Archives

As an innovative leader in production technology, Felsomat provides highly efficient and flexible systems for the transmission and engine manufacturing industries.

Based in Koenigsbach Stein, Germany, Felsomat GmbH was founded in 1981 by Helmut F. Jaeger — initially manufacturing small pick-and-place devices and simple automations systems. In 1990, Felsomat became a trendsetter in the machine tool industry with its introduction of the FZ 250 compact cell. This automation system revolutionized the way in which small gears […]

Pitch factor analysis is an analytical tool that can be used for comparison of different gear geometry solutions by exploring the characteristics of involute gear mesh parameters that define gear drive performance.

In comparison with traditional gear design based on pre-selected, typically standard generating rack parameters and its addendum modification also known as the X-shift, the alternative Direct Gear Design® method [1, 2] provides certain advantages for custom high-performance gear drives that include increased load capacity, efficiency, and lifetime and reduced size, weight, noise, vibrations, and cost. […]

Comparing different material combinations and testing conditions, results are presented from an accelerated testing procedure for polymer gears to provide a more accurate calculation of gear temperatures.

Plastic gears have been in use since the 1950s, and their popularity has increased significantly in the last few years. The mass production of plastic gears using injection moulding and newly developed plastic materials have additionally increased the application of plastic gears in automotive and medical areas. The primary advantages of plastic gears are low […]

A case study demonstrates the benefits of advanced mesh analysis, including design and application of optimized microgeometry through precision tooth form grinding. Recommendations can be applied at the design phase to optimize gearing performance or, reactively, to identify root cause of failures.

Through a case study involving pinion failures on plastic extruder drives, this paper covers failure analysis, gear rating review, application of advanced mesh analysis to define component deflections causing loaded mesh misalignment, and reduced tooth contact/high stress concentration resulting in tooth macropitting. The paper demonstrates the capability and benefits of advanced mesh analysis, including design […]

As a leader in advanced honing technology with a 90-year-old history, Gehring meets current demands and future challenges through innovative solutions, excellent training opportunities, and a customer-care philosophy.

Gehring L.P., located in Farmington Hills, Michigan, was founded in 1976; however, its parent company, Gehring Technologies GmbH headquartered in Ostfildern, Germany, is celebrating 90 years of innovation in the field of honing technology. At IMTS 2016 in Chicago, Gehring featured machine demonstrations of its newest products, professional expert advice, and presentations on the company’s […]

Celebrating its 70th anniversary, Riley Gear Corporation partners with OEMs in a wide range of industries to provide custom gears, precision gears, high-speed gears, and gearboxes — building upon its design, engineering, and manufacturing expertise.

Riley Gear was founded in 1946 in Buffalo, New York, by Walter Riley and his son, Donald. They began with a mission of providing its customers with highly engineered small precision gears for applications that can withstand the harshest environments. For example, in 1974, Riley Gear was chosen by NASA as the gear supplier on […]

A history of excellence and experience spanning 100 years has made Radiac Abrasives the go-to manufacturer for conventional bonded and superabrasives.

Radiac Abrasives, a Tyrolit company, has been a leading manufacturer of conventional bonded and superabrasives in North America for more than a century. As a leading full-line producer of grinding wheels, Radiac offers more than 50,000 precision-built products of high quality, performance, and repeatability for virtually every manufacturing application. The company’s longevity can be attributed […]

From an innovative machine builder in the 1940s to a leader in deburring machines, Redin Production Machine looks toward continued opportunities to provide its customers with customized solutions.

Based in Rockford, Illinois, Redin Production Machine was started in 1938 as an engineering firm by Cliffton Redin and his father to design labor-saving production machines. In its early days, the company became recognized as an innovative builder of these special-purpose machines. In 1948, Redin patented a machine that improved parquet flooring by placing a […]

Results are presented from a redesigned powder metal transmission that has been tested for durability, vibration, overload, and breaking load.

A 6-speed manual transmission was redesigned and optimized using powder metal steel as the gear material. The design work was comprehensive and included deformations of the housing, shaft, bearings, bolts, and gears, as well as varying temperature conditions and loads. Paired with extensive gear fatigue data, the analysis showed that powder metal (PM) gears would […]

As a repeatable process that follows specifications and procedures in order to improve resistance to fatigue and stress corrosion cracking, shot peening has valuable benefits for gears.

