Focus on high-performance slewing drives: panoramic insights into the development of key technologies at home and abroad

In the modern industrial field, slewing drive as a set of load capacity and deceleration function in one of the important mechanical transmission products, its performance directly affects the operating efficiency and stability of many mechanical equipment. The development of high-performance transmission and drive technology is the core element to promote the process of industrial automation and intelligence.

1.Overview of slewing drives

Slewing drives usually consist of worm gears and worm shafts, slewing bearings and motors. Worm gears and worm shafts reduce speed and increase torque, slewing bearings withstand axial and radial forces and tilting moments, and motors provide power. Slewing drive has a compact structure design, which makes it possible to achieve high-precision slewing motion control in a limited space, and is widely used in engineering machinery, industrial robots, solar tracking systems, port machinery and many other fields. For example, in the crane of construction machinery, the slewing drive is responsible for the 360-degree slewing of the boom, which requires high load carrying capacity and accurate positioning control; in the joint parts of industrial robots, the slewing drive needs to ensure fast response and repeatable positioning accuracy to complete complex operational tasks.

2.Current status of foreign development

(1)Advanced technology and products

Europe, America, Japan and other developed countries are in a leading position in high-performance slewing drive technology. Represented by Germany, it has profound attainments in precision gear transmission technology, using advanced manufacturing technology and high-precision processing equipment to produce gear transmission systems with extremely low tooth backlash and ultra-high transmission efficiency.

(2)Expansion of application areas

In the aerospace field, foreign advanced transmission and drive technologies help aircraft achieve more efficient flight control. For example, the attitude adjustment mechanism of satellites adopts high-precision slewing drive to ensure that satellites are accurately pointed in space to meet the needs of communication, observation and other tasks. In the automated production line of automobile manufacturing, the high-performance joint drive system of industrial robots realises fast and precise parts assembly, improving production efficiency and product quality.

3.Status of domestic development

(1)Technological breakthroughs and catch-up

In recent years, China has made significant progress in high-performance transmission and drive key technologies. In the field of precision reducers, some enterprises have continuously improved the transmission accuracy and reliability of slewing drives through independent research and development, and gradually narrowed the gap with the international advanced level. Some companies have made breakthroughs in the research and development of harmonic reducers, and their product performance has been able to meet the needs of some medium and high-end applications.

​In terms of servo system, domestic enterprises have increased investment in research and development, and have made progress in the universality and self-tuning technology of the slewing drive. But overall, compared with foreign advanced products, there is still a certain gap in performance stability and intelligence.

(2)Industrial development trend

With the transformation and upgrading of the domestic manufacturing industry, the demand for high-performance slewing drive products continues to grow, which promotes the rapid development of related industries.

4.Gaps and challenges

(1)Core technology gaps

Although we have made breakthroughs in some technologies in China, we still rely on imports in some core technologies, such as high-end gear materials and manufacturing processes, design and control algorithms of high-performance servo motors. Foreign enterprises have long-term accumulation of patents and technical secrets in these key technologies, forming high technical barriers.

(2)Reliability and stability

In terms of product reliability and stability, there is a gap between domestic products and foreign advanced level. This leads to some of the application scenarios that require very high stability of equipment operation, the market competitiveness of domestic products is weak. For example, in the industrial automation production line with long continuous running time and complex working conditions, foreign transmission and drive products can maintain a more stable running state.

5.Future outlook

Whether domestic or foreign, the key technology of high-performance slewing drive is developing in the direction of intelligence, high efficiency and energy saving, high precision and high reliability. In terms of intelligence, the self-diagnostic and self-adaptive capabilities of the slewing drive will be further enhanced to achieve intelligent operation and maintenance of the equipment. The research and development of high-efficiency and energy-saving technologies will reduce energy consumption, in line with the development trend of green manufacturing. With the continuous improvement of product precision and quality requirements in various industries, high-precision slewing drive technology will continue to be upgraded. At the same time, the reliability and stability of products will be continuously improved through material innovation and structural optimisation.