AGMA is THE professional trade association for the gearing and mechanical power transmission industry. AGMA was founded in 1916 to provide focus and collaboration between companies – to develop standardization for the industry. The focus has not changed in nearly 100 years of the work and development of the published standards for our industry. But there is a lot more to an AGMA membership than standards, and understanding what AGMA offers and how it works will help you and your employees better use your AGMA membership.
As a trade association, AGMA provides memberships to entire companies rather than to individuals. As our memberships are company-based, all individuals who work for our member companies receive benefits from their AGMA membership. AGMA has robust membership benefits for all levels of employment.
All member company employees can choose to receive electronic communications from AGMA. Sign-up to receive our Tuesday AGMA Industry News, a summary of the week’s relevant manufacturing articles from over 2,000 newspapers, magazines, and trade publications. And also sign up to receive the AGMA Member News, sent every other Thursday, this e-newsletter provides the latest press releases from AGMA member companies as well as relevant news from the AGMA office on upcoming training and events.
Stay relevant by attending an AGMA training event, taking an on-line course or watching a webinar. AGMA now has 7 advanced training courses, specific to needs of our industry, as well as our flagship Basic Training for Gear Manufacturing, where all levels of members spend 4 days in Chicago getting classroom and hands-on training on the fundamentals of the industry. AGMA has converted two courses to the eLearning environment to assist with distance and/or busy schedules. And we are continuing to build our library of webcasts and offer several new topics throughout the year. Members receive discounts on all AGMA training.
AGMA’s events, seminars, and meetings throughout the year provide outstanding networking and relevant business and technical information. Executives are afforded exclusive access to other gear manufacturing and bearing executives each spring at the AGMA/ABMA Annual Meeting. The SRN events are filled with up and coming professionals. Executives, Managers, and the Sales Professionals will not only network, but also get the latest economic information at the Spring and Fall Marketing & Forecasting Conferences. And Engineers and Technical Staff stay informed by attending the Fall Technical Meeting.
AGMA offers several rather specialized benefits that help AGMA member employees do their job more effectively. HR professionals can post all their open jobs to the AGMA website for free. Sales teams can stay in front of buyers through their free opt-in listing in the AGMA Marketplace. And training professionals use the free AGMA Skills Assessment Tool to more easily keep track of competencies of their staff members as well as help them gain new skills.
Industry and Salary Surveys provide data members need to stay ahead of competitors by benchmarking income and benefits with others in the industry. The Gear Market Report is a forecasting subscription service that puts comprehensive industry numbers in your hands each quarter. The Monthly Market Trend Report tracks actual booking and shipment data from domestic manufacturers of gears and flexible couplings. The Operating Ratio Report is a profitability and cost study based on data reported by gear manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada. Our two Wage and Benefits Reports provide needed information to keep and continue to hire the best in the industry on both the production worker side as well as management and technical specialties.
AGMA is the standards organization for the industry. But that is just a small part of membership. Don’t miss out on the benefits that reach into each staff member of your organization. Sign up for our e-newsletters today and visit the AGMA website for complete information.
Get Involved in New Project Revising AGMA 925
The AGMA Helical Gear Rating Committee has started a new project to update the Information Sheet AGMA 925-A03, “Effect of Lubrication on Gear Surface Distress.”
Currently, AGMA 925 gives methods for calculating elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) film thickness and predicting the probability of wear, and methods for calculating the contact temperature and predicting the probability of scuffing. As part of the revision project, the committee is planning to update these methods and wishes to develop a method for predicting the probability of micropitting. See below for additional info on micropitting, its causes and it assessment within ISO and AGMA.
To enhance its current broad acceptance within the industry, the committee aims to make the revision project a multi-disciplinary effort that includes people from the gear industry, lubrication industry, academic and industrial researchers in tribology, and anyone interested in the tribology of gear teeth.
A special discussion of this project will be held during the 2014 Fall Technical Meeting, October 12-14 in Arlington, VA.
The issues to be discussed during this new project include:
What is Micropitting?
• Fatigue surface damage on surface hardened gear teeth
• Damage starts in the first 104-106 cycles
• Also called gray staining, frosting, peeling
• Micropitting may arrest after running in
• Concern in wind turbines and high speed gear applications – but can happen in any application
Causes of Micropitting
• Gear tooth geometry, macro- and micro-
• Surface roughness
• Lubricant viscosity
• Coefficient of friction
• Load
• Tangential speed
• Oil temperature
• Lubricant additives
ISO Assessment of Micropitting
• ISO/TR 15144-1 Calculation of micropitting load capacity of cylindrical spur and helical gears – Part 1: Introduction and basic principles
• Calculates a safety factor against micropitting
• Local specific lubricant film thickness > Permissible specific lubricant film thickness
• No recommendation for Sl,min – this is to be set based upon experience and reliability expectations
• Does not predict whether micropitting is progressive
Status of ISO/TR 15144-1
• The technical report was recently reaffirmed.
• Predominantly used in the wind turbine industry.
• An ISO technical report is similar to and AGMA information sheet – informative in nature
• In their meeting in August 2014, ISO TC 60/SC 2/WG 15 voted to start work to convert ISO/TR 15144-1 to an international standard
• An international standard can be specified by certification bodies, customers, and end users
AGMA Assessment of Micropitting
• AGMA 925-A03 Effect of Lubrication on Gear Surface Distress
• Describes micropitting
• Provides suggestions to avoid micropitting
• Discusses standardized testing to determine micropitting resistance of lubricants
• No predictive calculations
Status of AGMA 925-A03
• Currently an AGMA Information Sheet
• Future
• Must add considerations to evaluate micropitting risk
• Does the US agree with the use of safety factor to determine risk? AGMA traditionally only uses service factor when load is the main contributor of failure
• Does the calculation method for specific and permissible film thickness in ISO/TR 15144-1 match US experience with industrial gearing?
We Need Your Help!
AGMA has started a project to update AGMA 925-A03, and we invite participation from interested individuals and companies who will be affected by an ISO standard.
Contact Amir Aboutaleb at AGMA (aboutaleb@agma.org) to get involved.
Registration Now Open for 2015 AGMA Education Programs
AGMA is getting ready for 2015 and another packed year of training opportunities for the gear industry. Whether you’re involved in engineering, the shop floor, sales, or management, there are programs designed for your professional development.
In addition to AGMA’s seminars listed below, additional education will be available through webinars throughout the year, and at Gear Expo 2015. Details on the webinar schedule and Gear Expo programs will be available in the near future.
2015 Seminar Schedule
February 18-20
Gear Materials: Selection, Metallurgy, Heat Treatment, and Quality Control
Clearwater Beach, FL
March 24-26
Gearbox CSI – Forensic Analysis of Gear & Bearing
Failures
Concordville, PA
April 13-17
Basic Training for Gear Manufacturing
Chicago, IL
May 4-6
Gearbox System Design: The Rest of the Story…Everything But the Gears and Bearings
Clearwater Beach, FL
June 9-11
Bevel Gear System Design, Manufacture, Heat Treatment, Inspection & Application
Rosemont, IL
June 15-17
Gear Failure Analysis
Big Sky, MT
September 21-23
Gear Failure Analysis
Big Sky, MT
September 29 – Oct. 1
Detailed Gear Design – Beyond Simple Service Factors
Rochester, NY
November 3-5
Gear Manufacturing & Inspection: Methods, Practices, Application & Interpretation for the Design Engineer
Las Vegas, NV
Many of AGMA’s courses sold out in 2014, and the association anticipates strong demand for education again next year. Registration is now open for all of the following programs at www.agma.org.
