A nose-in-the-tent peek at the booths featuring mechanical motion components.

In this century’s complex, ever- changing world of manufacturing, such capabilities as hardware and software expertise, effective location and distribution, business savvy and yes, even luck, are some of the cardinal requirements for running a successful business.

The U.S. Space Shuttle fleet was originally intended to have a life of 100 flights for each vehicle, lasting over a 10-year period, with minimal scheduled maintenance or inspection. The first space shuttle flight was that of the Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102), launched April 12, 1981. The disaster that destroyed Columbia occurred on its 28th flight, February 1, 2003, nearly 22 years after its first launch.

This article describes the challenges involved in designing and implementing microstepping systems.

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.