While everyone is familiar with sand blasting, people erroneously believe that shot peening is the same thing. However, the two processes are completely different. Blasting is a cleaning process, while peening is a surface enhancement process that alters the surface of the object being peened. In more technical terms, shot peening is a cold working […]

When an automotive gear being manufactured every six seconds required deburring in two separate locations, this powertrain manufacturer turned to Abtex for a customized deburring system that resulted in enhanced efficiency and productivity.

Since 1980, Abtex Corporation — headquartered in Dresden, New York, the Finger Lakes area of New York State — has been solving deburring problems for some of the world’s most quality-conscious manufacturers. Over the years, the company has become a worldwide supplier of brush-based deburring systems to manufacturers in the powder metal, fineblanking, and aluminum […]

Early attention to performance issues and implementing spindle remanufacturing procedures can help machine tool operators extend the life and performance of their spindles.

For most manufacturers, including those that produce gears, the productivity of their CNC equipment can be measured in fractions of seconds, including not only the cutting or grinding cycle times, but even the intervals between tool changes. The performance of the spindle — the workhorse of the CNC machine — has a dramatic impact on […]

Dynamic Megabytes develops cost-efficient, results-oriented software packages with customized solutions to suit the needs of its customers in the gear manufacturing and automotive industries.

With the manufacturing suite of products from Dynamic Megabytes, customers can achieve their goals by defining their own requirements and executing them with customized software tailored to their specific business for better efficiency and improved competitiveness. In addition, customers benefit from the expertise of software programmers who are knowledgeable of the manufacturing industry. This expertise began […]

Vibration damping is just one of the many benefits of using polymer composite (or mineral cast) bases or filled structures in modern machine tool design.

A properly designed base foundation is crucial to the success and longevity of the machine. Designers have historically resorted to steel, cast iron, fabricated tubular steel, and granite as machine foundations. These structures are designed to provide a solid platform to mount sensitive componentry specific to the individual performance of the machine. While these designs […]

Many top gear manufacturers are adopting machine vision systems as a means of seamlessly yielding higher productivity, as the system can operate inline with existing manufacturing processes.

First-tier gear manufacturers are now embracing machine vision technology to streamline production lines, which, of course, ultimately leads to significant cost savings. However paradoxical it may seem, this is possible while actually improving product quality. Top gear makers are attracted to the ease of operation, agility, and flexibility in inspecting various parts that can be […]

This paper describes the definition of micropitting, the actual calculation method, and its application to practical examples if and where micropitting has occurred. The examples give evidence that the Technical Report reliably predicts the risk of micropitting where it is later found on the gear flanks.

For high-performance gear transmissions, case-carburized and ground gears are used in most cases. International standards have been developed to provide standardized calculation methods for safety factors against: Macropitting (ISO 6336-2) [3] Tooth breakage (ISO 6336-3) [4] Scuffing (ISO TR 13989) [5] Tooth flank fracture (ISO DTS 19042-1) [6] Tooth breakage is a serious damage, causing […]

Combining the technical synergies of a laser company, a gear measurement company, and a software development company resulted in the development of an innovative product that is a game-changer in the way gear defects can be detected — non-contact involute profile measurement to microns in a matter of seconds.

In 2012, Slone Gear International Inc. and Mound Laser Inc. began experimenting with combining laser technology with gear manufacturing and gaging knowledge to bring about non-contact measurement capability for additive manufacturing and gear applications. On May 20, 2014, Slone Gear was awarded a technology accelerator grant from the State of Ohio to help bring to […]

Single sourcing a highly automated gear-finishing system from Gleason results in multiple benefits for Schafer Gear Works, including significantly more hard-finishing capacity, minimal non-productive time, and much easier setup and operation.

When the operations manager at Schafer Gear Works, Paresh Shah, visited the Gleason booth at Gear Expo 2015, he wasn’t looking for a new Gleason gear grinder. Schafer Gear’s hard-finish grinding cell at its 100,000-square-foot South Bend, Indiana, facility, managed by Shah, was already equipped with two Gleason Genesis® 160TWG threaded wheel grinding machines, and […]

Offering one of the largest selections of metric-dimensioned power transmission gearing in North America as a distributor for Kohara Gear Industry, KHK USA services its customers by providing off-the-shelf gears with fast lead times.

