Trelleborg Presents eBike Solutions at Eurobike
To support the sustainable shift in transportation to eBikes, seals must protect essential electronic components from dirt, moisture, and corrosion. Trelleborg Sealing Solutions custom manufactures high-quality seals made from state-of-the-art materials through close development partnerships with customers.
>>Find out more about Trelleborg solutions for eBikes
As the leading event for bicycle and light electric mobility, Eurobike shapes the transformation of the bicycle from a recreational and sports vehicle to a key component of a sustainable mobility shift in response to global challenges including climate change, digitalization, urbanization and demographic shifts. Trelleborg Sealing Solutions world-leading research and development creates new materials and solutions to support the transition with customized products that ultimately enable a better and more durable eBike riding experience.
Application-specific solutions for sustainable eBikes
Components showcased by Trelleborg Sealing Solutions include application-specific sealing solutions for batteries, drives and human-machine interfaces (HMI displays). These include housing seals, bearing and shaft seals, seals made of liquid silicone rubber (LSR) and multi-component solutions. Trelleborg will also demonstrate how it tests its seals for specific applications using its own test scenarios.
"For eBikes to achieve a long and sustainable lifespan and resource efficiency, the small, inconspicuous components are more important than ever," explains Samuel Schmid, Account Manager at Trelleborg Sealing Solutions.
Seals protect components like accumulators, motors and gearboxes from water, moisture and dust as well as from vibrations. "The requirements for components and seals have changed significantly with eBikes compared to traditional bicycles," Schmid notes.
"Especially when it comes to continuous loads, eBikes often cover thousands rather than hundreds of kilometers per year. This also applies to the materials themselves, which must withstand environmental influences, so the entire sealing system needs to be robust, or damage is often just a matter of time."
Collaborating for tomorrow’s eBikes
Manufacturers of eBike components benefit from close development partnerships with Trelleborg, ideally starting in the early design phase, with a focus on solving specific sealing challenges. This means considering the entire mechanics of an application. Trelleborg’s R&D team simulates the size, material, friction loss and lifespan of a seal based on the given application, reducing typical prototyping iterations from seven to two cycles, reducing overall costs. This type of collaboration offers optimal utilization of Trelleborg's sealing expertise, which in turn accelerates the entire development process and reduces time-to-market for eBike manufacturers.
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