listed US American EnPro Industries , manufactures maintenance-free and marginally lubricated slide bearings and tribological polymer coatings for various industries and applications. The company has production facilities in the USA, Germany, France, Slovakia, Brazil and China. The company produces metal-polymer plain bearings, technical plastic plain bearings, fiber composite plain bearings, metallic and bimetallic plain bearings, pump glasses and thrust plates as well as plain bearing assemblies.
Products and Technologies
One of the company's strongest growth drivers was the development of the industry's first metal-polymer plain bearings with sintered bronze and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) overlay. These self-lubricating DU plain bearing bushes, which came onto the market in 1956, are still specified, manufactured and used by customers today. The insufficiently lubricated DX plain bearings launched on the market in 1965 are also still specified today and used in applications in which a thin lubricating film is required. Recent developments in materials technology at GGB include the development of a range of EP engineered plastic plain bearings as well as modern lead-free metal-polymer materials such as DP4 and DP10 and DP11 that meet the requirements of ELVVL, RoHS and WEEE for restricting hazardous substances. Since 2019, GGB has been offering the standard TriboShield series of tribological polymer coatings as well as customized TriboMate paired coatings to reduce friction and wear in systems. By layering the sliding-active elements in the polymer coating, the layer architecture ensures a lower coefficient of friction. The coatings also offer corrosion protection, weight and space savings, reduce the number of components and simplify the overall system. By using the tribological solutions, the use of lubricating grease or oil can be dispensed with in many applications.
Fields of application and industries
GGB plain bearings are used worldwide for a large number of demanding and highly technical applications. Noteworthy are e.g. B. the DU bearings, which are an important part of the drill that NASA's Curiosity rover uses to take soil samples on Mars. In the Curiosity rover, they serve as the main suspension components for the drilling spindle, which is crucial for the success of the mission. The DX bearings are z. B. used in the Lokomat Pro, a functional robot-assisted gait trainer to increase the mobility of people with neurological diseases or after accidents. GGB slide bearings can also be found in the Gateshead Millennium Bridge (monometallic maintenance-free slide bearings GGB-DB), in the mortise gates in the Panama Canal (hemispherical cast bronze bearings GGB-DB) and in the Xiangjiaba hydropower plant (fiber composite slide bearings HPM and HPF).
The company's plain bearings are used in the automotive industry, aerospace, agricultural and construction machinery, general industry and fluid technology, leisure equipment, the energy sector, oil & gas, the primary metal industry and many other branches of industry. Typical fields of application for polymer coatings are magnets, pumps and hydraulic systems, coated spindles for height and length adjustment, seat backrests and rail systems, as well as sliding locks.
Company history
GGB's beginnings go back to the 19th century when its products were used in the steam pistons of industrial plants. In the 21st century, the company was finally able to witness how its modern metal-polymer plain bearings flew to Mars on NASA's Curiosity rover.
timeline
1887: Olin J. Garlock invents a system for sealing piston rods in industrial steam engines in Palmyra, New York.
1899: Findlay and Battle found "Findlay Motor Metals". Two years later, the company was renamed "Glacier Antifriction Metal Company".
1910 - 1920: The manufacture of slide bearings begins as a result of the increasing demand for internal combustion engines.
1955: Patenting of a coating process for porous sintered bronze. Shortly afterwards, production of the industry's first metal-polymer plain bearings begins.
1956: Introduction of DU®, the world's first metal-polymer plain bearing bushes with a steel back, bronze and PTFE running layer.
1958: Garlock Inc. is founded as a Glacier distributor in the USA.
1965: Market launch of the insufficiently lubricated DX® metal-polymer plain bearings for grease and oil-lubricated applications.
1970 - 1980: Glacier issues technology licenses to several slide bearing manufacturers abroad. Licensees include: SIC (France) and Garlock Bearings (USA).
1974: Starting shot for the continuous casting of the SICAL series from aluminum alloys and the high-precision machining of pump glasses in Dieuze, France.
