AGMA, ASM, GRI Address Advanced Surface Engineering for Gears

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Last March ASM International, the Gear Research Institute, and the American Gear Manufacturers Association sponsored the highly successful "Symposium on Advanced Surface Engineering for Gears." The one-day event was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel near the Detroit Metro Airport and attracted 83 attendees, in addition to the 12 scheduled speakers. Co-chairs of the event were Sandy Dapkunas of NIST, chair of the ASM Surface Engineering Task Force, and Suren Rao of the Gear Research Institute of Penn State University.

Presentations on several processes for modifying gear surfaces were followed by presentations on the needs of the automotive, aerospace, and off-road industries. An open discussion at the end of the symposium addressed trends, opportunities, and future material research and development needs in gear technology.

The following day, ASM cosponsored a Gear Industry Vision 2025 session. Thirty-five gear and mechanical power transmission industry visionaries from the United States, Europe, and Asia spent the day exploring the future of this industry. Topics ranged from research to training, from modeling to testing, and from cost to quality-of-life. This phase of the effort was funded by a group of U.S. companies, agencies, societies, and institutes committed to the long-term success of gears in mechanical power transmission.

"The next step will be to use this Vision to direct the development of an R&D Roadmap," according to session organizer Bruce Boardman, FASM, manager of metals research at the John Deere Technology Center. "That activity will be lead by Neil Anderson and coordinated within ASME, AGMA, GRI, and ASM, and is patterned to follow the process ASM developed for the Heat Treat Industry Vision and Roadmap."

Sponsors of the event were the AGMA Foundation, the ASME Board on Research and Technology Development, the Ben Franklin Institute, Boeing, the Gleason Foundation, GM Powertrain, and John Deere. Among the attendees were Ron Bullock of Bison Gear & Engineering; David Burns of the Gleason Corporation; Bipin and Linda Doshi of Schafer Gear Works, Inc.; Joe Franklin of AGMA; Donald Houser of Ohio State University; David Kraninger of the Horsburgh & Scott Company; Donald McVittie of Gear Engineers, Inc.; Todd Smith of the Dana Corporation; Robert Wasilewski of the Arrow Gear Company; Bryan Young of SEW-Eurodrive, Inc.; and Fred Young of the Forest City Gear Company.

For more information about participating in the visioning process, please contact Michael J. Kenney, Ph.D., ASM education director, at mkenney@asminternational.org. Also call Rego Giovanetti at (440) 338-5151, or send e-mail to rgiovane@asminternational.org. The organization’s Web site is [www.asminternational.org].