JUL

2018
GEAR INSPECTION
Industry 4.0, multifunctional
inspection, lasers and more

HEAT TREATING
Emerging Technologies

PLASTIC GEAR DESIGN

www.geartechnology.com THE JOURNAL OF GEAR MANUFACTURING

FFG Modul CDA 250
Automated chamfering
& deburring

Star SU carries a line of FFG Modul chamfer/deburring machines that best suits your requirements,
whether you opt for a standalone machine (CD 250), an automated solution for your line (CDA 250)
or a flexible all-in-one (CDX 250).
The CD series is designed for chamfering, chamfer-roller and deburring of straight or helical gears and
shafts. The horizontal design supports the continuous chip evacuation and tools are not clogged with
chips for longer tool life and better workpiece quality. Workpiece and tools are automatically synchronized
and positioned. Speed and feed force can be adjusted. The tailstock can be adjusted axially to fit various
workpiece lengths. Clamping includes position monitoring.
Star SU/FFG Modul offers additional integrated and freestanding Chamfer cutting solutions, complementing
the chamfer rolling processes. The chamfer/deburr solutions are available as parallel process inside the
hobbing machines or as free standing solution.

Phone: 847-649-1450
5200 Prairie Stone Pkwy. | Ste. 100 | Hoffman Estates | IL 60192
Visit Us at IMTS at North Hall 236909 and West Hall 432258
www.star-su.com
 contents

JUL
®
2018
26

34

features
20 Overlapping Pursuits
IoT and Metrology — Made to Measure.

26 Plastic Gear Design Remains a

technical
Work in Progress
Still lacking standards and the collected data 46 A Comparison of Current AGMA, ISO and API
needed to create them. Gear Rating Methods
A tutorial explaining the many different gear rating
32 In-Process, Complete Gear methods in use today, and how they can give
substantially different results for any given gearset.
Inspection at Light Speeds
Gleason Metrology doubles down on high- 54 Complete Measurement of Gearbox
volume transmission gear inspection. Components
Reducing quality costs by including all measurements
in one single machine suitable and robust enough for
34 Facing the Future use in production.
Keeping up with heat treating’s continuing
evolution 62 Sensitivity Study of Press Quench Process
and Concept of Tooling Design for Reduced
38 Inspection System Upgrades Distortion by Modeling
Software helps investigate the sensitivities of several
Meet EV Gear Challenges critical process parameters on distortion for a press
Meeting the development requirements of the quenching process of a simplified thin-wall bevel gear.
latest electrical drive vehicles.

Vol. 35, No. 5 GEAR TECHNOLOGY, The Journal of Gear Manufacturing (ISSN 0743-6858) is published monthly, except in February, April, October and December by Randall Publications LLC, 1840 Jarvis Avenue, Elk Grove
Village, IL 60007, (847) 437-6604. Cover price $7.00 U.S. Periodical postage paid at Arlington Heights, IL, and at additional mailing office (USPS No. 749-290). Randall Publications makes every effort to ensure that the processes
described in GEAR TECHNOLOGY conform to sound engineering practice. Neither the authors nor the publisher can be held responsible for injuries sustained while following the procedures described. Postmaster: Send
address changes to GEAR TECHNOLOGY, The Journal of Gear Manufacturing, 1840 Jarvis Avenue, Elk Grove Village, IL, 60007. Contents copyrighted ©2017 by RANDALL PUBLICATIONS LLC. No part of this publication may
be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Contents of ads are subject to Publisher’s approval. Canadian Agreement No. 40038760.

2 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
FIRST BUILT IN AMERICA IN 1896.
STILL BUILT BY AMERICANS IN 2018.

THE ORIGINAL FELLOWS GEAR SHAPER

www.bourn-koch.com
[email protected]
815-713-2367
 contents

® Vol. 35, No. 5

departments
06 GT Extras
What you’ve been missing on the blog, the website
and Gear Technology TV.

09 Publisher’s Page
Steel Yourself.
[email protected]
10 Product News
New products and technologies from around the
industry.

74 Industry News
Zoller Inc. inaugurates new North American
headquarters; Star SU announces Riccardo Rubino
as operations manager.

77 Subscriptions
Fill out the form to continue receiving Gear
Technology.

78 Advertiser Index
Contact information for companies in this issue.

79 Calendar of Events
September 10–15: IMTS 2018
September 11–14: Basic Training for Gear
Manufacturing
September 17–20: Gear Dynamics and Gear Noise
Short

80 Addendum
Machine Tool Memories.

JUL
2018
GEAR INSPECTION
Industry 4.0, multifunctional
inspection, lasers and more

HEAT TREATING
Emerging Technologies

PLASTIC GEAR DESIGN

www.geartechnology.com THE JOURNAL OF GEAR MANUFACTURING

Cover image by David Ropinski

4 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
Liebherr Performance.

LC 280 α Gear Hobbing Machine

100 % Liebherr – Short delivery time
The LC 280 α gear hobbing machine is the perfect entry into gear cutting. It offers maximum flexibility
thanks to a diverse range of workpieces, well-known Liebherr quality, and low acquisition cost.

The machine with a new hob head and perfected chip removal is ideal for the supplier business,
especially because of the fast delivery time of approx. three months and high productivity.

Machining workpieces with max. 280 mm diameter and shafts with a length of up to 500 mm
Wet and dry machining possible
Dry machining with stainless steel housing available
Newly developed and optimized hob head for larger tools in diameter and length

Liebherr-Gear Technology, Inc.

