Starting our 101st year at AGMA has been a year of renewal and innovation. We have a new president, a new chairman, and most importantly, a new strategic plan to guide our efforts for the next five years. Our strategic plan is not lip service or a document that will sit on the shelf collecting dust until it’s time to create a new one five years from now. Instead, it is a living document that is changing how AGMA provides value to the membership, and this will be on full display at this year’s Gear Expo.
The strategic plan focuses on four things — industry voice, emerging technology, education, and the global marketplace — and when you come to Columbus, Ohio, on October 24-26, you will experience all four of these ideas with new programs designed to bring more value to your Gear Expo experience.
Industry Voice is the term that has been defined as AGMA making an effort to look at gears within the broader mechanical power transmission industry and to become a bridge between our organization and other organizations that work in this space.
You might have seen that Gear Expo has the tag line “The Drive Technology Show” in its logo and marketing materials. This is a result of AGMA and the Trade Show Advisory Committee recognizing that the gear industry is more than just opening gearing, and the show is more than just machine tools for the gear industry — the gear industry and its customers are looking for complete solutions to complex manufacturing problems.
At Gear Expo 2017, visitors will be able to see the latest products from the full range of mechanical power transmission products: gearboxes, open gearing, bearings, lubrication, and much more.
AGMA has made a concentrated marketing effort this year to bring more gearing customers than ever before, so you will be able to network with engineers and buying teams from the automotive, off-highway, aerospace, and industrial industries that are looking for power-transmission solutions for their products.
Gear manufacturers will still be able to take advantage of the broad range of machine tools, cutting tools, heat treat, and other products that can help make their facilities more productive and more profitable.
The goal of Gear Expo is to make it a “one stop shop” for manufacturers to be able to compare products, see the latest technologies, and meet with potential and existing suppliers all in one place in a short period of time.
Emerging technology also will be on display at Gear Expo 2017. We are building our first ever Smart Manufacturing pavilion where you can learn how to get started with the industrial Internet of Things (IoT) in your plant. The Solutions Center will feature keynote speakers on the IoT, providing real-world case studies of how small investments in building a smart factory can reap new intelligence on your manufacturing process and your bottom line.
There also will be a keynote presentation Thursday, October 26, from Jay Rogers, co-founder of Local Motors. Local Motors is an outsider in the automotive industry — creating additive manufactured vehicles based on open-source designs. In addition to the keynote presentation, Local Motors also will have a vehicle on display so you can see how far this technology has come in a short period of time, and a Local Motors engineer will be on hand to answer any questions about the vehicle and the manufacturing process.
Education continues to be a growing driver for AGMA, and by extension, Gear Expo. This year there are nine courses available on a broad range of topics from basic gear manufacturing processes to advanced engineering techniques to gearbox maintenance and repair.
These short courses, all taught by gear experts with decades of knowledge, are designed to pack practical information into a 4- or 8-hour seminar so you and your colleagues can get the training you need while still leaving time to network with your peers and see the latest technologies on the show floor.
The Solutions Center, located on the exhibit floor, also provides education in the form of more than 20 short, free, presentations by exhibiting companies showcasing the latest process and technology improvements that can be seen in-depth at the exhibitors’ booths.
Gear Expo is truly a global marketplace for the gear industry. Exhibitors and attendees come from more than 30 countries to the show, providing the best networking opportunity of 2017. Being able to interact in person with your customers and suppliers from all over the world at one time provides an invaluable opportunity that is not to be missed.
I look forward to welcoming you all to Gear Expo this year in Columbus. Make sure to stop by the AGMA booth to find out more about our year of innovation and how the strategic plan can help build your company’s success.
See you in Columbus!
Jenny Blackford
Vice President of Communications
AGMA
2017 Education Courses
Education at Gear Expo Fall Technical Meeting
October 22-24, 2017 | San Diego, California
AGMA’s Fall Technical Meeting is a three-day conference that covers the gear industry’s latest research and technical developments. Presentation topics include design, analysis, manufacturing and application of gears, gear drives, and related products, as well as associated processes and procedures.
Papers will be presented in these sessions:
- Session I: Efficiency, Lubrication, Noise, and Vibration
- Session II: Manufacturing, Inspection, and Quality Control
- Session III: Application, Design, and Rating
- Session IV: Materials and Heat Treatment
- Session V: Gear Wear and Failure
Taming Tooth Deflections:
The Case for Profile Modifications
Instructor: Raymond Drago, Drive Systems Technology
Tuesday, October 24, 8 a.m. – noon
Pack your “bag of tricks” with knowledge of how teeth deflect, what involute interference really is, the potential consequences of inadequate profile modifications, and the differences between tip relief, flank relief, and fully modified profiles. Students learn how to calculate tooth deflections under load and, most importantly, how to modify a gear set properly to completely eliminate involute interference. Finally we will examine the optimum drawing definitions for profile modifications and how to interpret involute inspection charts to determine if the drawing required profile modifications have actually been produced on the gear set.
Basics of Gearing
Instructor: William Mark McVea, KBE+, Inc.
