Freudenberg’s Levitex® Tech Transforms Automotive Engine Seals

With U.S. fuel efficiency standards reported to nearly double in the coming years, Freudenberg’s Low Emission Sealing Solution (LESS) components are designed to enable automakers meet these stringent new limits while launching cleaner, more efficient vehicles to their customers.

As OEMs strive to meet a government-mandated fleet average of 54.5 mpg by 2025—and even more stringent restrictions in Europe, every component, which includes seals, have to play a critical role in attaining industry success. Freudenberg’s premiere portfolio of LESS products comprise components that reduce friction losses in traditional drive systems, help optimize the combustion process, support downsizing and the start-stop systems, as well as enable overall weight reduction.

Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies is underscoring various LESS products at this week’s SAE 2016 World Congress at Cobo Center in Detroit. At the core of this superior portfolio is the company’s Levitex® technology.

According to Matthew Chapman, Global Director of Marketing, Automotive, Freudenberg-NOK, they are gratified to have their Levitex seals on display at SAE. “We invite all of our customers to stop by our booth to experience this remarkable technology, as well as a wide variety of other LESS components that have all been designed to address our customers’ most challenging emission, performance, weight and fuel economy requirements.”

The Levitex crankshaft seal is claimed as a revolution in engine seals. A gas lubricated face seal, it functions with a cushion of air reducing both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by as much as one gram per kilometer driven. A 1.0g reduction in CO2 emissions is the equivalent of about 0.2 mpg savings in gas for a vehicle rated at a 33 mpg.

At the core of a Levitex seal are two rings, one of which is securely attached to the crankshaft and the other to the housing. One of the rings feature specially designed grooves that are only a few micrometers deep. While the crankshaft rotates, the air is dragged against the sealing dam enclosing the grooves. These grooves taper to a closed tip, and thereby produce a cushion of air that separates one sealing surface from the other. This stable air gap creates an almost frictionless seal for the engine.

Industrial facilities nowadays still use gas-lubricated face seals. To ensure smooth transfer of such technology from one industry to another, Freudenberg-NOK has manufactured a patented seal for the internal combustion engine operating in extreme temperatures ranging from -40 to 150˚C , resistant to water and dust and can be easily installed in the increasingly smaller, more powerful engines and powertrains of today. Moreover, Levitex seals also operate well under increased engine pressure and vacuum conditions.

Apart from Levitex seals, Freudenberg-NOK is also displaying an array of LESS products at the SAE World Congress, including PEEK bearings, accumulators, Plug & Seals curve gaskets and plug connectors.

The LESS portfolio is on display at booth 1229.