Liebherr Automation Systems Co. 1465 Woodland Drive,
Saline, MI 48176–1259, USA
Phone: +1 (734) 429-7225
[email protected]
 GT extras
THE GEAR INDUSTRY’S INFORMATION SOURCE
www.geartechnology.com
What You’ve Missed on the Blog
Since the beginning of 2018, resident blogger and Gear Technology techni- RANDALL PUBLICATIONS LLC
cal editor Charles D. Schultz, has been busy blogging about the basics. So 1840 JARVIS AVENUE
far this year, he’s covered: ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL 60007
• Spur Gears (847) 437-6604
• Nomenclature FAX: (847) 437-6618
• Measurement over Pins
EDITORIAL
• Helical Gears Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
• Worm Gears Michael Goldstein
[email protected]
• Bevel Gears Associate Publisher & Managing Editor
• Basic Rules of Thumb Randy Stott
• Tooth form modifications [email protected]
Senior Editor
• Software Jack McGuinn
• Gear Materials [email protected]
• Heat Treating Senior Editor
Matthew Jaster
• Planetary Gear Drives [email protected]
And that’s just this year! Chuck has been blogging for us since 2014. If Associate Editor
Alex Cannella
you’re not reading “Gear Talk with Chuck,” then you’re missing out, because [email protected]
the wisdom and insight you find there can’t be found anywhere else. Editorial Consultant
www.geartechnology.com/blog/ Paul R. Goldstein
Technical Editors
William (Bill) Bradley, Robert Errichello,
Octave Labath, P.E., John Lange, Joseph
Mihelick, Charles D. Schultz, P.E., Robert
Want More Gear Inspection Info? Watch Gear Technology TV! E. Smith, Mike Tennutti, Frank Uherek
In this issue, you’ll find a number of articles focused on gear inspec- DESIGN
tion, but there’s even more great content online. If you head over to Art Director
David Ropinski
Gear Technology TV, you’ll find great [email protected]
interviews with technical experts as
ADVERTISING
well as our “Ask the Expert Live” ses- Associate Publisher
sions from Gear Expo. & Advertising Sales Manager
Dave Friedman
www.geartechnology.com/tv/ [email protected]
Materials Coordinator
Dorothy Fiandaca
White Papers and Videos Just for You [email protected]
Did you know there’s an archive of white papers and videos on the Gear e-Marketing Specialist
Matthew Stott
Technology website? You can read about water-based lubrication, power skiving, [email protected]
powder metal gears, closed-loop gear grinding or gear inspection. Or stop in and China Sales Agent
see the replay of a webinar on NVH Eric Wu, Eastco Industry Co., Ltd.
Tel: (86)(21) 52305107
and transmission design. Fax: (86)(21) 52305106
www.geartechnology.com/sc/ Stay Connected Cell: (86) 13817160576
[email protected]
Join the Gear Technology
Facebook group at CIRCULATION
Circulation Manager
www.facebook.com/ Carol Tratar
groups/210890932629794/ [email protected]
Circulation Coordinator
Barbara Novak
Follow us on Twitter [email protected]
twitter.com/#!/Gear_Technology
RANDALL STAFF
President
Michael Goldstein
Connect with us on LinkedIn Accounting
www.linkedin.com/groups/Gear- Luann Harrold
Technology-Magazine-3893880

Subscribe Online
www.geartechnology.com/
subscribe.htm

6 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
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Input Gear Data
from process sheet
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distance from work
table to bottom of gear.
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For more information visit Easy to understand graphics and help screens allow new operators
mitsubishigearcenter.com to master programming within a day after installation—and shops that have
or contact Sales at 248-669-6136. never cut a gear before can quickly cut their teeth and expand production.
 publisher's page

Steel Yourself
If you’ve been reading this column for any
length of time, you know that I’m a big believer Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Michael Goldstein
in industry associations like the American Gear
Manufacturers Association. AGMA provides great value
to industry professionals like you in the form of phenomenal hard to get steel of any type from these countries.
opportunities for professional and personal growth and educa- Anton didn’t mince words about the threat. He went so far as
tion, as well as the ability to build a network among your peers. to recommend that gear manufacturers think seriously about
More importantly, associations like AGMA have the ability to buying up as much steel as possible, even if they have to lease
tackle problems collectively that would be extremely difficult or additional warehouse space to hold it. It’s an expensive, risky
even impossible for individual companies to achieve. They can proposition, because there’s also the very real possibility that if
help you look at issues facing the industry from a much larger the quotas disappear, prices could fall by the end of the year.
perspective. But you have to weigh that against the possibility that you just
A good example of that was the AGMA Marketing Forecast might not be able to ship any product in the third and fourth
webinar held in May. The webinar included a presentation quarters.
on steel tariffs and quotas by John Anton, Senior Principal None of this makes for easy decision-making from a long-
Economist for IHS Markit. Frankly, what he said scares the liv- term strategy standpoint, especially considering that the situa-
ing daylights out of me and should be cause for concern for all tion changes daily. More tariffs and more retaliations are on the
of us. way. Negotiations between countries will continue, and there’s
You’ve all heard about the 25% tariff on imported steel and nothing you can do about any of it.
10% tariff on imported aluminum that the U.S. government has So it’s very tempting just to wait and see. Business is great,
imposed. You’ve all heard about the retaliations being put in after all. You can probably weather some higher prices, at least
place by the rest of the world. Your steel prices have increased. in the short term.
It’s a full-on trade war, and it’s likely to get worse before it gets But if more quotas get implemented, you’d better be ready to
better. act quickly. You’d better have a contingency plan in place. If you
That in itself is scary enough. But what really scares me is haven’t already done so, you’d better take some time to evaluate
that many of you might be too busy to realize that you could your supply chain. At a minimum, find out where your steel is
soon be in a situation that could endanger your very company. coming from and evaluate the potential risk of extreme short-
When I brought up the subject with several industrial gear ages later in the year.
manufacturers recently, they didn’t seem to have given it much If you don’t, there’s a chance you won’t be so busy for too
thought. much longer.
You’re already dealing with higher prices. But are you ready
for a scarcity of raw materials? What will you do if you can’t
get the steel you need—at any cost? That’s the real danger that
Anton warned about. Tariffs are bad, because they mean higher
prices, but quotas are potentially catastrophic for a company
that relies on raw materials. What happens if the steel you buy
comes from a country who has agreed to accept quotas instead
of tariffs?
South Korea, the third largest supplier of steel to the United
States, already agreed to such quotas. They’ve promised to
reduce their shipments to 70% of their 2015-2017 totals. Each
type of steel (different grades of bar, plate, coil, etc.) is treated
separately for each country. For certain types of steel, South
Korea has already reached its quotas, which means the United
States simply won’t accept any further shipments. Brazil and
Argentina have also agreed to quotas. Pretty soon, it will be

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 9

 product news

Buehler
OBTAINS ISO CERTIFICATION FOR HARDNESS TESTING BLOCKS
The Buehler Wilson Reference Block
Laboratory in Binghamton, NY, has
achieved accreditation to ISO/IEC
17025 by A2LA (American Association
for Laborator y Accreditation) for
Rockwell, Knoop, Vickers and Brinell
hardness test blocks and indent-
ers. A2LA is in full conformance with
the standards of the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO)
and the International Electro-Technical
Commission (IEC), including ISO/IEC
17025. Buehler markets the reference
blocks along with the Wilson hardness
testers and DiaMet software globally.

