End market conditions for the power transmission industry have arguably worsened since our last column. In December we stated that with two armed conflicts underway impacting economic performance in Eastern Europe and the Middle East our stance was “Buy on the Sound of Cannons…. Selectively” while cautioning PTE readers not to be sanguine.

One of our goals at Power Transmission Engineering is to help you understand, identify and select the best technology for your mechanical power transmission or motion control applications. With every project, you have to decide which components to use, and which suppliers, based on functionality, quality and price. We aim to help you make those decisions informed by providing the latest information on current technology, especially when it comes to mechanical components.

Regarding 3-D printing of gears and machine tools, etc. — does plastic gearing have a future in 3-D printing/additive manufacturing?

“[Motion, Drive & Automation] at Hannover Messe is the place where the future is determined.”

John Morehead, national sales manager of Crouzet Motors (Vista, CA), was bunkered down in his office in Palatine, IL surrounded at all points by ankle-deep snow from an unfortunately terrible Chicago’s winter night.

Let’s be clear about something up front here: Delta Gear does not make parts for lawnmowers. This is a fairly flippant point that falls under the timeless, clichéd designation of “goes without saying.” Yet, not all that long ago,Tony Werschky had to say it.

Weiss North America, Inc. of Willoughby, OH has designed and produced rotary tables and other components for the automation industry for more than 45 years. When approached by Alpha Integration, Inc. of Murfreesboro, TN, a manufacturer of turnkey automated assembly, vision and testing systems, to provide a reliable turnkey solution for their 6-foot-tall automotive parts assembly machine, Weiss ‘tiered-up’ an innovative chassis and indexing table system solution.

Bill Walton – a 7 foot tall anomaly from the annals of basketball history who wears tie-dye shirts, listens to the Grateful Dead and, according to his own outlandish proclamations, hasn’t taken an indoor shower in 35 years – is well-known for looking at average accomplishmentsand being overcome with extreme fits of emotion.

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.

What is the recommended method of gripping a spinning shaft (with up to 130 hp of rotational energy) to install pre-tension thrust bearings and conventional thrust bearings (load = hundreds of pounds) when the shaft cannot have any high points because it must pass through an area of tight clearances to assemble? Will snap rings still withstand the harsh vibration of this environment?