This article by Reishauer AG summarizes the insights gained from digitization in the machine tool sector, highlighting the long-term collaboration between the two companies. ZF Getriebe Brandenburg GmbH, distinguished by a team of over 1,500 specialists, leads in producing exclusive manual and dual-clutch passenger car transmissions used in high-end German sports cars for maximum precision and performance. A crucial factor in the quality of these transmissions is the precise ground gears manufactured on machines from Reishauer AG, a Swiss pioneer in gear grinding machines. 

As a community, we gear engineers collaborate and share ideas to progress our collective capability. Technology progresses based on our efforts, and we have seen solid advances in the performance of our products as they become quieter, cheaper, more efficient, and more power dense. The pages of this magazine (past and present editions) are filled with examples where talented engineers have dug deeper into a subject using a more precise approach to a particular area concerning gear performance. The implied belief is always that greater precision (complexity) in the calculations brings greater accuracy (alignment with reality).

This paper presented some steps to get more insight into the effect of meshing damping on the dynamic response and noise emission of a two-stage gearbox transmission system. For this purpose, two variants of the model with different gear materials, one with plastic gears and one with steel gears, were considered. Both variants were designed for the same number of cycles of operation with similar root and flank safeties. The forced response analysis of the models was carried out and the exciting reaction bearing forces were calculated to evaluate which model can achieve better NVH characteristics results with lower noise emission from the housing.

Wind power has emerged as one of the most important sources of renewable energy in recent years. The global wind power capacity was estimated to be 837 gigawatts in 2021 (statista.com). In the United States alone, wind is the largest source of renewable electricity, providing 10.2 percent of the country’s electricity and still growing (cleanpower.org/facts/wind-power/). However, to ensure maximum power generation, the efficiency and reliability of the wind turbine are critical.

Heidenhain’s new PlantMonitor is a digital solution to aid the manufacturing shop floor. Now available for companies interested in simultaneously monitoring and analyzing production data at multiple sites utilizing machine tools where at least one is equipped with a Heidenhain TNC control/StateMonitor software combination per site, this new PlantMonitor can aggregate the data onto one screen for review. Machine tools using even non-Heidenhain controls can be included and monitored.

Tremec and Klingelnberg have been working together with regard to tool and gear measuring machines since 1993.  They recently collaborated on transmission technology with Speed Viper machine tools. 

KISSsoft Release 2022 will be launched in June. The beta release, available now, gives users a first impression of the new KISSsoft features and includes numerous new software functionalities. 

SMT will offer the webinar “Transmission Development with SMT” on March 29-30, 2022.