The engineering community is fascinated with big, shiny, yellow machines. Walk into any manufacturing facility around the globe and you’ll find guests huddled around the biggest, loudest, and most intimidating equipment on the shop floor. These large machines must play by the same rules as everybody else—they need to reduce energy consumption, lower plant costs, and increase productivity. Many power transmission component suppliers are tasked with optimizing this equipment. 

The Houston Turbomachinery & Pump Symposia (TPS) began as a 200-person Turbomachinery Symposium on the campus of Texas A&M University in 1972. The Pump Symposium was founded in 1984 and joined with Turbo for a singular event in 2011. TPS is a vital industry event that offers a forum for the exchange of ideas between rotating equipment engineers and technicians worldwide. For nearly 50 years, TPS is known for its impact on turbomachinery, pump, oil & gas, petrochemical, power, aerospace, chemical, and water industries through two pathways: the technical program and the exhibition.

Engineers often face challenges when incorporating servo motors into a new machine design, such as choosing between a conventional housed motor or a frameless design. Kollmorgen engineers examine the components of a frameless motor and review three key design considerations that would indicate a frameless solution is the best fit for a machine.

The Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA) will convene for the PTDA 2022 Industry Summit in Nashville, Tenn. on October 27-29, 2022. With more than 500 delegates in the power transmission/motion control (PT/MC) industry expected to attend, representing over 200 PTDA distributor and manufacturer companies, the Industry Summit—themed “Amp Up”—will offer cross-channel networking, shared learning and collaborative experiences. 

Torque transducers, test machinery, industrial robots, food and beverage and chemical applications are just a few of the areas coupling technology is advancing. This short round-up covers some of the latest product and industry news items in the power transmission and motion control market segments. 

Torque Transducers and Test Machinery experience extreme demands including high torque loads and high operating speeds which cause stress on connected components. To assure these systems generate accurate test data when experiencing these conditions, system designers specify CD Couplings from Zero-Max. 

Gates recently published its 2021 corporate sustainability report highlighting progress toward goals, transparency and Eco-Innovation. 

Altra has recently enhanced the scope and functionality of its virtual exhibit booth. The immersive and interactive trade show environment provides visitors around the world with convenient 24/7 access to browse the extensive portfolio of motion control and power transmission products offered by Altra’s 26 global brands.