Process of Calibration
The testers used in the calibration pro-
cess undergo a stringent monitoring pro-
cess using NIST traceable devices and
Buehler conducts 100% inspection to
ensure that every single test block meets
the physical requirements of ASTM
(thickness, flatness, parallelism, sur-
face roughness and magnetism). The
laboratory then uses specialized hard-
ness testers to calibrate blocks according
to Rockwell, Vickers and Brinell scales hardness reference blocks according to • Rockwell: Regular and Superficial
which comply to ASTM and ISO stan- the following standards: scales
dards for calibrating test blocks. • Calibration of Standardized Rockwell • Vickers Microindentation: Loads
Hardness Test Blocks (ASTM E18 and from 10gf to 1kgf
According to Matthias Pascher, hard-
ISO 6508-3) • Vickers Macroindentation: Loads
ness product manager, “The hardness from 1kgf to 120kgf
readings are taken and statistics calcu- • Calibration of Standardized Rockwell
Superficial Hardness Test Blocks • Knoop Microindentation: Loads from
lated according to the applicable stan- 10gf to 1kgf
• (ASTM E18 and ISO 6508-3)
dards. Each test block will get its own • Brinell: Loads from HBW5/750,
• Calibration of Standardized Vickers
certificate, thus achieving full traceabil- Test Blocks (ASTM E92 and ISO HBW5/250, HBW10/1000,
ity. In addition to in-house daily verifi- 6507-3) HBW10/3000, HBW2.5/62.5,
cations, standards also require indirect • Calibration of Standardized Knoop HBW2.5/187.5
verifications to be completed periodi- Test Blocks (ASTM E92 and ISO The complete line of Wilson Rockwell,
cally by an accredited third-party. After 4545-3) Wilson Brinell and Wilson Vickers/
the indent certification, the blocks are • Calibration of Standardized Brinell Knoop Test Blocks for hardness testing
engraved with a laser engraver to add Test Blocks (ASTM E10 and ISO is available within the hardness section
a grid (if applicable) and the hardness 6506-3) of the Buehler website. To assist custom-
value with tolerance according to the ers in the selection, process Buehler has
standards. All hardness test blocks ship Buehler Test Blocks Available also released a Test Block Application
with ASTM and ISO certificates. Buehler in Rockwell, Vickers, Knoop and Guide with valuable information about
is the only global supplier in the metal- Brinell Hardness Scales the Wilson line of test blocks and impor-
lographic solution market that produces Buehler’s hardness reference blocks uti- tant information about proper usage of
and calibrates hardness reference blocks.” lize the highest quality material to insure test blocks.
the most uniform and repeatable test For more information:
Scope of Accreditation blocks available. Buehler’s Test Block Buehler (an ITW Company)
The Buehler Wilson Reference Block Calibration Laboratory has the capability Phone: (847) 295-6500
www.buehler.com
Laboratory in Binghamton, New York, to produce and calibrate test blocks for
is accredited to perform calibrations on many different hardness scales.

10 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
NEW: SHOP FLOOR CMM SF 87
e i t at
Se

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t h : 1
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Suitable for Factory and Manufacturing Use Flexible Probe Systems

Outstanding Price-Performance Ratio Automation Integration
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 product news

Heidenhain
PLANS TO DIGITALLY CONNECT MACHINES
THROUGHOUT IMTS 2018
In order to truly showcase the new age of announced closer to show time.
digital manufacturing, Heidenhain will “Connecting Systems for Intelligent
use its control systems during IMTS to Production” has been Heidenhain’s
connect equipment from many machine motto at many trade shows over the
tool builders throughout the massive past year as the manufacturing trend
exhibition at Chicago’s McCormick Place of digitization and networking have
back to the Heidenhain booth. The list become the goal for many in order
of connected manufacturers is to be to increase competitiveness. To this
end, Heidenhain offers Connected
Machining, a package of components
and systems to support end users intro-
ducing digital order management in

Where RACING Gets an their production processes.

At IMTS 2018, this will be demon-

EDGE
strated in a live presentation at its
Connected Machining booth area,
including the use of a TNC 640 control
on a high precision 5-axis machine tool.
Heidenhain’s new StateMonitor software
focuses on the evaluation of machine
data — that was acquired during the
operation of machine tools — by the
Heidenhain TNC or other CNC controls
with the MTConnect protocol inter-
face. This can also be monitored online
utilizing mobile devices via a secure IT
structure.
At the show, it will be shown that
the use of these systems results in con-
crete solutions for analyzing and reduc-
ing downtimes so that end users can
significantly increase competitiveness.
Heidenhain will put special emphasis on
metal removal rates, productivity and
accuracy while supporting the machine
operator through full access to manu-
facturing IT. Five-axis application engi-
neers will be on site explaining the new
TNC features and cutting a high preci-
sion 5-axis part.
Racing needs it yesterday. And there’s no room for IMTS will be held September 10-15.
error. From our unparalleled precision gear facility, we’re Heidenhain’s main booth will be located
helping racing teams run flat out with high performance at the Lakeside Center (#135226).
gears that work best under duress. Heidenhain will also have a booth at
the Student Summit (#215108), allowing
Make your next precision students to program on the new TNC
gear pit stop at 640
Forest City Gear.
For more information:
Heidenhain
Excellence Without Exception Phone: (847) 490-1191
www.heidenhain.us
815.623.2168 | www. f o res t ci tygear.com

12 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
The next level of Skiving:
PITTLER SKIVING
Get your free
IMTS ticket today.
[email protected]
North Building | Booth 236744

Curious to learn more?

