The turbines are still spinning. They’re spinning on large wind farms in the Great Plains, offshore in the Atlantic and even underwater where strong tidal currents offer new energy solutions. These turbines spin regularly while politicians and policy makers— tied up in discussions on tax incentives, economic recovery and a lot of finger pointing—sit idle. Much like the auto and aerospace industries of years past, renewable energy is coping with its own set of growing pains. Analysts still feel confident that clean energy will play a significant role in the future of manufacturing—it’s just not going to play the role envisioned four to five years ago.

A response to last issue's "Ask the Expert" feature on efficiency of hypoid gearing.

Super-reduction hypoid gears (SRH) are bevel worm gears with certain differences regarding hypoid gears. If two axes are positioned in space and the task is to transmit motion and torque between them using some kind of gears with a ratio above 5 and even higher than 50, the following cases are commonly known. Tribology Aspects in Angular Transmission Systems, Part VIII.

Hypoid gears are the paragon of gearing. To establish line contact between the pitches in hypoid gears, the kinematically correct pitch surfaces have to be determined based on the axoids. In cylindrical and bevel gears, the axoids are identical to the pitch surfaces and their diameter or cone angle can be calculated simply by using the knowledge about number of teeth and module or ratio and shaft angle. In hypoid gears, a rather complex approach is required to find the location of the teeth—even before any information about flank form can be considered. This article is part seven of an eight-part series on the tribology aspects of angular gear drives.

In this paper a new method for the introduction of optimal modifications into gear tooth surfaces - based on the optimal corrections of the profile and diameter of the head cutter, and optimal variation of machine tool settings for pinion and gear finishing—is presented. The goal of these tooth modifications is the achievement of a more favorable load distribution and reduced transmission error. The method is applied to face milled and face hobbed hypoid gears.

Today, because of reduced cost of coatings and quicker turnaround times, the idea of all-around coating on three-face-sharpened blades is again economically viable, allowing manufacturers greater freedoms in cutting blade parameters, including three-face-sharpened and even four-face-sharpened blades.

This article presents a summary of all factors that contribute to efficient and economical high-speed cutting of bevel and hypoid gears.

Spiral bevel and hypoid gear cutting has changed significantly over the years. The machines, tools, processes and coatings have steadily advanced.

How the latest techniques and software enable faster spiral bevel and hypoid design and development.

In addition to the face milling system, the face hobbing process has been developed and widely employed by the gear industry. However, the mechanism of the face hobbing process is not well known.