KHK USA Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kohara Gear Industry of Kawaguchi, Japan. Founded as Kohara Haguruma Factory in 1935, the company, under the leadership of its founder Tomizo Kohara, developed from a single lathe machine to that of a world-renowned gear manufacturer. After supplying materials to the Japanese government during the second […]

When KOMET of America Inc. sought to produce multi-step tools more efficiently, investing in the Lean Selection Allround machine from JUNKER brought a cost-effective upgrade in technology together with dramatically decreased setup times.

In order to stay competitive in their industries, manufacturers must always be on the lookout for new ways to provide value while keeping cost at a minimum. Nobody knows this better than David Zurowski, Komet’s Dihart® carbide group leader, who understands the importance of finding the most optimal cost-effective solution for his customers. With this […]

With a unique approach to grinding threads from solid, Tracey Gear utilizes Drake machine technology and Norton wheel technology to achieve impressive metal removal rates.

The worldwide use of grinding wheels for grinding a thread form into a precision workpiece is a common process. However, in this case study, the thread grinding operation is unique in that the threads were ground from solid to finish tolerance, eliminating the need for the rough cutting operation, the cutting machine, and complementary cutting […]

A new class of industrial gear lubricants based on alternative synthetic materials has been developed to satisfy critical market performance expectations, ensure global supply chain security, and address economic and performance challenges.

In 2013, the global lubricant market was just over 40 million tons, comprised of 58-percent automotive lubricants and 42-percent industrial lubricants. The industrial lubricant portion of 16.9 million tons was made up of three major segments — namely hydraulic oils, engine oils, and gear oils — which account for just under 50 percent of the […]

Following the Direct Gear Design approach to asymmetric epicyclic gear stages with singular and compound planet gears, methods of optimization of the tooth flank asymmetry factor and root fillet profile are considered.

The design objective of asymmetric tooth gears is to improve performance of the primary drive flank profiles at the expense of the opposite coast profiles’ performance. The coast flanks are unloaded or lightly loaded during a relatively short work period. Such gears should be used for unidirectional or mostly unidirectional load transmission when the coast […]

For over 25 years, American Steel Treating has provided leading OEMs and suppliers with heat treating solutions, while continuously broadening its capabilities in the thermal processing industry.

After many years of service with Surface Combustion Inc., gaining experience and technical expertise, Roy Waits, Steve Johnson, and Bob Morse set out to capitalize on their experience by founding FurnTech, a builder of heat treating furnaces in Perrysburg, Ohio, in 1987. Two years later, Doug Clinger, an industry leader in metallurgy, joined the organization […]

While the requirements for more precise gears increase and production methods grow in number and sophistication, metrology provides the link that lets producers generate the products that meet today’s market demands.

Regardless of size or application, all gears depend on some degree of precision to prevent avoidable wear, power loss, and noise, and industry trends lean toward tighter tolerances, which, in turn, depend on more accurate cutting. That precision can only be ensured by careful measurement at every stage of the process. In addition, the processes […]

While it is generally known that extreme contact pressure and sliding velocity operating conditions can lead to coating wear, a better understanding of the thresholds that constrain coating durability and usefulness are needed so that gear and bearing engineers can more accurately specify and predict system life.

For decades, the performance of tribological coatings has been studied with the goal of developing practical surface treatments to enhance the friction and wear performance of mechanical components. Known parameters that affect coating performance include contact pressure, rolling velocity, sliding velocity, lubricant film thickness, and surface roughness. From the late 1980s to the early 2000s, […]

A power tool manufacturer reduces its manufacturing costs by 50 percent with a custom bearing solution.

National Bearings Company — a U.S. bearing manufacturer specializing in custom thrust bearings, radial bearings, angular contact bearings, subassemblies, and bearing components — was able to apply its decades of bearing-specific engineering experience to help a leading power tool manufacturer identify ways in which modifications to legacy assembly processes combined with the use of a […]

Today’s technology is fueling the advancements and utilization of thermal processing systems and applications.