1976: Glacier and Garlock Inc. found a joint venture company: Garlock Bearings Inc.
1978: Introduction of the fiber composite plain bearing plain bearing materials in the USA, including GAR-MAX.
1986: Market launch of the metal-polymer sockets HI-EX for high temperature applications.
1995: Introduction of the lead-free DP4 metal-polymer plain bearing bushes for car shock absorbers and other hydraulic applications. Introduction of DP4-B with bronze back to improve corrosion resistance.
1996: Market launch of the new EP plain bearings made of engineering plastics.
2002: Goodrich Corporation spun off its technical industrial products division, creating EnPro Industries Inc., today's parent company
2003: Introduction of the lead-free DP31 metal-polymer bushings with improved performance under lubricated conditions. Glacier Garlock Bearings is increasing its activities in Asia.
2004: Glacier Garlock Bearings changes its name to GGB Bearing Technology. Opening of the new production plant in Sučany, Slovakia.
2007: Introduction of SBC (Sealed Bearing Cartridges) for off-highway machines and applications.
2008: Opening of a production facility in Suzhou, China; the new DX10 plain bearing material wins the Frost & Sullivan's Product Innovation Award in truck classes 7–8.
2009: Fiber composite plain bearings are introduced in the European and Asian markets; GGB North America is certified to AS9100DC (the aviation industry standard for quality management systems).
2010: Introduction of the lead-free DP10 and DP11 metal-polymer plain bearings to increase performance under poorly lubricated or dry conditions.
2012: The self-lubricating, machinable DTS10 metal-polymer plain bearing material is introduced for the areas of fluid technology and compressors. GGB plain bearings land on Mars on board NASA's Curiosity rover.
2013: Introduction of the new self-lubricating metallic plain bearings GGB-CSM and GGB-CBM as well as the two-part technical plastic plain bearings with double collar FLASH-CLICK.
2014: Introduction of a series of self-lubricating sintered bronze and sintered iron bushings, such as GGB-BP25, GGB-FP20 and GGB-SO16. Three plants are celebrating their anniversaries: the German plant in Heilbronn and the French one in Dieuze their fortieth, the plant in Sučany in Slovakia its tenth.
2015: Introduction of the self-lubricating, fiber-reinforced HPMB fiber composite plain bearings with machinable running layer and the lead-free bimetallic GGB-SZ plain bearings. The US Thorofare fiber-wound bearings facility is moving to a larger location nearby.
2018: Name change to GGB. Introduction of the self-lubricating tribological EP30 plastic plain bearing material for hydrodynamic applications.
2019: GGB introduces a new range of tribological polymer coatings as well as paired coatings. The UV-resistant EP15 plain bearing material is presented for the solar and outdoor industry. The specially designed PyroSlide 100 high-temperature plain bearing withstands temperatures of up to 800 ° C.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ [1] EnPro Annual Report 2019
- ↑ a b c Tom Austin-Morganr: What to Wear? January 13, 2016, accessed June 9, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c Achieve the optimal tribology in the system. Retrieved July 3, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c Ute Drescher: GGB introduces tribological polymer coatings. In: Konstruktionspraxis. January 28, 2019, accessed May 11, 2020 .
- ↑ Plain bearing tips . Retrieved March 31, 2016.
- ↑ Plain Bearings Shake a Leg . In: Machine Design , January 2008. Archived from the original on November 26, 2010 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ Falk Kay: Bearings Go A Step Beyond. In: OEM OFF-HIGHWAY. Retrieved March 31, 2016 .
- ↑ History of Palmyra .
- ↑ A world of camps .
- ↑ a b c d e f g GGB North America . Archived from the original on June 9, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
- ^ BF Goodrich Garlock Division Acquires Glacier Industrial Bearings from Dana Corporation . In: EBearing News , May 2001. Archived from the original on November 5, 2002 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved June 9, 2016.
- ^ New Bearing Facility in Slovakia Marks EnPro's Third New Facility Opening in Three Months . In: The Auto Channel , November 2004.
