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.

The best growth market, perhaps in spite of ourselves, is the United States.

A reader asks: I have heard that new axles no longer need a break-in period. True or false?

What was once targeted specifically toward the machine tool and metalworking industries, IMTS 2014 in Chicago spent a great deal of time and resources on automation, controls, mechanical components, self-diagnostics and an increase in productivity on the shop floor.

The complete Product News section from the September 2014 issue of Power Transmission Engineering.

300-Year-Old discovery remains vital to scientific research today.

Columnist Brian Langenberg provides a current outlook update, key findings from a recent energy sector conference, and takes another look at education and employment.

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.

It's not a show title that rolls off the tongue, but the Industrial Automation North America and MDA NA @IMTS 2014 show nevertheless may well be one to remember.

See the latest videos online at powertransmission.com, including an overview of mounted bearing technology from Baldor-Dodge.