CONTACT US:
DVS Technology America Inc.
734-656-2080 [email protected]
www.pittler.de l www.dvs-technology.com
 product news

Röhm Products of America

WILL FEATURE CHUCKS FOR GEAR SURFACE FACE GRINDING DURING IMTS 2018
At IMTS 2018, Röhm Products of powered external clamping chuck for repeat accuracy of less than 0.005 mm,
America will present a wide range of gear surface face grinding. The KZF-S Easylock can be outfitted with a large
workholding solutions that lead to collet chuck is especially well suited for range of Röhm’s collet chucks, lathe
higher levels of efficiency in turning, clamping gears/workpieces that have an chucks and vises for full flexibility via its
milling, grinding and drilling applica- external plane or gear teeth geometries modular design. The clamping system is
tions as well as enable lights-out man- accessible from the outside. Additionally, equally well suited for vertical, horizon-
ufacturing. The workholding spe- the chuck allows face and ID diameters tal or multi-axis machining.
cialist will also demonstrate to be turned or ground concentric to IMTS attendees interested in learn-
how the company is a outer gear pitch diameters. ing more about the company’s compre-
single source sup- Röhm will also showcase hensive range of clamping and gripping
plier for chucks, its Easylock clamp- solutions should visit the website below
centers, face ing system, a zero to schedule a meeting with an applica-
drivers, rotat- point palletiza- tion specialist in Röhm’s booth during
ing workhold- t ion s olut ion the show.
ing, fixtures, t h at r e d u c e s For more information:
palletizing and setup times by Röhm Products of America
robot gripping up to 90 per- Phone: (770) 963-8440
www.rohmdonein60.com
solutions. c ent . Wit h a
A must-see for standardized
visitors to Booth interface and level
#432528 will b e a of precision and

Laboratory, Portable, Ultra Portable

X-Ray Diffraction Systems

TECHNOLOGY THAT
DELIVERS ACCURATE RESULTS
At PROTO we have a comprehensive
line of residual stress measurement
systems that have the technology to
deliver accurate, fast & reliable results.

1-313-965-2900 [email protected]

www.protoxrd.com

14 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
GWJ Technology
OFFERS SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS FOR
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
The International VDI Dritev Congress software. There are common
was held June 27-28 in Bonn, Germany. features that all GWJ solu-
The exhibition at the Dritev congress tions share — intuitive design,
featured a unique mix of over 100 sleek interface, easy to use and
national and international companies suitable applications for all
and has become a central marketplace users from beginner to very
of the industry. Dritev gives an efficient advanced.
overview of the most important provid- GWJ´s extensive product
ers across all sectors of development, portfolio covers many differ-
simulation and production of gearboxes ent applications - the web-
and drive components. based calculation software
GWJ was part of this congress as eAssistant and the classical
exhibitor and welcomed visitors at Booth software TBK for gearboxes
#109. GWJ presented the latest version including 3D CAD integration modules, prototype manufacturer to supplier of
of TBK. For more than 30 years, TBK system calculation for multi-stage gear- components and systems in the drive
software is widely accepted calculation boxes and GearEngineer to determine technology business to the development
software and is used by many companies and generate the real 3D geometry of of complex transmission systems for
around the globe in different industries. complex gearings. This geometry pro- vehicle manufacturers.
The GWJ product range of innova- vides the basis to manufacture cylindri- For more information:
tive calculation software is wide- from cal and bevel gears in conjunction with GWJ Technology
standard software for classical machine multi-axis machining centers. Phone: +49 (0) 531-129 399-0
www.gwj.de
elements to the determination of GWJ considers itself an ideal part-
whole systems up to a complex special ner for the automotive branch from

All
All The
the Gear Cutting Tools You Will Ever Need are
Are Right Here
DTR is one of the world’s largest producers.
DTR. Your best choice for high quality gear cutting tools.
DTR is a world class supplier of the finest high performance long-life gear
manufacturing tools, for small and large gear cutting applications.
Established in 1976, we are one of the world’s largest producers of cutting
tools, shipping to over 20 countries.
DTR offers a full line of gear cutting tools including:
• Hobs • Chamfering and Deburring Tools
• Carbide Hobs • Broaches
• Shaper Cutters • Master Gears
• Milling Cutters

We can produce virtually any tool you need for auto, aerospace, wind,
mining, construction and other industrial gears.

Every tool is precision-made utilizing high speed steel, premium powder

metal or carbide and the latest in coatings, to achieve superior cutting and
long life. DTR uses top of the line equipment including Reischauer CNC
grinders and Klingelnberg CNC sharpeners and inspection equipment.

Learn more about our outstanding quality tools at www.dtrtool.com.

Call us at 847-375-8892 for your local sales representative or
Email [email protected] for a quotation.
BOOTH #N-237017

DTR has sales territories available. Call for more information.

U.S. Office Location (Chicago) Email Headquarters
inquiries to: [email protected]. 85, Namdong-daero 370beon-gil, Namdong-gu, Incheon, Korea, 21635
(formerly Dragon Precision Tools) 1865 Hicks Road, Suite A, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008
PHONE: +82.32.814.1540
WWW.DTRTOOL.COM PHONE: 847-375-8892 Fax: 224-220-1311 FAX: +82.32.814.5381

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 15

 product news

Tectorius
EXPANDS LUBRICANT AND
COATINGS PORTFOLIO
Maelstrom Chemical/Tectorius has
expanded its portfolio of synthetic lubri-
cants and coatings. The Tec-Flon family
of products now contains a wide range
of non-silicone, synthetic oils, greases
and pre-applied coatings for automotive,
aerospace and special service applica-
tion. Key features include high tempera-
ture performance, ultra-low volatility
and compatibility with plastics and paint
shops. Many Tec-Flon grades are lower
cost, direct replacements for major
brands. Example applications include
automotive sub-assemblies, optical com-
ponents, electrical contacts/electronics,
gas handling, vacuum systems, oven/
furnace components and corrugated
processing equipment.
For more information:
Maelstrom Chemical/Tectorius
Phone: (586) 232-3999
www.tectorius.com

