Abstract
- Why do conveyor systems fail, and how can we prevent it? Wear in plastic slide rails often leads to costly downtime, inefficient maintenance cycles, and wasted resources. In my talk, I will present a novel real-time wear monitoring system that addresses these challenges and paves the way for predictive maintenance in intralogistics and beyond. After a brief explanation of why such a system is necessary, I will present the fundamental principle of our monitoring system: an electrically conductive sensor track that is integrated directly into the slide rail. This enables wear detection during ongoing operations without any interruptions. The presentation will walk through the development process step by step. This includes the creation of new sensor materials based on UHMW-PE with conductive carbon fillers, followed by detailed experimental investigations. Tribological pin-on-disc tests revealed wear and friction behavior, while electrical experiments using the 4-wire sensing examined conductivity, temperature coefficients, and contact resistance. Together, these results formed the foundation for reliable in-situ monitoring. I will also present the design of the sensor rail geometry and supporting numerical simulations, as well as the construction of a dedicated test bench and tailored measurement electronics. First test data confirm that the system meets the tribological performance of conventional rails while providing acceptable wear signals. Finally, the talk will give an outlook on future improvements and research directions, showing how this approach can reduce downtime, cut maintenance costs, and increase sustainability in conveyor technology. Don't miss this opportunity to discover how digital transformation and material innovation come together to make tribological systems smarter, safer, and more efficient.