The gear industry lost one of its iconic figures in July when James Cervinka passed away at the age of 92. Jim was CEO and one of the founders of Arrow Gear. For 65 years, he was a gear man, and I can’t help but feeling that his absence shrinks the gear industry by far more than the loss of just one man.
We talked with a number of major
companies in the midst of their planning
and strategizing for IMTS 2012,
with the thought of determining just
how much things have in fact changed
for exhibitors regarding the trade show
experience.
Capstan Atlantic, located in Wrentham, Massachusetts, produces powder metal gears, sprockets and complex structural
components. The company has provided unique powder metal products in a variety of industries including automotive, business machines, appliances, lawn and garden equipment
and recreational vehicles.
Except for higher-end gear applications
found in automotive and aerospace transmissions, for example,
high-performance, sintered-steel
gears match wrought-steel gears in strength and geometrical quality. The enhanced P/M performance is due largely to advances in powder metallurgy over last two decades, such as selective surface densification, new materials and
lubricants for high density and
warm-die pressing. This paper is a
review of the results of a decade of
research and development of high- performance, sintered-steel gear prototypes.
Gear tooth wear and micropitting are very difficult phenomena to predict
analytically. The failure mode of micropitting is closely correlated to the lambda ratio. Micropitting can be the limiting design parameter
for long-term durability. Also, the failure mode of micropitting can progress to wear or macropitting, and then go on to manifest more severe failure modes, such as bending. The results of a gearbox test and manufacturing process development program will be presented to evaluate super-finishing and its impact on micropitting.