Shaft Couplings for high performances & high-quality drives
KTR has extended its portfolio for various applications over the past few years, and is now in a position to offer the mechanical and plant engineering industry a wide range of couplings for torques of up to more than 750.000 Nm.
A few of the products include steel lamina couplings, curved-tooth gear couplings, jaw couplings and pin and bush couplings, as well as clamping sets and overload systems for high performances.
Pump drives: Increasingly higher power - CLAMPEX®
Clamping sets such as the KTR 400 are suitable for use on high-load drives when only the shaft and hub have to be connected. Thanks to the coupling, the drive "forgets about" potential displacements which may be produced, for example, by the different heat expansion of the motor and pump. The coupling should be torsionally flexible with many applications in order to dampen vibrations and shocks in the drive system. This will help to increase the service life of the adjacent components.
Compact pin and bush coupling for high torques - ROTEX®
ROTEX® was first presented over 40 years ago and is designed for many applications. The double-cardanic version ROTEX® ZS-DKM is widely used in the pump industry. Depending on the design, the ROTEX® coupling is available for torques of up to 70.000 Nm. To meet higher powers in heavy industries, KTR developed the REVOLEX® KX.
Short design, torsionally flexible and fail-safe - REVOLEX® KX
As a torsionally flexible, fail-safe pin and bush coupling, the REVOLEX®KX consists of a pin hub on which steel pins are mounted and a bush hub with bores engaging the pins. Tapered elastomer rings ensure the torsionally flexible torque transmission between bore and pin. It is possible to replace the elastomers while they are mounted, facilitating easy service and assembly. The standard range of REVOLEX®KX is produced in 14 sizes up to a rated torque of 380.000 Nm, which is available from stock. Apart from the pump industry and conveyor technology, the main application ranges are drives of large fans, compressors and turbines.
Wind power: Couplings for plants up to a power of 6 MW - RADEX®-N
The RADEX®-N torsionally stiff steel lamina coupling has proven its worth, among others, in steel mill drives and compressors. The stock of RADEX®-N has recently been supplemented with extra sizes up to RADEX®-N330-8, which has a maximum torque of 560.000 Nm. The latest generation of wind power stations with a power of up to 6MW is supplied by KTR shaft couplings, extending the service life of the drive system.
Integrated overload system - new developments
In addition to the above programmes, KTR have started to develop a new range of high-quality applications. KTR found that one of the main customer demands was overload cases without the need to replace the worn parts. Their solution was to produce couplings which absorb such overload up to 1000 times to protect the gearbox against harmful loads, at the same time reducing the amount of servicing required.
Couplings for diesel engines up to 1000 kW - BoWex®
Based on a solid market position for drives with small to average power, the range has been continuously extended for bigger performances. While the torsionally rigid curved-tooth flange coupling BoWex® FLE-PA is used as a connection between diesel engines and hydraulic pump for an engine power up to approximately 500 kW, the highly flexible BoWex® ELASTIC-HE can be used for an engine power up to 1000 kW.
New material combinations and production methods
KTR's in-house test centre has numerous servo-hydraulic and rotating test benches allowing detailed tests on drive systems for torques exceeding 100.000 Nm, where new couplings are subject to tests regarding service life and load. Due to increasing demands on the products, a test chamber to stimulate extreme environmental conditions and artificial ageing of materials and components is available.
Enlargement of production facilities
The production facilities at the headquarters in Rheine, Germany, have been expanded considerably. In the latest machining centres, couplings with a unit weight of up to 2000 kg can be machined with the highest precision. Some of the new lines are used in wind power stations, marine drives and large pump sets.
Support with selection
Over 100 KTR engineers support the user with their coupling selection by computer-aided torsional vibration analysis, stiffness calculations based on FEM and tests in the test centre. More than 20 KTR locations employ more than 750 employees throughout the world, who co-operate closely with the customers and develop new and customised coupling lines or combinations. The wide KTR range provides the ideal requirements for an optimum coupling selection for the customer's applications.
For more information, please contact:
KTR Couplings Ltd
Sheffield, UK
Phone: +44 (0)114 258 7757