PEEK replaces grease in pivots that cannot be lubricated: gripper fingers, end-effector wrists and cleanroom slides. Robotics & Automation duty is high cycle count, oscillating motion and zero tolerance for play; the material is what decides whether the bearing survives it.
| Industry duty | very high duty cycle, small oscillating displacements and stiffness demands |
|---|---|
| Typical media | clean air, occasional grease starvation at reversal points |
| Housing temperature | 0 to +60 °C |
| Material and grade | PEEK polymer |
| Hardness | — (polymer, 90 Shore D) |
| Temperature ceiling | 250 °C |
| Corrosion / chemical | most chemicals and solvents |
| Relative cost | ≈5× a polymer, 1/3 of ceramic of a standard 52100 bearing |
An end effector is washed, sterilised or simply kept clean, and a greased ball bearing in a gripper finger is a contamination risk out of proportion to its cost. A PEEK bush runs dry against a hard anodised or stainless pin, needs no seal and no maintenance, and its wear is visible at inspection rather than hidden inside a sealed unit.
| Position | Bearing type | Material / finish | Why it works there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gripper finger pivot | PEEK bush | PEEK bush, carbon-fibre filled | Dry, clean, millions of small movements. |
| End effector wrist | PEEK thrust washer | PEEK thrust washer | No grease near the product. |
| Cleanroom slide | PEEK bush | PEEK bush on a hard-anodised rail | Low particle generation compared with a greased ball bush. |
| Material | Fit here | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|
| PEEK | Best fit | Dry pivots at low PV, where grease would contaminate. |
| POM | Workable alternative | Cheaper for light, clean, low-temperature pivots. |
| Bronze | Workable alternative | Higher load where an oil film is available. |
Only at very low PV. For continuous rotation a ball bearing or a bronze bush with an oil film is the correct choice.
Millions of cycles at low load. The limit is usually the counterface wear, not the bush.
Yes, a few hundred cycles during which it transfers a film to the pin. Keep the load low during that period.
Hardness, temperature, corrosion and equivalents for PEEK.
Read →Typical duty, recommended types and suffixes for robotics.
Read →Joints & reducers — robot joint reducers, harmonic drive supports and linear axis carriages.
Read →Cleanroom & washdown — cleanroom, pharmaceutical and food-handling robots.
Read →Send the position, bore size, quantity and the medium it sees. We reply with the material certificate, clearance class, lubricant and price within 30 minutes on working days.