Obsolete — read this before sizing the line
The Schneider Electric GBX1600031384D is flagged obsolete by the manufacturer, so it is no longer flowing out of the factory channel and has to be sourced through independent distribution. It is a planetary gearbox in the GBX family, Ø 160 mm housing with a 3:1 straight-tooth reduction — the compact frame that typically pairs with a servo or stepper in a mid-size motion axis.
Torque envelope and the 30,000-hour duty cycle
Continuous output torque is 400 N.m and the maximum output torque lands at 640 N.m — so the gearbox can absorb peak overloads roughly 1.6× its continuous rating without immediate damage, but the 30,000-hour figure on the service-life line is the number the maintenance planner should engineer against, not the headline peak. Maximum axial force is 6000 N at 100 rpm over 30,000 hours and rises to 8000 N if the duty envelope is capped at 10,000 hours at 30 °C; maximum radial force runs 4200 N / 6000 N across the same two duty envelopes — a chain or pulley pull must stay below the relevant figure for the expected service life, not bump up against the rating as if it were unlimited.
Stiffness, backlash, inertia — what they do at the axis
Torsional rigidity is 38 N.m/arcmin and maximum torsional backlash is 6 arc.min — a few arc-minutes of slop is fine for conveyors and mixers but starts to bite on a high-indexing servo axis where positioning repeatability matters. Moment of inertia sits at 12.14 g.cm² — relevant when the gearbox sits in front of a stepper or low-inertia servo, because reflected inertia scales by the square of the reduction ratio and a 3:1 stage amplifies the load contribution it adds to the motor.
Mechanical life, lubrication, and the IP54 shaft seal
The box is lubricated for life at 30 °C / 100 rpm for 30,000 hours, so there is no oil-port routine on the maintenance schedule — but that rating is at the stated reference conditions, and a warmer enclosure or a faster shaft will shorten the interval. The shaft seal at the output is IP54 (splash- and dust-resistant rather than washdown-rated) and the housing is black anodized aluminium with a C 45 steel output shaft — suitable for a panel-side or IP54 enclosure interior, not for a food-and-bev zone that demands IP69K. Efficiency is 96 % and noise level is 70 dB at 1 m, no-load — a one-stage planetary will sit near this figure under load too, which keeps audible signature low in a cell-side cabinet.