A Look at Gear & Gear Drive Lubrication Performance Improvements

This paper presents an evaluation of measurements being taken on a 750 kW wind turbine gearbox being tested by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). High-speed stage gears and bearings have been identified as critical components of the gearbox; during gearbox testing, these components were instrumented and tests were developed to evaluate loads on high-speed tapered roller bearings (TRBs). In this paper an advanced finite element-based contact modeling procedure has been applied to model the high-speed stage with the bearings fully modeled in order to evaluate strain levels. A major conclusion is that the strains of the slotted grooves are at such a level that they have acceptable signal-to-noise levels. This was verified by the results of the initial experiments presented here.

The mechanical components of your drive system play a major role in overall system efficiency. Don't cut corners.

This article is designed to help describe the selection process of a reducer to be used in the parcel handling industry. It will go over the different applications for which gearboxes are used throughout parcel handling facilities such as UPS, FedEx and DHL.

A recent trend has been a movement to more user-friendly products in the mechanical power transmission industry. A good example of such a product is a high-horsepower, right angle, shaft-mounted drive designed to minimize installation efforts. Commonly referred to as an alignment-free type, it allows the drive package mounting to be quicker, more cost effective and require less expertise during installation. This facilitates the use of the drive in applications such as underground mining, where there is little room to maneuver parts. The most common application for the alignment-free style drive is for powering bulk material handling belt conveyors.

Rising energy costs and concerns about global warming are at the forefront of today’s news. Turn to local or national TV programming, browse the internet or read the paper and one can find numerous stories about the seemingly irreversible energy costs and the subsequent impact that these costs have on simply doing business. As a result, we as individuals are becoming increasingly aware of the cost of energy and we are being introduced to a variety of methods and/or products that will minimize the impact of these costs.