The goal of the AGMA Emerging Technology committees is to Identify, investigate and inform AGMA members of Emerging Technologies that may disrupt or significantly impact the power transmission industry. This year was filled with discussions about electric vehicle drivetrain, new drives in the robotics space were introduced, we talked with many IIoT companies to help you on your shop floor, and we will recap our tour of the RAPID 2022 show floor and update you on advances in the 3D printing space.

Learn how to develop and understand customer gear drive application specifications and target performance expectations.  Review, calculate and select basic gear terminology variables and design parameters which define tooth bending and contact rating safety factors on two real life examples.  Learn how to fit new gear designs and ratios into existing center distance.  Use commercially available software to calculate and optimize gear set power density.  Discuss time and cost of more than 20 other gear drive component functions and drive development steps through prototypes to shipment of compliant assembled production drives.  There will be an opportunity to discuss gear design challenges which may be unique to participant industries.

Learn and understand the fundamentals of gear manufacturing. Acquire knowledge and understanding of gear nomenclature, hobbing and shaping of spur and helical gears, and splines. Learn and understand hobber and shaper machine set-up, as well as gear tooth element inspection. Understand the manufacturing process before gear tooth cutting, as well as post-cutting processes. Apply concepts to further finishing processes, i.e., heat treat, gear tooth shaving, and grinding and/or skiving. Gain knowledge to establish a solid foundation for all basic gear manufacturing.

Manufacturers in every industry are adopting robotic automation at an accelerating rate.  The investment required for automation is often significant and comes with a host of options.  What type or size of Robot should be selected? What throughput can be achieved through this new system? Will the workcell fit into my production line? All of these questions can be answered with Robot Simulation Software. This multi-function tool is invaluable in modeling complicated manufacturing systems. In addition to explaining how Robot Simulation Software can be utilized, this presentation will provide Case Studies that demonstrate how simulation early in the project can avoid later problems with Robot integration.

This half-day online seminar is intended to provide you with a thorough understanding of the information contained within a typical gear inspection report.  Specifically, we will look at the contents and meaning of the information contained within the gear charts, as well as the techniques used by the gear measurement system to assess gear quality.

Learn what is required for the design of an optimum gear set and the importance of the coordinated effort of the gear design engineer, the gear metallurgist, and the bearing system engineer. Investigate gear-related problems, failures, and improved processing procedures.

Technology is fundamentally changing manufacturing. To keep up in today’s marketplace, designers and manufacturers need to follow the emerging trends and communicate the latest ideas with their fellow experts in the field. AGMA’s annual Fall Technical Meeting (FTM) is the perfect forum for this. Each year, 30 authors are selected by AGMA to write peer-reviewed technical papers on topics relevant to the gear industry. Topics include: design, analysis, manufacturing, quality, materials, metallurgy, heat treatment, operation, maintenance, efficiency, and gear failure. Authors present the results of their papers in a single-track conference, which means you don’t have to pick and choose which presentations to attend. With a full registration you receive copies of all papers, are able to see all the presentations, ask questions to all the presenters, and network with your peers over three days.

Aerospace Manufacturing
Expanding its plasma nitriding facilities, Wallwork Heat Treatment in Cambridge is nearing the completion of a program of increasing capacity with a sixth unit. This new unit is due to go live in November and will process components up to two meters in length, ideal for larger aerospace parts. Manufacturers of wear parts such as gears, camshafts and followers, valve parts, aero-engine and airframe components, dies and injectors use plasma nitriding to improve component endurance.

Gear Technology
System-supplier Klingelnberg will be back at AMB (Booth C41, Hall 5), where it will be highlighting solutions for smooth-running gearboxes. The exhibit will feature the Höfler Cylindrical Gear Grinding Machine Speed Viper, the Klingelnberg Precision Measuring Center P 40 and the newly developed Höfler Cylindrical Gear Roll Testing Machine R 300.

Mining.com
Elon Musk says there’s big money to be made by turning raw lithium into battery chemicals, but shrinking profit margins suggest the mining end of the business might still be a better bet. Musk last month described lithium refining as the hard part in the complex process of getting raw materials out of the ground and into Tesla Inc.’s cars. For those who can crack it, it’s a “license to print money,” he said.

Automotive World
GKN Automotive, the global leader in drive systems, has created a ‘real-time’ test rig capable of handling the unique requirements of electric vehicles to develop the most advanced, efficient, and capable products on the market. The rig, installed at GKN Automotive’s Offenbach facility, can handle the extreme dynamics and higher torque of electrified powertrains, which make conventional load test rigs unsuitable for driveline parts of the latest generation, such as side shafts.

TCT Magazine
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded funding to ASTM International to develop a roadmap for guidance and adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies in the construction sector.

Gear Technology
Beaumont Machine is a builder of Electrical Discharge Machines (EDM) for the aerospace, power gen and electronics production industries. Founded by Ed and Tanya Beaumont over 30 years ago, the company was recently repurchased, after the owners had sold the business in early 2013.

North American Windpower
Wind energy continues to see strong growth, solid performance, and attractive prices in the U.S., according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and prepared by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Windpower Engineering & Development
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released three reports Tuesday showing that wind power remains one of America’s fastest-growing energy sources and a generator of high-quality jobs. Wind power accounted for 32% of U.S. energy capacity growth in 2021, employs 120,000 Americans and now provides enough energy to power 40 million American homes.

Automotive World
Toyota Research Institute (TRI) and Northwestern University today announce their collaboration to help accelerate new materials discovery, design and development with the world’s first nanomaterial “data factory.” This AI-driven methodology goes far beyond the traditional trial and error by exploring vast parameter sets, collecting data and then empowering AI to search the materials genome to find the best materials for a given application.

TCT Magazine
For over 30 years, RAPID + TCT has brought together many of the most influential industry figures to share their expert knowledge on the latest in design-to-manufacturing innovation. Industrial end-users, expert analysts, researchers, and executives gather at North America’s largest and most influential event for additive manufacturing technologies to gain a deeper understanding of the role of 3D technologies in the design-to-manufacturing process chain.

Gear Technology
IMTS visitors can experience live machining with the WFL M50 MILLTURN/3000 mm. The multifunctional turning-boring-milling center is designed for complete machining of complex chuck and shaft parts up to 670 mm swing over bed. Turning, milling, drilling, hobbing, shaping, gun drilling as well as ID machining can be performed under any angle of the tool.

Gear Technology
Forming tools are expensive, often made from carbide and tool steel. Carbide grinding is often the first choice today because customer requirements have increased and continue to increase in terms of complexity, dimensional accuracy and reproducibility. Apart from that, production must also be significantly more economical.

North American Windpower
U.S. electricity generation from renewable sources, such as hydropower, wind and solar, accounted for 20% of electricity generation both in 2020 and in 2021. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects that share to increase to 22% in 2022 and to 24% in 2023 as more generating capacity from wind and solar come online and other generation sources, such as coal and nuclear, are retired.

Today’s e-Mobility
As more and more consumers embrace an electric future, global demand is outstripping supply. What can EV and battery manufacturers do to shorten development cycles? “Consumers are charging toward electric vehicles.” That’s the headline from a recent Ernst & Young article discussing the company’s annual Mobility Consumer Index study and, lukewarm pun aside, the global consulting firm backs this claim with several eye-opening statistics.

Gear Technology
Sandvik Coromant, has earned the 2022 IndustryWeek Best Plants Award for its Westminster, South Carolina, production site. The award is given to North American manufacturing plants that lead their industries in outstanding operational excellence, customer service and employee engagement.