Resistance was also expected by a Märtens customer from the textile industry. Kevlar was cut to size on the rod network belts produced by us using a laser cutting machine. However, the conveyor belts were damaged relatively quickly in the process because the laser has to run at full power when processing Kevlar, whereas other textiles only require 50% of the maximum power. The belt roughened at the burned areas. This led to adhesions, which in turn had a negative effect on the cutting results of other textiles. After just three weeks of use, the burnt-in impurities could no longer be removed, so the finished products had to be reworked at great expense.
A BLOG FROM
Best Practice
Well done!
Rod network belts made of heat resistant wire
Analysis by Märtens
Our Area Sales Manager North, Steffen Schwiewager, got to the bottom of the problem with his colleagues:
"At our headquarters in Flensburg, we examined a section of the belt and were able to confirm the severe damage caused by exposure to the laser. After consulting with our wire supplier, we recommended a heat-resistant wire and provided three samples made of 1.4310, K2390 and K2390HT (High Temperature), although we did not initially inform the customer which sample was made of which material."
The customer carried out cutting tests with it at the same intensity and then sent the samples back to us. In this way, the Märtens team found that the sample made of the K2390HT material developed by us was by far the least damaged.
Improving the situation
Based on these results, we supplied a belt made of K2390HT. Mr. Schwiewager saw the positive effects of the change for himself on site: "A few weeks after installation, I visited our customer again. It turned out that our belt suffered significantly less damage. As a result, there is less sticking and contamination. Initially, the time-consuming reworking of the finished products was completely eliminated and is necessary to a much lesser extent even after a longer service life." The customer is very satisfied and has since ordered all replacement belts made of the K2390HT material.