Class I accuracy
Granite column PGM 165
Thermally compensated
High capacity table bearing
Linear drives
Motorized tailstock
Universal analysis software
Free unlimited software support
“Closed loop” corrections to production machines
Probe changer
Quick change of tooling
PGM 400
Made in USA

KAPP NILES Metrology | Dayton [email protected] www.gearinspection.com (937) 660-8182

16 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
Verisurf
PRESENTS VERISURF 2018 SOFTWARE AT CONTROL 2018
Verisurf Software, Inc. recently pre- closed legacy systems, are now open to measurement strategy.
sented Verisurf 2018 at Control 2018, Verisurf users streamlining productivity, Universal CMM communicates
Stuttgart, Germany. Verisurf 2018 is the training and ensuring compatibility. A between Verisurf ’s standards-based I++
latest release of the measurement soft- universal CMM does not require con- protocol and CMM controllers, enabling
ware for automated quality inspection, troller upgrades or added software, the seamless interoperability between hard-
reporting, scanning, reverse engineering, legacy CMM data is translated allowing ware and software. CMM operators
tool building and assembly guidance. the operator to take full advantage of the avoid any risk associated with adopting
Universal CMM is a key option to the Verisurf user interface, data management new technology because with Universal
new software as it insures software com- and reporting functionality. This allows CMM, they can continue to use legacy
patibility with virtually all CNC CMMs. legacy CMMs to immediately become inspection programs if needed yet still
All CMMs, including previously relevant once again as part of an overall enjoy the benefits of using Verisurf.
Inspection programs created in Verisurf
for a CNC CMM can also be used on
portable systems. Human and technol-
ogy resource utilization improves sub-
stantially when all measuring devices
can be operated with the same metrol-
ogy software and skill sets; the result is
a manufacturing ‘enterprise-wide’ mea-
surement solution.
A complete list of Verisurf 2018 features
is available on the company’s website.
For more information:
Verisurf Software, Inc.
Phone: (888) 713-7201
www.verisurf.com

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July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 17

 product news

Vacuum Heat Treating Schunk

DESIGNER JAWS INCREASE EFFICIENCY IN
& Brazing Services FINISH MACHINING
The intelligent jaw design of the Schunk UVB-HS soft chuck
jaws defines a new class of efficiency in lathe chuck technology.
With a combination of overheight and angle cutting, it achieves
a whole bundle of efficiency effects during finish machining of
workpieces. The unusual jaw height allows for a larger clamp-
ing surface on the workpiece, which reduces deformations.
Alternatively, the distance between the workpiece to the chuck
face can be increased and thus accessibility can be optimized. In
comparison to conventional monoblock jaws, Schunk UVB-HS
reduces the jaw weight by up at least 20% depending on the size.
This increases energy efficiency and shortens the processing
time, since the lathe chuck can be accelerated and braked faster.
At the same time, the reduced jaw centrifugal force allows for
...because quality is critical higher holding forces on the workpiece, which means increased
process reliability.
We know high quality gears and components are But it doesn’t stop
vital to performance. Our leading edge vacuum there: Angle cutting
technology and expertise provides precise control minimizes the dan-
and repeatability for consistently superior parts. ger of collisions
with the turret and
• Low Pressure Vacuum Carburizing (LPVC) improves the fluid
• High Pressure Gas Quenching (HPGQ) dynamics during
• Vacuum Stress Relieving machining. At high
speeds, S chunk
UVB-HS chuck
Advantages jaws lower noise
• Uniformity of case depths emissions by up to
• Minimized distortion 10 dB, which halves
• No IGO (Intergranular Oxidation) the level of the per-
• Parts returned clean, free of soot – eliminating ceived noise. Since
downstream cleaning processes significantly lower
cooling lubricant is
swirled around the
machining area, it
is easier to see the
machining process. This
also lowers the amount of aerosols in the air when the machine
is opened. The highly efficient monoblock jaws with angle cut-
ting are part of the over 1,200 jaw types in the world’s largest
standard program of chuck jaws from Schunk. They are avail-
able immediately for wedge bar lathe chucks with straight ser-
For more information or a quote, ration in the sizes 200, 250/260 and 315 and can be turned indi-
call 1-855-WE-HEAT-IT or visit solaratm.com vidually to the desired diameter.
For more information:
Schunk
Phone: (919) 572-2705
9001:2015 www.schunk.com
9100D
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[www.geartechnology.com]
 Where Precision
Takes Shape

Dream it, we can make it. Gleason Plastic Gears is your

single source for the design, manufacture, assembly
and inspection of all types of cylindrical and bevel plastic
gearing for applications requiring greater precision and
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N-237000 5-C15

© Gleason Corporation. All rights reserved.

 feature

Overlapping Pursuits
More than any other field, IIoT overlaps directly with metrology’s mis-
sion to analyze and measure as much of the manufacturing process as
possible, and it’s no surprise that the latter is utilizing the former.
Alex Cannella, Associate Editor

Metrology experts have been in

the business of analyzing and
measuring tools and gears for
a long time. It’s just one step of the
gear manufacturing process, but also an
established, essential one. With demands
for manufacturing accuracy and process
repeatability growing increasingly exact-
ing, the need to make sure your prod-
ucts are up to specifications down to the
micrometer is ever more pressing, and
metrology experts are always there to
step up and meet those demands.
The Industrial Internet of Things, or
Industry 4.0 as some in Europe call it,
is all about that. From RFID tags to big
data operations capable of analyzing
heaps of digital information orders of
magnitude vaster than ever before, IoT
technology is a colossal leap forward,
the largest we’ve seen since the advent of
computers, in how we study and under-
stand our own production processes.
Is it any surprise that these two fields
would go hand in hand?
There isn’t merely overlap between
metrology and IoT technology — metrol-
ogy stands squarely in the epicenter
of innovation. By virtue of a common
goal, metrology systems may stand to
grow and improve more than any other
field of manufacturing from the “Fourth
Industrial Revolution,” and we’re already
seeing the field being revolutionized by
its pioneers.
“Metrology tools are in the business
of providing data and the Internet of
Things is a way to handle that data,” Pat
Nugent, vice president of product man-
agement at Mahr, said.
Take, for example, all the new doors
the Internet of Things has opened for
Klingelnberg. Closed loop systems, accu-
rate digital twins, smart tooling systems,
and uniform digital design data sets are For Related Articles Search

just a few of the many new directions inspection

Klingelnberg’s digital efforts are explod-
at www.geartechnology.com
ing out in.

