How to make elevators safer and maintenance-free

摘要

The 530m tall CTF Finance Centre in Guangzhou, China, which is due for completion later this year, will house the world's fastest lift. At 20 metres per second (m/s), it travels as fast as an Olympic cyclist, reaching the top floor in just 43 seconds. However, speed is not everything. Lifts must be compact and safe, and require little or no maintenance. Whether they are operating in skyscrapers or two-storey apartment blocks, the systems underpinning them - ropes, pulleys, bearings and seals, for instance - must be robust and reliable.