The goal of gear drive design is to transit power and motion with constant angular velocity. Current trends in gear drive design require greater load carrying capacity and increased service life in smaller, quieter, more efficient gearboxes. Generally, these goals are met by specifying more accurate gears. This, combined with the availability of user-friendly CNC gear grinding equipment, has increased the use of ground gears.

Normandy overwhelmed me when I first went there several years ago. I was sobered by the sea of white crosses in the cemeteries, I was inspired by the memorials and their tales of courageous soldiers battling impossible odds, and I was horrified by the visions of carnage that came to me as I stood on the scarred beaches of one of the most significant conflicts in human history.

Q&A is your interactive gear forum.

Welcome to our Product News page. Here we feature new products of interest to the gear and gear products markets.

Complete Technical Calendar for July/August 2000.

Until recently, there was a void in the quality control of gear manufacturing in this country (Ref. 1). Gear measurements were not traceable to the international standard of length through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The U.S. military requirement for traceability was clearly specified in the military standard MIL-STD-45662A (Ref. 2). This standard has now been replaced by commercial sector standards including ISO 9001:1994 (Ref. 3), ISO/IEC Guide 25 (Ref, 4), and the U.S. equivalent of ISO/IEC Guide 25 - ANSI/NCSL Z540-2-1997 (Ref. 5). The draft replacement to ISO/IEC Guide 25 - ISO 17025 states that measurements must either be traceable to SI units or reference to a natural constant. The implications of traceability to the U.S. gear industry are significant. In order to meet the standards, gear manufacturers must either have calibrated artifacts or establish their own traceability to SI units.

The performance of metal surfaces can be dramatically enhanced by the thermal process of rapid surface melting and re-solidification (RMRS). When the surface of a metal part (for instance, a gear) is melted and re-solidified in less than one thousandth of a second, the resulting changes in the material can lead to: Increased wear and corrosion resistance, Improved surface finish and appearance, Enhanced surface uniformity and purity, and Sealing of surface cracks and pores.

Increased productivity in roughing operations for gear cutting depends mainly on lower production costs in the hobbing process. In addition, certain gears can be manufactured by shaping, which also needs to be taken into account in the search for a more cost-effective form of production.

Software Bits for January/February 2000.

Many people seem to be counting this year's Gear Expo in Nashville as a resounding success. There were 180 American and international exhibitors occupying over 50,000 square feet of exhibit space in the Nashville Convention Center, with total attendance of 2,700. This figure is dramatically down from past shows but that doesn't seem to be an issue with the show organizers. According to Kurt Medert, vice president of AGMA;s Administrative Division, even though attendance was off from the 1997 show, the exhibitors were pleased with the quality of the people who did come to the show. "This was an excellent show for us," said Marty Woodhouse, vice president of sales for Star Cutter Company and chairman of AGMA's Gear Expo committee. "Our customer base was there and they came to buy. It was very active."