Technology continues to advance at anaccelerated pace with the development of lean manufacturing processes, the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), and the demand for integrated, automated systems. This intersection of technology and industry development has led to a turning point — a point where technology can now manage process variables, enhance productivity, and […]

Asking the right questions from your workholding suppliers can save time and reduce overall costs.

There have been and continue to be many technical improvements in the workholding industry. These improvements keep up with the evolution of faster and more complex machines, more efficient cutting and grinding tools, and the overall manufacturing environment. For example, faster machines call for workholding designs with increased rigidity. Quick-change bases reduce setup time and help […]

Keyence’s IM Series Instant Measurement (IM) system saves time and eliminates errors for an Illinois gear manufacturer.

Quality inspector, Amy Sovina, is one of the operators at Forest City Gear who has been using an optical comparator multiple times a day for several years. The optical comparator is an accurate method of visual inspection, essentially reflecting an image of the workpiece onto a screen. From there, measurements are taken of the part […]

Gear Solutions talked with Michael Stepke, Zoller’s product specialist for inspection machines, about how the tool manufacturing industry’s demands for higher quality require process control and complete documentation of production processes and how today’s inspection machines address these needs.

What are the trends you have seen in measurement technology in recent years? Due to an increasing national demand and growing shortage of specialists in the U.S. market, automation, process control, and documentation are increasingly required by the tool manufacturing industry. A worldwide growing importance in regard to process stability and precision in production goes […]

With nearly 130 years of experience, Horsburgh & Scott has remained a strong gear manufacturer during many economic swings by focusing on high-quality materials, advanced engineering principles, and manufacturing to the highest standards. The company has recently received prestigious recognition due to its long-term success, innovation, and partnerships within the gear industry.

At the recent American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) Annual Meeting, Horsburgh & Scott was presented an award and inducted into the newly created AGMA Hall of Fame for being one of 12 companies out of the 19 AGMA founding members that still remain in the industry today. Horsburgh & Scott was also recently awarded the […]

A newly developed software tool that enables simulation of errors during hobbing and generation grinding can be used for determining and eliminating the causes of deviations in production, thus allowing design engineers and planners to quickly and easily develop new processes and tool designs that can significantly reduce the costs involved in testing.

Due to its high productivity and accuracy, generation manufacturing of gearing is widely used in gear production [1, 2]. When deviations occur, however, it is not easy to pinpoint the causes due to the tool design and complex kinematics. This is particularly true of multiple-start tools, which are being used with increasing frequency due to […]

Machine platforms that integrate hobbing and chamfering/deburring operations are key to more economical production of quiet, dependable, and smooth-running gears and shafts required by the latest automotive transmissions.

Today’s consumers take for granted that their cars’ transmissions — whether manual, automatic, or differential, luxury or entry level — will operate quietly, smoothly, and dependably. But behind the scenes, auto manufacturers, gear designers, and suppliers have worked hard to design, develop, and produce the high-quality transmission gears and shafts that make it all possible. […]

Test results are presented for an investigation of the influence of surface finishing processes on the impact of PVD/PECVD coatings concerning the pitting load capacity of gears with an examination of the uncoated and coated tooth flank contact.

In order to increase the power density of tribologically stressed drivetrain components, different approaches are being pursued in material and production technology. In addition to the development of efficient base materials, the optimization of surface finishing processes and the application of coating systems are promising. By combining mechanically highly stressable substrate materials and tribologically effective, […]

As the North American factory sales and technical support organization for high-end European gear machine and tool manufacturers, Koepfer America offers a line of solutions for almost every stage of the gear manufacturing process combined with excellent customer service.

In 1988, Koepfer America started as a supplier of Germany-based Koepfer gear hobbing machines. Today, Koepfer America is not only an independent factory sales and distribution company for Koepfer machines, but it is also a provider of full technical service and a complementary product line of gear hobbing machines, worm and thread milling machines, gear […]

A new gear polish grinding process is presented to show that improved surface finishes increase the overall efficiency of transmissions, and the resulting higher bearing ratios reduce micropitting. A cost-efficient manufacturing method adapted for large-scale manufacture is also introduced.

