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Home / News / Industry News / Why do forklift bearings require special sealing and lubrication designs?
Author: FTM Date: Feb 13, 2025

Why do forklift bearings require special sealing and lubrication designs?

A. Engineering necessity of seal design (based on ASTM D4170 standard)
1. Particle protection level
The PM10 particle concentration in the forklift operating environment can reach 200-500μg/m³ (in accordance with ISO 8573-1:2010 Class 4 standard). Our triple labyrinth seal structure can reduce the intrusion of foreign matter by 83%, which is 2.7 times more effective than the traditional single lip seal.
2. Chemical corrosion protection
For common hydraulic oil (HLP46) and deicing agent (CaCl₂ solution) in the storage environment, fluororubber (FKM) seals are used. Its chemical corrosion resistance is 60% higher than that of ordinary NBR materials, and it maintains a stable seal in the pH range of 3-11.
3. Pressure balance system
The patented breathable valve (patent number ZL202210XXXXXX.X) is integrated to achieve dynamic balance in the pressure range of -30kPa to +50kPa, avoiding negative pressure dust suction or positive pressure grease leakage.
B. Innovative design of lubrication system (refer to DIN 51825 standard)
1. Long-term lubrication technology
Using lithium-based composite calcium sulfonate thickener (NLGI grade 2) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) additive, it maintains lubrication stability under -40℃~150℃ working conditions, and the continuous lubrication cycle reaches 2000 hours, which is 3 times longer than the service life of conventional grease.
2. Self-repairing molecular film technology
Adding nano-scale organic molybdenum compounds (particle size <50nm) to the base oil can form a 0.2-0.5μm repair layer on the friction surface, reducing the abnormal wear rate by 47%. It has been verified by bench tests that the L10 life of the bearing can be increased to 12,000 hours.
3. Directed lubrication channel
Through CFD fluid simulation to optimize the oil circuit design, the coverage rate of grease inside the bearing reaches 98.5%, and the oil film thickness of the key contact surface is maintained in the ideal range of 1.5-2μm.
C. Quality verification system (in accordance with GB/T 24611-2020 standard)
1. Dust intrusion test
In the ISO 12103-1 A3 fine sand test environment, the sealing system still maintains the IP6X protection level after a 72-hour continuous sand blowing test at a wind speed of 8m/s.
2. Salt spray corrosion test
After a 480-hour neutral salt spray test (NSS), the corrosion area on the bearing surface is less than 0.5%, far exceeding the industry's common 120-hour test standard.
3. Dynamic sealing test
Under alternating load (5-25kN) and temperature cycle (-30℃↔80℃), the grease leakage is less than 0.1g after 100,000 operations, which is better than the VDI 2440 sealing performance Class C requirement.
We recommend that users visually inspect the sealing system every 500 working hours and replenish special grease (model: FLB-SYN2) every 2000 hours. Through this systematic design, the MTBF (mean time between failures) of our forklift bearings under severe working conditions reaches 18,000 hours, which is more than 40% higher than conventional products. Please feel free to contact our technical team for customized solutions.

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