This three-part series on motor management best practices focuses on the importance of instituting a motor management plan as a necessity in effectively administering the electric motors in a facility. The goal of a motor management plan is to take advantage of opportunities for energy savings and increased productivity using energy efficient, reliable motors such as NEMA Premium efficiency motors, herein referred to as “premium efficiency” motors.

How would you compare the efficiency and capabilities of hybrid stepper motor actuators vs. can stack stepper motor actuators?

When comparing bearing suppliers, engineers are often left with few options other than to compare dynamic load ratings and corresponding life calculations. Of course, we can look at steel and manufacturing quality; but if we are comparing sources of similar quality, those items may not provide a large contrast. It often surprises people to learn that bearing capacities are calculated values, not tested values. Lately, however, a trend is emerging for bearing suppliers to increase their ratings for higher performance bearings that have premium features such as higher quality steel and specilaized heat treatment. Bearing companies are under intense competitive pressure to make every feature add to the dynamic capacity of their bearings because it is very well understood that an increase in capacity adds to the bottom line.

I don’t recall a single bearing class where someone didn’t want to know what the largest bearing ever made was. From my stint as a bearing engineer...

Varying installation requirements for worm gears, as, for example, when used in modular gear systems, can necessitate grease lubrication - especially when adequate sealing for oil lubrication would be too complex. Such worm gears are being increasingly used in outside applications such as solar power plants and slew drives. While knowledge about the operating conditions is often appropriate, the basic understanding for load capacity and efficiency under grease lubrication is quite poor. Investigations done at FZG and sponsored by FVA/AiF are shown here to give an impression of the basic factors of load capacity and efficiency. The results of the investigation indicate a satisfying quality of calculations on heat, load capacity and efficiency based on characteristic parameters of the base oil with only slight modifications to the methodology known from DIN 3996 or ISO TR 14521.

Beginning with a brief summary and update of the latest advances in the calculation methods for worm gears, the author then presents the detailed approach to worm gear geometry found in the revised ISO TR 10828. With that information, and by presenting examples, these new methods are explained, as are their possibilities for addressing the geometrical particularities of worm gears and their impact upon the behavior and load capacity of a gearset under working conditions based on ISO TR 14521 — Methods B and C. The author also highlights the new possibilities offered on that basis for the further evolution of load capacity calculation of a worm gearset based on load and contact pressure distribution.

Many of us have been there; the bearings had the correct preload. You know it, you were there, and you personally saw the measurements. Now, the testing is done and the preload is gone. Not a little gone, not sort of gone - gone, gone. Finger pointing ensues. Suppliers are dragged in by their wrinkly Polo collars. You know the drill. Losing preload in a tapered roller bearing (TRB) system over the life of your application can be a troublesome problem, particularly for gear sets that are prone to noise or severe applications that rely on a very rigid and stable system.

Collaboration moves bearing modeling and simulation software forward

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.

Everything started in 1800 when Volta developed the first DC battery. Faraday used the DC battery to develop the first electric motor. It used brushes to transfer the battery voltage and current to the rotating disk rotor. This was in mid-1831. Thus was born the brush DC motor.