Tuesday, October 24, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Wednesday, October 25, 8 a.m. – noon
Dramatically improve your knowledge and productivity through Basics of Gearing. This course will be presented in a day and a half and will give you a comprehensive overview of standard gearing nomenclature, gear involute geometry, inspection procedures, and much more.
Why Bearings are Damaged
Presented By: American Bearing Manufacturers Association
Tuesday, October 24, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
AGMA, in cooperation with ABMA, is offering this course on rolling-element bearings for those involved in industrial equipment design, reliability, and maintenance. It will include a basic overview of rolling bearings; their selection, precision, and mounting considerations; service life estimation; and lubrication-related influences. A hands-on damage analysis session is the featured portion of this program.
Gearbox Field Inspection – Load Distribution,
Lubrication and Condition Monitoring
Instructors: John B. Amendola, John B. Amendola III, Dereck Yatzook, Artec Machine Systems
Wednesday, October 25, 8 a.m. – noon
Gears can fail due to various damage patterns. In this study, the combined influence of shaft misalignments and gear lead crown on load distribution and tooth bending stresses is applied to real-world circumstances. Both the operator and designer must consider gear tribology. The focus of the second topic of the seminar will be placed on lubrication. Gearbox diagnostics and service are critical to the field-inspection process. During the third part of this discussion, the instructors will explore these concepts in depth.
High Profile Contact Ratio Gearing: Concept,
Advantages, Comparison & Cautions
Instructor: Raymond Drago, Drive Systems Technology
Wednesday, October 25, 8 a.m. – noon
Explore just what High Profile Contact Ratio (HCR) gears are and under what circumstances they can be an advantage. Learn when HCR gears are not appropriate and why. This fast-paced session will cover the detailed tooth geometry changes required to effectively achieve optimum performance and benefit. We will discuss how the load distribution along the involute profile changes when the contact ratio increases above two. Because of the longer, generally more slender teeth on an HCR gear, the heat treatment and profile modifications required for good performance are distinctly different from those for a standard contact ratio gear. The load capacity rating of HCR gears requires the application of modified AGMA analyses as the AGMA Standards specifically do not address gears with profile contact ratios greater than 2.0, thus we will also cover the changes required to successfully rate HCR gears.
Reverse Gear System Engineering — Why, When & How — (Avoiding Pitfalls…and Litigation!)
Instructor: Raymond Drago, Drive Systems Technology
Wednesday, October 25, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Reverse engineering a gear system is a not too unusual task, and in many, but not all, cases the process goes well, thus it is easy to become complacent. It is important, however, to fully understand the process and the best practice procedure for reverse engineering a gear system. Failure to fully follow best practice can result, at best, in an unhappy gear user, but in the worst case it can lead to expensive, time-consuming, and reputation-damaging litigation. We will discuss the basic types of reverse engineering. The need for understanding the operation of the system in which the gears will be used, the conditions that led to the need for the project, and especially, the specific nature of the failure that occurred, if that is the reason for the project, are key, often ignored, elements of the process.
How to Read and Interpret a Gear Inspection Report
Instructor: William Mark McVea, KBE+, Inc.
Thursday, October 26, 8 a.m. – noon
This presentation intends to provide you with a thorough understanding of the information contained within a typical gear-inspection report. Specifically, we will look at the contents and meaning of the information contained within the gear charts, as well as the techniques used by the gear measurement system to assess gear quality. An explanation of basic gear-measurement techniques, how measurement equipment and test machines implement these techniques, and how to interpret the results from these basic measurements will be covered. We will also discuss how to interpret the results and what corrective actions may be considered if the quality of a particular gear is unsatisfactory.
Gearbox Maintenance
Instructors: John B. Amendola, John B. Amendola III, Dereck Yatzook, Artec Machine Systems
Thursday, October 26, 8 a.m. – noon
Most industrial gearboxes are designed and manufactured according to well-established gear standards such as AGMA, API, ISO, and DIN. These standards are conservatively written. Yet gearboxes do fail. The predominant cause of gearbox failures is the result of a lack of maintenance or poorly misapplied maintenance. This presentation will address how to successfully establish and apply a maintenance program that will markedly extend the life and service of a functioning gearbox.
Materials Selection and Heat Treatment of Gears
Presented by: AGMA and ASM International
Thursday, October 26, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Because of their unique contribution to the operation of so many machines and mechanical devices, gears have received special attention from the technical community for more than two millennia. New developments in gear technology, particularly from the materials and heat-treatment perspectives, have improved gear performance. This course, developed jointly by AGMA and ASM International, will provide an overview of materials selection and heat treatment of gears.
Gear Expo will again be co-located with Heat Treat 2017
October 24-26, 2017 | Greater Columbus Convention Center
Heat Treat 2017, the biennial show from the ASM Heat Treating Society, is considered the premier, can’t-miss event for heat-treating professionals in North America. This year’s conference and expo will feature an exciting mix of new technology, exhibits, technical programming, and networking events geared toward the heat-treating industry.
