Reducing Shock Load on Mechanical Transmission Systems

The shock load transferred into a mechanical transmission system during a hard motor start is easy to overlook because the damage it causes builds up gradually rather than showing itself immediately. Each direct on-line start can transfer significantly more force into gearboxes, couplings and shafts than a controlled start would, and that repeated stress accumulates into fatigue over time.

Integra from Suresense addresses this directly through its soft, step-less acceleration. By ramping the motor up gradually rather than instantly, the torque delivered to the transmission system builds progressively, which considerably reduces the peak shock load experienced with every start cycle.

For equipment that starts frequently, whether that's several times a shift or several times an hour, this reduction in shock loading has a meaningful effect on the working life of transmission components. Fewer premature failures mean less unplanned downtime and lower spend on

replacement parts, both of which tend to outweigh the direct cost of the motor controller itself over the equipment's service life, on top of the energy savings Integra delivers during normal running.

Sites experiencing recurring gearbox or coupling failures on frequently started equipment are often dealing with exactly this kind of cumulative shock damage, even where no single start appeared to cause an obvious problem.