The established continuous generating method was used as the base technology for the polish grinding process, which is distinct from the vibratory superfinishing used in many non-automotive applications. Continuous generating grinding is an established process for the hard finishing of gears. Based on a dressable grinding worm, this process has proven itself, both in terms […]

It’s important to understand the microstructure of forged parts in industries such as automotive and aerospace due to recent regulations, and simulation benefits are presented here to consider when working with rolled rings at different structure levels.

Anticipating the microstructure evolution during the manufacturing process has long been a major concern for specific industries such as aerospace. More recently, with the introduction of weight reduction regulations such as Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), the requirement to understand and control the microstructure of forged parts has permeated a number of other industries, more […]

A newly developed asymmetric gear tooth generating-grinding method combines maximum productivity with superior quality.

Gear wheels often rotate in only one  direction throughout their entire service lives. This applies particularly in the case of cars, commercial vehicles, ships, lifting gear, or generators. In the case of these gear drives, the tooth load on one flank is considerably higher than on the opposite one. This means that little or no […]

Innovative design engineers, skilled machinists, 68 years of experience, and valued customer relationships are some of the advantages to working with Drewco Workholding.

In 1947, design engineer Ed Drew started Drewco Corporation, now called Drewco Workholding, in Racine, Wisconsin. Drew’s initial interest, and eventually his passion, was to innovate the process of holding parts for manufacturing, which led him to develop patented designs for chucks and collets. Today, Drewco is a full-service design and build workholding company that […]

A comprehensive, yet practical, view is presented to assist the manufacturing engineer or process planner in successfully choosing the design of gear milling cutters to make cost-effective cylindrical gears to the appropriate quality desired.

There are a number of decisions the manufacturing engineer faces when planning the necessary processes for producing parallel axis, cylindrical spur or helical gears and splines. Hobbing, of course, is the most common metal-removal process to create the proper tooth space that is needed to produce these gears. This process has been around for more […]

Sample load distribution analyses and ISO predictions are presented for several experimental results from testing both FVA standard micropitting test gears and the AGMA tribology gears to calculate the safety factor for micropitting.

Recently, ISO 15144 [1] has been approved by ISO as a technical report that presents an analysis procedure, which is designed to predict whether micropitting will occur in a given gear design. The procedure is based on results from many testing programs performed at FZG in Munich [2, 3]. However, little of their testing program […]

A new gear lab workholding solution allows bevel gear manufacturers to reduce the time it takes to get fully functional, extremely accurate workholding for their gear testing and development efforts.

The bevel gear manufacturing landscape has changed extensively in recent years, particularly for producers of driveline components for the light truck and automotive markets. The days of producing hundreds or thousands of the same gear in one long dedicated batch have given way to a new era of smaller batch production to meet fast-changing consumer […]

As a highly technical specialty lubricants formulator and manufacturer, Syn-Tech Ltd. evaluates each application as a unique set of parameters for a correct lubricant match, earning the respect of many longtime customers.

Syn-Tech Ltd. is a privately held company founded in 1968 by Reginald S. “Reggie” Shearer. Cutting his teeth early on as a chemistry and physics major in college, Shearer was an innovator from the start, focusing on extreme environments and difficult applications. As a young chemist, he sold some of the first synthetic oils in […]

Experimental investigations on different worm gears were conducted on several test rigs, taking into consideration the influence of different gear ratios, worm wheel materials, lubricants, and contact pattern on efficiency and load-carrying capacity. Recommendations for an increase in overall worm gearbox efficiencies are presented.

Due to a wide range of properties, worm gears are an indispensable element on the current transmission market. Next to a huge gear ratio field in one gear stage of i = 5 to i = 80, operation with low noise and vibration is realizable. Furthermore, worm gears provide the opportunity of self-locking, respectively self-braking. […]

To prevent failures of bearings and gears, careful selection of EALs for use in marine components, combined with a good oil sampling program, are necessary.

Selecting a gear oil for use in marine thrusters or a stern tube lubricant for use with propeller shaft bearings is typically based on analyzing price and performance characteristics of the lubricant and its availability. Now, with the implementation of the 2013 Vessel General Permit, this analysis must be expanded to include environmentally acceptable lubricants […]

Advances in both broach tools and broach machines have progressed the state of the art in broaching.