20 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
 Our customers
say it best!

“The most decisive aspect when buying our 2nd Nick Schmelzer
Gear Lead Machinist
ZP15 KAPP NILES machine is the advantage of
a kinematic capability that allows us to work much bigger diameters than having to
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knew that we can count on the KAPP Technologies team for support whenever needed.
The KAPP applications engineers are particularly responsive to our needs and their
knowledgeable service team keeps our machines
in top shape with their annual maintenance.”
- Jerry Capone
Shop Operations Manager with Umbra Group

Umbra Group provides motion solutions and components or systems for Aerospace,
Power, and Industrial high-tech markets.
They just purchased their 2nd ZP15 machine from KAPP NILES.

KAPP Technologies
2870 Wilderness Place Boulder, CO 80301
kapp-niles.com [email protected] (303) 447-1130
 feature OVERLAPPING PURSUITS

“All measuring- and production- most recent IoT-related advances come Technically, closed loop systems are
machines do produce and collect huge back to this one critical concept, most much bigger than just metrology
amounts of data,” Dr. Christof Gorgels, notably their closed loop system. At its machines. Design programs, grinding,
director of the measuring machines divi- absolute core, the Internet of Things is cutting and finishing machines, and dig-
sion at Klingelnberg, said. “Systematic all about making machines communi- ital tooling are all connected alongside
evaluation of this data helps our cus- cate more effectively with each other, them. But inspection systems are one of
tomers to improve their processes, to and more than any other new product the most critical elements in that chain.
decrease process times and to increase or system coming out of Klingelnberg, Klingelnberg’s closed loop system
their profitableness and reliability.” the closed loop system takes advantage starts with a digital design of a work-
One pillar of Industry 4.0’s many of this fact. piece, including digital recreations of
advances in particular that has been This closed loop system connects the tooling and manufacturing pro-
most critical for Klingelnberg is inter- every machine in the manufacturing cesses utilized to make it. According
connectivity. Many of Klingelnberg’s process together into a single system. to Gorgels, this digital design is the
“expected outcome in a perfect manu-
facturing world,” what the workpiece
should look like without any outside
forces or unexpected complications aris-
ing during the process.
Innovative Metrology machines come into the

Gear & Spline Measurement

closed loop process after the workpiece
has been ground down. Their job is to
check each workpiece against that digital
ideal, note any inconsistencies or imper-
fections, and if they find any, send that
workpiece back to the grinders complete
with information on what corrections
need to be made to fix the piece.
And according to Gorgels, metrology
machines in Klingelnberg’s closed loop
 Gages  Individual design system can execute their tasks automati-
cally, even on more complex workpieces.
 Master gears  Stable instruments for In order to make this process possi-
 Double flank gear check the shop floor use ble, Klingelnberg has not only needed
 Shaft measurement  From a single source to know the parameters of their work-
pieces, but also of the tools used with
them, and to that end, they’ve developed
their most recent new release: smart
tooling products. Many of Klingelnberg’s
tools now come with a data matrix
code that identifies the tool. The tool’s
information is already part of the data-
base, but scanning the code brings up
 DAkkS-Calibration  Support and calculation that information, along with additional
 VDA-5 Certificate  Seminars
 Wear measurement  Literature
 Cause Analysis  Software

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Exclusive FRENCO distributor in the U.S.: Euro-Tech Corporation I www.eurotechcorp.com

22 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
details such as the tool’s accuracy or By having all of that tool’s digital infor- tied to this step of the process, as well. In
how many workpieces it has cut. All this mation available already in the system, addition to their role of scanning work-
combines to create a digital twin for your Klingelnberg can understand exactly pieces for imperfections, they can also be
manufacturing machines to utilize. how every individual tool in the sys- used to scan tagged tools during setup
A digital twin is exactly what the name tem should theoretically interact with a to double check that they’ve been prop-
suggests: a digital recreation of a physical workpiece and incorporate that into the erly set up as initially programmed and
object that exists alongside it through- design process. reduce the risk of incorrect machining
out the entirety of its lifecycle and often “If the process is known and the tool or an outright crash of the machine.
reflects not just its basic parameters, but (e. g. a hob) is measured a simulation “By tagging the tools and scanning
also how that object changes over time. can show which errors on the workpiece them before each use a lot of data is gen-
If set up to do so, digital twins can even are coming from the tool inaccuracy,” erated in order to improve efficiency,
make note of changing parameters such Gorgels said. productivity and thus profitability of
as when a gear is reground or how a tool Metrology machines are intrinsically manufacturing processes,” Gorgels said.
is being worn down as its performance
shifts over time.
In many cases, digital twins are used
to follow individual workpieces from
their inception all the way until they’re
eventually discarded by whoever pur-
chases them. This gives manufacturers
unprecedented and increasingly gran-
ular insight into the typical lifecycle
of their products. In automotives, for
example, the information from mul-
tiple digital twins can be collated and
studied to inform a manufacturer about
trends such as how often an individual
part needs to be replaced, which in turn
can identify weak points in a product’s
design that can be iterated upon.
Klingelnberg’s smart tooling technol-
ogy, however, creates digital twins of the
tools and their associated workholding
equipment, not the workpiece, which
gives entirely different benefits that tie
back into the closed loop system. It’s no
secret that your tool can affect the fin-
ished product and introduce variance
into the process, so in order to create a
fully digital design of the entire process
before ever putting a gear to the grinder,
Klingelnberg needs to understand how
the tool will interact with the workpiece.

