AGMA Gear Industry News

For over 30 years, AGMA has been hosting a technical conference to highlight the newest emerging technology in the gear industry. The Fall Technical Meeting (FTM) is the top place to learn about the latest research in the gear industry from the researchers directly. Each year, the FTM provides an outstanding opportunity to share ideas with others in the gear industry on design, analysis, manufacturing and application of gears, gear drives and related products, as well as associated processes and procedures. Attendees get a chance to be on the cutting edge of gear research and network with other engineers.

The steep uptick in Caterpillar Inc. equipment sales since the end of a historic downturn in 2016 still has significant room to grow in at least some business segments and geographic regions. For mining equipment in particular, the recovery is still only beginning, the company’s director of investor relations told analysts recently.

NASA has contracted SSL to perform a study exploring how commercial habitats in space, like the International Space Station (ISS), could be used to build satellites and "unlock new capabilities and business paradigms" to support a growing U.S. space economy. 

From health tracking and physical fitness, to fashion industry and contactless payments, wearable technology has boomed in the recent years and this technology is expected to be a promising one in the business and enterprise world. Wearable devices have a place in the manufacturing industry as well. 

There’s growing concern in the manufacturing world regarding worker recruitment and retention. As Baby Boomers retire and U.S. manufacturing reckons with its strongest market demand in decades, attracting new workers and keeping existing ones become even bigger priorities. 

Pointing to a slower pace of growth, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently released a report showing a much bigger than expected decrease by its index of regional manufacturing activity in the month of September. The New York Fed said its general business conditions index fell, although a positive reading continues to indicate growth in regional manufacturing activity. 

Texas could be in line to land thousands of additional aerospace-related manufacturing and engineering jobs if companies in the fast-growing sector heed a new ranking of the most competitive places for them to operate. The report by PwC lists Texas behind only Washington state as a top location in the United States for "aerospace manufacturing attractiveness."

Finish nanodiamond materials developer Carbodeon has released the uDiamond filament for FFF 3D printers made with the help of the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. A patented material, uDiamond filament combines standard PLA plastic with nanodiamond particles for reinforcement, reportedly providing stronger 3D prints and faster deposition rates.

Singapore Technologies Engineering’s U.S. subsidiary Vision Technologies Aerospace Incorporated (VT Aerospace) has signed a conditional share purchase agreement to buy General Electric’s nacelle manufacturing unit for $630m. The deal must receive approval and other clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., as well receive anti-trust approvals in the U.S., France and Brazil.

Global society is entering a new era of data ownership, and general data protection regulation (GDPR), Europe’s stringent new privacy law, is just the beginning. As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to proliferate, industrial enterprises in particular must consider how data ownership impacts not only privacy, but their own machine-learning initiatives.

Double helical gears (herringbone gears) are characterized by a symmetric arrangement of two identical gear teeth with exactly opposite helix angles. As a result of this symmetry, the axial forces in the gearbox negate each another. For many years, such double helical gears, as an example for components with geometrical interference, have been a special challenge in finishing gears. While in the past military low lot size applications might have been the main focus, there is now a current boost in demand for double helical gears in planetary reduction gear boxes for engines in civil aviation. Increasing requirements for weight reduction and fuel saving lead to decreasing sizes of design forms.

Renishaw has opened a new Additive Manufacturing Demonstration Center in Newbury Park, Ca. Working in collaboration with Ibex Engineering, the Demonstration Center is situated within Ibex’s headquarters and allows visitors to explore, interact with and use Renishaw’s latest metal additive manufacturing systems.

Gain a solid and fundamental understanding of gear geometry, types and arrangements, and design principles. Starting with the basic definitions of gears, conjugate motion, and the Laws of Gearing, learn the tools needed to understand the inter-relation and coordinated motion operating within gear pairs and multi-gear trains. Basic gear system design process and gear measurement and inspection techniques will also be explained. In addition, the fundamentals of understanding the step-wise process of working through the iterative design process required to generate a gear pair will be reviewed. Learn the steps and issues involved in design refinement and some manufacturing considerations. An explanation of basic gear measurement techniques, how measurement equipment and test machines implement these techniques, and how to interpret the results from these basic measurements will also be covered.