The 8th International CTI Symposium on Automotive Transmissions, HEV and EV Drives took place in Rochester, Michigan from May 12-15. The event kicked off with its popular introductory seminar "Basics and Practice of Automotive Transmissions."

A critical problem for wind turbine gearboxes is failure of rolling element bearings where axial cracks form on the inner rings. This article presents field experience from operating wind turbines that compares the performance of through-hardened and carburized materials. It reveals that through-hardened bearings develop WEA/WECs and fail with axial cracks, whereas carburized bearings do not. The field experience further shows that a carburized bearing with a core having low carbon content, high nickel content, greater compressive residual stresses, and a higher amount of retained austenite provides higher fracture resistance and makes carburized bearings more durable than through-hardened bearings in the wind turbine environment.

Recently I had a disturbing conversation with a colleague here at the office. During the conversation, it became clear to me that my co-worker -- a really intelligent guy whom I respect a lot -- had no idea how even the most simple electric motor works.

Dovetails, gears and splines have been widely used in aero engines where fretting is an important failure mode due to loading variation and vibration during extended service. Failure caused by fretting fatigue becomes a prominent issue when service time continues beyond 4,000 hours. In some cases, microslip at the edge of a contact zone can reduce the life by as much as 40–60 percent.

The development of a new, gas-carburized gear steel, necessitated by a customer-driven specification, has not only increased the power density in an existing gearbox design, but has done so without requiring any significant change to production processes or heat treatment equipment.

The complete Industry News section from the October 2012 issue of Power Transmission Engineering.

All major manufacturers of 3-phase AC induction motors offer "inverter-duty" or "inverter-ready” models, but while these motors have inverter-rated insulation to protect the windings, the bearings--their most vulnerable parts--are too often ignored.

The complete Industry News section from the April 2011 issue of Power Transmission Engineering.

The complete Industry News section from the February 2011 issue of Power Transmission Engineering.

Despite posting its slowest quarter since early 2007, AWEA remains optimistic that the wind industry can and will work successfully with the revolving doors in Washington.