Festo launches new range of high-quality, low-cost pneumatics

Festo's new DSNUP series of pneumatic cylinders, for example, feature technopolymer* end caps, stainless steel piston rods and aluminium barrels, and have a list price that is some 30 per cent lower than their interchangeable all-metal DSNU counterparts. Available with piston diameters of 16, 20 and 25mm, the DSNUP cylinders feature ISO swivel mounting and threaded end and bearing caps to simplify installation.

The company is also introducing a compact cylinder with technopolymer end caps incorporating push-in tube fittings; known as the ADNP, this cylinder costs 20 per cent less than its equivalent all-metal version. The cylinders are suitable for simple automation tasks such as controlling gates and flaps, and for simple clamping and holding functions. Their high chemical resistance makes them eminently suitable for food processing and packaging applications, and their low weight will prove particularly advantageous to OEMs developing automated handling systems.

Plastic valves

Festo is also launching a series of technopolymer-based valves, which are available as individual components, as well as fully assembled and tested valve manifolds. The new VB12 valves feature a body moulded entirely from IXEF 1022 glass-filled polyamide, resulting in a very cost-effective, low-weight design. Complementing the existing 20mm wide bodied range, the valves accommodate air flow rates from 200-1000 litres per minute. Festo performed extensive analysis of the valves to determine the optimum design that provides a similar rigidity to metal vales, as well as ensuring good leakage values and preventing any misalignment of embedded contacts. This analysis included forensic materials science techniques using dynamic x-ray analysis. Detailed thermal analysis - using worst-case scenarios of overdriven co-located solenoids and elevated ambient temperatures - has confirmed that the valves provide 100 per cent reliability at ambient temperatures of up to 50degC.

Steve Sands, Festo's Product Manager, comments: "The shape of the pneumatics market is changing. 'Fit for purpose' has been spoken about for a long time but, as credit and cost squeezes continue, the focus is becoming very clear. The market is becoming increasingly polarised by the demand for higher technology or highly adapted products at one end, and basic low-cost products at the other. And despite the obvious sales potential for low-cost products, this is not Festo's traditional market strength, and we have not entered this market lightly. Festo has conducted a rigorous materials R&D programme to develop the necessary computer-based modelling and analysis tools to ensure that we can utilise the right materials in the optimum way. With our manufacturing experience and volumes we now consider it technically and commercially viable to replace more metal parts in pneumatic valves and cylinders with injection moulded components. The use of polymer materials achieves only a part of the potential savings; equally important are the ongoing innovations in manufacturing, assembly and logistic processes to help hone down the total production costs."

Sands also points out that these latest products from Festo are likely to enjoy rapid market take-up: "We believe that the introduction of these high-quality, low-cost pneumatics products represents a major opportunity for UK-based OEMs and systems integrators who, until now, have struggled to compete with companies that use unbranded low-cost imports."

* About the technopolymers

Festo is using materials such as IXEF 1022, which is a 50 per cent glass-fibre reinforced polyarylamide compound that can be readily processed in conventional screw-type injection moulding machines. With careful design, components manufactured from a combination of these materials and metal components can deliver the same reliability as their all-metal counterparts, but with significant cost savings. Festo's materials development programme has looked closely at ensuring that components have compatible thermal coefficients of expansion. Further extensive study has been carried out into compact solenoid valve assemblies, either allowing for or eliminating heat hot spots and taking into account all mounting configurations and ambient conditions.

Finished technopolymer parts exhibit high strength and rigidity, combined with good dimensional stability, plus they have a high surface quality and gloss, and provide excellent creep resistance at high stress levels. This combination of attributes make the material an excellent replacement for metal. The technopolymer used by Festo has a tensile strength of 260MPa (at 50 per cent RH), which is similar to that of mild steel, and a coefficient of thermal expansion of 15x10-6K-1. Moreover, unlike metal it also has the major advantages of being a good electrical insulator, with excellent environmental resistance characteristics.