NSK has developed a practical magnetostrictive torque sensor (3rd-generation sensor) for automobiles which enables failure prediction, a comfortable ride, extension of driving mileage and performance improvement thanks to its weight-reducing and space-saving features, while also shortening the development period.

LIFT in Detroit was the perfect host for the AGMA Technical Division to lead a recent meeting on EV standards development. Gear and power transmission engineers who work directly on gearboxes for electric vehicles came together to review current relevant standards and create an information sheet for gears specific to EVs. 

Siemens Digital Industries Software announced that Emotors, an independent e-drive manufacturer, has taken advantage of test solutions from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio of industry software to aid in the development and constant improvement of its e-drive systems for hybrids, plug-ins and full electric vehicles (EVs).

Eaton’s heavy-duty 4-speed electrified vehicle (EV) transmission was named a 2024 Automotive News PACEpilot Innovation to Watch at an awards ceremony on April 29. The recognition acknowledges post-pilot, pre-commercial innovations in the automotive and future mobility space. 

On May 7, 2024, Voith Turbo celebrated the completion of its almost $6 million workshop expansion in York County, PA., a move that's been driven by increased rail business where Buy America compliance is a critical component. The project added 10,000 square-feet to the workshop facility. A ribbon cutting for the expansion took place at the workshop, which is also the location of Voith Turbo’s North American headquarters, and included local and state officials, as well as employees.

NSK Ltd. has released a new gas turbine generator bearing for eVTOLs including large drones, which is expected to extend drone flight range. The new product was used for the gas turbine generator of a large drone (high payload emergency supply delivery drone equipped with a gas turbine generator) equipped with an 80-kw hybrid drive system for a regional reconstruction and practical development promotion project in fiscal 2023 and delivered to Fukushima Prefecture on February 21, 2024. 

After volume production of the CeTrax lite electric drive for light commercial vehicles started in April 2023, ZF has already produced its first thousand units. The ramp-up in volume production was steeper than planned because demand from the customer ISUZU increased. The drive is used by ISUZU to power the latest generation its light distributor truck, the ISUZU ELF EV. Further volume production is set to start imminently this year.

For this paper, the digital twin refers to a digital asset that exists alongside the physical asset during its operational life, providing insight into and feedback on the physical asset’s performance and health. Thus, the focus is on the DTI, with the potential to aggregate data into a DTA for the gearbox design being considered, and within the DTE set up by Hexagon.

In respect of the physical asset across its life, nothing is more important about its performance than its ability to function, i.e., reliability, and for CAE, nothing is of greater importance than to be able to predict the reliability of a product being designed. Thus, for this study, whilst gearbox noise, efficiency, and thermal behavior may be of interest, the primary interest is fatigue and reliability.

The international automotive supplier Forvia Hella receives the John Deere Award in the sustainability category. The leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery honors Forvia Hella for its heat recovery system at the Großpetersdorf site in Austria. The system saves around 175,000 kilowatt hours of natural gas per year and therefore around 32,000 kilograms of CO₂. The award was presented at the John Deere European Supplier Conference in March 2024 in Mannheim, Germany.

SKF has decided to join and co-fund Mission 0 to contribute to the development of groundbreaking technologies and deliver solutions to eliminate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in materials, production and end-of-life of passenger cars. In an initial pilot project, SKF will collaborate with academia and industry experts in a research arena to solve GHG emissions in materials and processes that require new knowledge or disruptive technologies.