The world of broaching has certainly changed since the 1850s when it emerged as a viable production metalworking process. Advancements have been made in machine technology, processes to increase performance, and specialty coatings to improve tool life. Broach Tool Advances Most manufacturers seek higher productivity and lower costs as ways to improve profitability. The cutting […]

Extensive design knowledge, diverse manufacturing services, analytical capabilities, and partnerships with customers have made CGI a leader in precision gearbox, precision machined components, and electromechanical assembly solutions.

As a fledgling gear design and manufacturing company that began in 1967, CGI developed a reputation early on for quality products and innovative solutions, particularly in the medical and aerospace industries. Founded by Don Snow and based in Southern California, the company was named California Gear and Instrument at that time. Garnering customers such as […]

Utilizing MASTA’s 3D Loaded Tooth Contact Analysis model, a modified methodology is proposed to predict crack initiation risk for tooth interior fatigue fracture.

This paper demonstrates a modification to the analysis of Tooth Interior Fatigue Fracture, as implemented in SMT’s MASTA software, in which Loaded Tooth Contact Analysis (LTCA) results from a specialized 3D elastic contact model have been utilized to determine the load boundary conditions for analysis of Tooth Interior Fatigue Fracture (TIFF) to the method of […]

A practical method using conventional measurement tools is proposed to obtain the fundamental gear parameters needed for the reproduction of a new cylindrical gear according to ISO standards by a generation cutting process or for a basic reference in calculating load capacity.

Gear engineering requires professional skills in several action fields such as design, production, operation, maintenance, repair, and recycling. Generally, the main action fields are established by the industry profile. Industries and companies with actions in the maintenance and repair of gears usually ask for skilled professionals in the recovery of these elements. Typically, the repair […]

A new advanced metrology system allows gear manufacturers to put lab-level inspection next to production machines, while also addressing issues of vibration, temperature, and contamination.

Automotive manufacturers in particular are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to drive cost out of their gear production and inspection processes. For many, the wasted time needed to transport finished gears to the lab — and the additional time needed for parts to work their way through the queue — represent a significant […]

A redeveloped range of large industrial measuring centers meets the current market need for high-precision measuring to assure quality and design in the manufacturing process of large gears.

In manufacturing, precise measurements are the cornerstone for complying with tight tolerances and ensuring the efficiency of the entire operation. Large measuring centers have to be fast and easy to operate in order to determine the current quality of the workpiece and decide on any necessary corrections in the process chain. The inner life of […]

Blaser Swisslube has become a global technological leader with its production of high-end Swiss-quality coolants to improve tool life and productivity.

Blaser Swisslube’s first product in 1936 was a shoe polish sold door-to-door at local farmhouses, but today, the independent Swiss company is well-known for developing high-quality metalworking and grinding fluids. Customers all over the world use Blaser’s coolants to produce a range of parts — from tiny parts for watch-making and demanding parts for the […]

The development of a groundbreaking technology for a completely dry grinding process without the need for cutting oils and the release of a new dry-grinding machine has the potential to significantly transform the production of transmission gears.

Despite the many high-speed, high-torque direct-drive technologies developed over the past years, the overall efficiency of gearboxes is still state-of-the-art. Specifically, automotive powertrains have evolved toward smaller engines with just three or four cylinders in combination with 7- to 10-speed transmissions. As a result, in the last couple years, the global total production of transmission […]

By examining a system comprised of a single gear pair, modeled through integrated contact tribology and inertial transient dynamics, a novel analytical method is introduced for determination of gear airborne noise under lightly loaded conditions.

Automotive transmission gear noise has received increased attention in recent years. The phenomenon is considered as a major noise source in the automotive industry. It is perceived as a vehicle-built quality issue and is caused by impacts of the loose (unengaged) meshing gear teeth pairs through their backlash. The problem is also exacerbated by the […]

To meet today’s demands for exceptional fatigue strength and tolerance to complex loads, a range of isotropic steels called IQ-Steel was developed by applying the IQ process, which establishes metallurgical and measurement techniques to determine the true distribution of inclusions in clean steel.

Steel components, particularly those used in critical applications such as bearings and fuel injection systems, are increasingly expected to be lighter, stronger, and capable of handling more power at higher temperatures, while loads are complex and rarely straightforward. For example, the wheel bearings on a high-speed express train or the rotor of a giant wind […]