Powder metallurgy (P/M) techniques have proven successful in displacing many components within the automobile drive train, such as: connecting rods, carriers, main bearing caps, etc. The reason for P/M’s success is its ability to offer the design engineer the required mechanical properties with reduced component cost.

Some results of evaluation by this method in the automotive industry.

There are great advantages in dry hobbing, not only for friendliness toward the environment, but also for increasing productivity and for decreasing manufacturing cost. Dry hobbing, however, often causes failures in hob cutting edges or problems with the surface quality of gear tooth flanks. These difficulties are not present when hobbing with cutting oil. Pinching and crushing of generated chips between the hob cutting edge and the work gear tooth flank is considered a major cause of those problems.

Instances of damage to discontinuous form ground and surface-hardened gears, especially of large scale, have recently increased. This may be attributed partly to a faulty grinding process with negative effects on the surface zones and the surface properties.

Hobs, broaches, shaper cutters, shaver cutters, milling cutters, and bevel cutters used in the manufacture of gears are commonly made of high speed steel. These specialized gear cutting tools often require properties, such as toughness or manufacturability, that are difficult to achieve with carbide, despite the developments in carbide cutting tools for end mills, milling cutters, and tool inserts.

Flexibility and productivity are the keywords in today’s grinding operations. Machines are becoming more flexible as manufacturers look for ways to produce more parts at a lower cost. What used to take two machines or more now takes just one.

Recent breakthroughs in profile grinding software are helping Anderson Precision Gears and others meet wind power’s insatiable appetite for faster production of large, high-quality gears.

The Association for Manufacturing Technology has its elected new officers at their 2004 conference in Bonita Springs, FL. David J. Bu...

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The MarVision from Mahr Federal is designed to provide a mid-sized solution for high precision applications that require multiple modes o...