Proven, predictable, tested - our test laboratory

"plastics for longer life®" - igus® materials are manufactured in accordance with this guiding principle. Our products are designed with great passion to extend the service life of machines and applications, eliminate maintenance and reduce costs. For our engineers, the quality and safety of workpieces, i. e. their resilience and service life, is an important criterion in development. For this, we operate the largest test laboratory in the industry, in terms of area, and conduct the highest number of product tests and test procedures.

What is tested?

Our total area for testing applications and materials covers 3,800 m². Every business sector has its own test laboratory and we test some product areas together. On 1,500 m² we are testing the chainflex cables in our own energy chains. For extra long travels, there is 2,000 m² of outdoor space available. The iglidur plain bearings, drylin linear bearings and our Low Cost Automation components are tested over 300 m². The latter partly under real conditions in quality assurance.

We have been working together for years with the renowned Fraunhofer IPA Institute to ensure that the requirements for our cleanroom applications are verified under the correct conditions. A laboratory for noise testing and the -40°C climatic chamber dreaded by igus employees complete our test area. To achieve maximum realistic conditions, we also test customer applications and conduct industry tests.

What happens to the test data?

The use of the data obtained from the test laboratory with various test methods does not stop even after development. It is clear that they are essential for the new and further development of our materials and products. However, our customers also have the advantage of being able to access our experience, the test results and the materials technology that has grown out of them, in a processed form: over the web, igus offers numerous tools free of charge to help you to choose and buy the right products:

Test in the test laboratory and igus online tool

Dr.-Ing. Ralf Selzer, Head of Research and Development of plain bearings at igus

How many tests are conducted in the test laboratory?

Annually, a large number of tests and material examinations are conducted at the numerous test facilities:

Out of over 15,000 tests, around 4,000 for e-chains and chainflex and around 11,000 for dry-tech (rotating, pivoting, linear, tumbling, heated, under water, and so on.)
450 test rigs for bearings
10 billion e-chain cycles
3,500 tested cables
400 customer-specific examinations

What are tribo-polymers?

Tribology is the science of friction and wear. Tribologically optimised plastics are those that exhibit minimal friction behaviour and low wear rates. Base polymers, solid lubricants and reinforcements are combined in our dry-tech products in such a way that the bearings, unlike those made of metal, do not require additional lubrication, all desired characteristics are met and only the slightest friction, heat generation and abrasion occur." - Dr.-Ing. Ralf Selzer, Head of Research and Development of plain bearings

Manual fastening of plain bearing in test rig

We test your application

You do not wish to experiment but you want to test materials for your application before use? Or do you have an unusual application and are looking for a suitable solution? No problem. We will test your application in our test lab and will use our expertise to find the best igus® solution for you. No matter whether plain bearing, energy chain, cable, linear technology, bar stock or Low Cost Automation.

Make a request now!