August 2017

Columbus Calling

Summer never lasts as long as you want it to. By the time you read this, you'll be well into the hazy, lazy days, and the season will be gone before you know it. That means you're running out of time to make plans to attend our industry's most important event. Of course, I'm talking about Gear Expo (October 24 - 26) and the AGMA Fall Technical Meeting (October 22 - 24), both of which will take place in Columbus, OH.

Economic and Industrial Market Commentary - Gear Industry

At the mid-year point of 2017, it appears that the U.S. economy, and the manufacturing sector in particular, are gradually accelerating, with most markets seeing an upside breakout from the flat or down conditions of 2015 and 2016.

Determination of Maximum Loads for Drivetrain Components in Thrusters Using Flexible Multibody-System Models

The usage of modern thrusters allows combining the functions of the drive and the ship rudder in one unit, which are separated in conventional ship propulsion systems. The horizontally oriented propeller is supported in a vertically rotatable nacelle that is mounted underneath the ship's hull. The propeller can directly or indirectly be driven by an electric motor or combustion engine. Direct drive requires the installation of a low-speed electric motor in the nacelle. This present paper concentrates on indirect drives where the driving torque is transferred by bevel gear stages and shafts from the motor to the propeller.

FE-Based Approaches for Tip Relief Design

The deformation of the gear teeth due to load conditions may cause premature tooth meshing. This irregular tooth contact causes increased stress on the tooth flank. These adverse effects can be avoided by using defined flank modifications, designed by means of FE-based tooth contact analysis.

Efficient Hard Finishing of Asymmetric Tooth Profiles and Topological Modifications by Generating Grinding

In order to improve load-carrying capacity and noise behavior, gears usually have profile and lead modifications. Furthermore, in gears where a specified tooth-flank load application direction (for drive and coast flanks) is a design enhancement, or even compulsory, the asymmetric tooth profile is a further solution. Nowadays, many gears need to be hard finished. Continuous generating grinding offers a very high process efficiency, but is this process able to grind all modifications, especially asymmetric gears? Yes, it is!

Gear Expo 2017

AGMA Sets Up Shop in Living Laboratory of the Midwest. Columbus, Ohio recently surpassed Indianapolis as the second largest city in the Midwest behind Chicago, according to the United States Census Bureau. This could change come the 2020 census, but there's no denying Buckeye Nation is going places.

2017 Gear Expo: Gears, Machinery and a Whole Lot More

There is so much more to Gear Expo than gears or the machinery that makes them. That's because it takes much, much more to make a finished gear than even the most sophisticated machine. And it is exhibitors who are part of the "much, much, more" that are addressed in this article.

Gear Expo Showstoppers

Special Advertising Section featuring Gear Expo exhibitors.

Speed Matters - In Racing and in Hobbing

RCD Engineering's switch from manual to CNC hobbing operations breaks gear manufacturing lead time records with Bourn & Koch 100H in their gear production pit crew.

The Right Tool for the Job

When a gearbox remanufacturer is trying to decide whether to regrind or replace a gear, any number of factors could be running through their head. Here are some remanufacturers' processes on how they reach the conclusions they do, and why you should listen to them.

Skiving - A Manufacturing Renaissance

Skiving will be front and center when the gear industry comes together in Columbus this October. Attendees will find dedicated skiving equipment, multifunctional machines with skiving options and a slew of new cutting tools, machine designs and modifications to make the process more efficient and robust.

Hard Scudding - The Future Has Arrived

As the science of Scudding has rapidly evolved, the interest in the more advanced process Hard Scudding is increasing.

The Multifunctional Option

Toyoda's new GS300H5 Gear Skiving Center is the first in the world to equip a skiving function to a general purpose horizontal machining center (HMC), through which mass production of gear parts is achieved. CNC controls and a high speed rotary table were developed specifically to achieve high-speed, multifunctional machining, as a compact and lightweight product, simple in programming functions.

William Brunton: 19th Century Neglected - but Influential - Engineer

Faithful readers of this space know we sometimes like to use Addendum to give relatively unknown 19th Century mechanical engineers/inventors their well-deserved props. Like, for example, William Brunton (1777-1851), who is credited - but generally unknown - with inventing the Steam Horse, also known as the Mechanical Traveler.

Product News

The latest new products from EMAG, Emuge, Ransohoff, Seco Tools, Solar Atmospheres and more.

Industry News

Results from the 2017 Powder Metallurgy Design Excellence Awards, plus other news from around the industry.

New Gear Technology at EMO Hannover 2017

EMO is arguably the most important trade show when it comes to the introduction of machine tool technology, and this year's show - taking place from September 18-23 in Hannover, Germany - promises not to disappoint. We've talked to a number of gear manufacturing technology providers to give you a sneak peak of what you can expect to see if you attend this year.

An Event for All

WESTEC is positioning itself as an event for not only businesses of all sizes and interests, but also attendees of all ages.

Calendar

The complete technical calendar from the August 2017 issue of Gear Technology.