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 23

 feature OVERLAPPING PURSUITS

“The measuring machine is in this case tools can be established easily. This capability of the gear manufacturing
the nucleus, where a tool and a data set enables the closed loop in manufactur- process itself,” Beerck said. “With iden-
are combined.” ing around the whole manufacturing tification and part recognition technol-
Currently, this smart tooling system chain and thus the creation of a digital ogy, the machine, part, tool, operator,
is only available in Klingelnberg’s bevel twin of each manufactured part.” workholding, etc. can all be tracked and
product line, but the company is work- According to Gorgels, this singular monitored and performance trends ana-
ing to expand it across their processes digital design data set is still rare in the lyzed automatically in a lot of cases. The
and is currently implementing it into gear world, but Klingelnberg utilizes lloT adds to the seamlessness and speed
their cylindrical gearing line, as well. modern techniques such as their KIMoS of the transfer of the data...Industry
Data consistency is another chal- (Klingelnberg Integrated Manufacturing is really just beginning to tap into the
lenge systems like Klingelnberg’s closed of Spiral Bevel Gears) software package capability lloT tools have to enhance the
loop can solve. Here again, the Internet to generate that data. manufacturing process, but the results
of Things’ focus on interconnectiv- Gleason has seen similar advances are already driving significant through-
ity lubricates the process. By keeping brought about by IoT technology. out, uptime and quality improvements
each machine perpetually intercon- Everything from closed loop systems to beyond what was thought possible just a
nected, every machine can draw on the predictive analysis back through the gear few years ago.”
same single digital data set, as opposed design itself have been improving gear Beerck also has a few ideas on how
to being manually updated separately, design, manufacturing and measure- the industry might dig deeper into the
removing the risk of errors arising from ment processes there, as well. Douglas Internet of Things’ possibilities. In par-
old data floating around in one machine Beerck, vice president and general man- ticular, he pointed to artificial intelli-
or operator error. ager at Gleason Metrology Systems, has gence as a future possibility. Perhaps
“Connecting machines using exactly watched these innovations be imple- not necessarily a full on AI as we might
the same data ensures the consistency mented and has a few ideas on what imagine one in a science fiction story,
of data over multiple machines,” Gorgels might be next in the future. but a machine capable of learning and
said. “This improves the quality and reli- “With the expansion of closed loop developing decision trees from the data
ability of measuring results especially capability between the inspection we give it. As we continue to make
for companies with manufacturing sites machine and the machine tool, the data easier and faster to pass between
distributed throughout the world. When predictive capability goes beyond the machines than ever before, Beerck
measured data can be accessed via net- state of each machine individually and believes that machines will only grow
work, communication with machine is being developed into a predictive smarter.

24 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
 Of course, the Internet of Things may with simple hand tools — measuring and metrology and the Internet of Things go
be providing massive benefits to both writing down data on paper is gone.” so well together, it won’t be a surprise
manufacturers and metrology experts The old days of a lot of things are when both continue to rapidly evolve in
alike, but its not without its challenges. fading in the manufacturing sector. As tandem.
As Nugent noted, a lot of manufacturers ever, the Internet of Things has already For more information:
have been tempted by IoT networks such started changing how we do our jobs, Gleason Corporation
as those being developed by Amazon, and as Beerck noted, it still stands to Phone: (585) 473-1000
www.gleason.com
but are cautious due to those networks’ potentially change everything a lot more.
open nature. Wanting to keep one’s cards And metrology is not only being trans- Klingelnberg America, Inc.
Phone: (734) 470-6278
close to the chest is a natural instinct formed by it, but also being made an www.klingelnberg.com
in a competitive business environment, an ever more indispensable part of the Mahr Inc.
and Nugent’s found that the prospect of manufacturing process. Phone: (401) 784-3100
having to show those cards intimidates And just as it’s no surprise that www.mahr.com
many manufacturers.
“I think there’s a lot of concern in the
world of manufacturers about sharing
this big data that would be created by

FORGING
really leveraging the Industrial Internet
of Things somewhere outside of their
walls,” Nugent said. “While we all love
the idea of working in the cloud, I think
having the product data on every part

AHEAD
you make be out there on some Amazon
server out there makes a lot of customers
of ours nervous.”
And that’s why Mahr has been work-
ing with an open source platform,
ADAMOS (Adaptive Manufacturing
Open Solutions). The main advantage
Nugent has found with ADAMOS is that

OF THE PACK
even though it’s open source and cloud-
based, individual companies can use the
platform on their own private servers,
thus keeping their data only in their own
system instead of intermingling with
everyone else.
ADAMOS is a joint venture being
undertaken by DMG Mori, Zeiss and
several other German manufacturing
and software experts, but companies like
Mahr have been adapting to incorporate
the system. Mahr, for example, has been
retooling their interfaces to work with
the platform.
Mahr has also been bringing IoT to
hand metrology tools, implementing Fast.
wireless transmission capabilities across
an increasing number of calipers and
No Fine Print.
micrometers. Mahr is using the ANT+ No Premium.
protocol as the basis for connecting their
hand tools to a single network. Nugent At McInnes Rolled Rings, we provide quality
cited the protocol’s low power consump- products, shipped fast. And we partner that with
tion as a primary factor in choosing to exceptional customer service to forge the perfect
use the protocol, as battery life is a con- partnership with our customers.
cern with hand tools.
“We think that making it easy to col-
lect that data is critically important,” 1.877.695.0280  www.McInnesRolledRings.com
Nugent said. “The old days of — even

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 25

 feature

Plastic Gear Design Remains

a Work in Progress
Jack McGuinn, Senior Editor

Despite the development and plastic gears’ positives and negatives, we • Material cost can be markedly higher
than basic metal gears, especially if
availability of a number of include the following Good/Bad lists
custom poly materials are used
newly engineered, rugged intended to provide some context for • Difficulty in wedding plastic gears
materials intended for plastic what follows. with metal shafts
gear applications, some engi- Plastic gear attributes: • Often less strength than similar metal
neers/designers continue to • Elimination of machining operations; gears
believe metal is better. But there capability of fabrication with inserts • Problems with high tolerances vs.
now exists a long list of simple poly and integral designs metal gears
materials (nylon and acetal, for example) • Lightweight • Not as dimensionally stable as metal
• Reduction in shock, noise and gears in that plastic gears are adversely
that can now be mixed with other mate-
vibration affected by temperature and humidity
rials such as fiberglass and then rein- • Parts uniformity conditions
forced with a carbon steel core. • In many applications, no or very little
However, designers may also be put lubrication; self-lubricating in some Understand, however, that this is not
off by the cost of certain plastic-in- cases (nylon) an article on the specifics of plastic gear
place-of-metal gear applications. The • Corrosion-resistance. design. Rather, what follows presents
cost occurs when the mentioned rein- • More forgiving tolerances than with some of the ongoing big-picture issues
forcements are added to the mix — metal gears that affect plastic gear designers and
which can add hundreds of dollars to the • Relatively simple production, with no end-users alike.
cost of a simple spur gear, for example. pre- or post-production Take, for example, the continued lack
And while there are any number of A not-so-positive list of plastic gearing of published standards for plastic gears
websites available that present lists of negatives includes: (although some rating methods exist).
What’s up with that? We asked Ernie
Reiter, who runs Web Gear Services,
why he thinks that there is still no avail-
able standard for estimating, for exam-
ple, the strength of plastic gears.
“AGMA and ISO do not estimate the
‘strength of gears’ but instead provide a
method of rating gears. A rating method
is merely a means of comparing one
design to another using a common cal-
culation method. The AGMA and ISO
rating methods do not necessarily accu-
rately predict a particular gear’s actual
strength.
“Plastic gears are much more com-
plicated in developing a rating method
than metal gears. This is because the
material properties vary widely with
temperature coming both from
ambient conditions and fric-
tional heat. The materials
are also strain rate sensi-
tive and, and depending
on the grade may allow
for larger elastic and
plastic tooth deflections
under load that may pro-
mote load sharing.”

26 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
 “ISO in its standards has not focused overcome when designing plastic gears. data to help predict flank and root bend-
on plastic gears at all. AGMA’s Plastic It is very hard to design anything with- ing safety factors. This data is expen-
Gearing Committee has focused on out sufficient material data. While there sive and time-consuming to collect, as
writing documents related to specifica- is plenty of data available for plastics it requires expensive equipment, lots of
tion, measurement, materials and testing that have been around for a long time time/money, and also the ability to con-
of plastic gears. Creating a standard for (POM, PA66, etc.), there is limited data trol the temperature of the plastic gears
rating plastic gears has been discussed available for newer, high-temperature, during cycling in order to create S-N
as a work project, but the priorities have engineering grade resins. Most of these curves at many different temperatures.
first been put onto other topics.” materials have basic mechanical data All this data must be collected at dif-
Brian Stringer, Manager KISSsoft available, like modulus and tensile ferent temperatures since the mechani-
Sales and Application Engineering, strength, but most do not have fatigue cal properties of plastics degrade with
USA/Canada, says “There are currently
some guidelines (not official standards)
that can be used for calculation of the
load carrying capacity for plastic gears.
VDI 2736 part 2 (cylindrical gears) and
VD2736 part 3 (crossed helical gears)
are two examples. These calculation
methods are available in gear software
such as KISSsoft. AGMA also has a plas-
tics gearing committee that is working
towards some of their own new stan-
dards and guidelines for plastic gears.”
For Glenn Ellis, Senior Gear Engineer,
ABA-PGT Inc., “It does not seem that
there is a standard system of testing plas-
tic materials. Some gear software has
estimating calculations but only for a
limited amount of materials.”
We asked if FEA (finite element analy-
sis) — the long-established method for ver-
ifying the strength of metal gears — could
work for plastic gears as well.
“I would disagree,” Stringer says.
“Plastics are viscoelastic materials, and
therefore experience both viscous and
elastic characteristics when undergo-
ing deformation. With that being said,
plastics are non-isotropic, and cannot
be treated as such during FEA. This is
complicated even further when you are
looking at plastics with fillers such as
glass fiber, where you have to take into
account the stiffness and alignment of
the fibers.”
Meanwhile, today’s designers of plastic
gears have more material choices than
ever before in developing new applica-
tions. But is there sufficient test data
available for all of these materials?
Ellis declares that, “There is strength
data for most materials. However there
is limited data in regard to wear between
different material types.“
“Not even close,” says Stringer.
“This is the largest hurdle to currently

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 27

 feature PLASTIC GEAR DESIGN REMAINS A WORK IN PROGRESS

you a comparative result.

“We then evaluate a new
design relative to the same
calculating method as what
was used in the benchmark
to project ahead what is
likely to happen. As long as
the temperature of the appli-
cation, materials, and load-
ing is generally similar (even
though magnitudes may be
different) the benchmarking
should lead to a good work-
ing solution.”
In recent years simula-
tion software development
and increases in computing
power have led to more reli-
Photo courtesy ABA-PGT.
able gear simulations, but
often their full capacity can-
increase in temperature.” take the risk if they don’t have the data not be exploited due, once
It has been reported that plastic gear and calculations to show confidence in again, to a dearth of gear material data.
designers are also hampered by a lack the plastic. What is also challenging is To what do you attribute the shortage in
of available material characterization that there are a lot of molding compa- gear material data?
guidelines for plastic gear calculation. nies out there, and many of them mold “The knowledge of what data is
“This is true on some of the newer gears like they would any other com- needed,” Reiter says. “Also, plastic gears
materials, Says Ellis. ponent. It is important to work with an represent a fraction of the material vol-
Also in agreement, Stringer says that, actual gear molder who specializes in umes that granulate suppliers sell of the
“As stated in the answer to the previous this. You cannot mold a gear correctly if grades used in gears. Testing is expensive
question, it is very difficult to design you do not understand how to
without having enough material data. design gears, the gear mate-
Multiple calculation methods must be rials themselves, or if you
used if possible, and also experience and cannot inspect molded plas-
educated guessing. It is critical to get tic gear using the appropri-
your material suppliers involved in the ate methods. This includes
process, as they can speak on experience at least double flank com-
and past projects to compare stress val- posite inspection using a
ues, and they may have additional inter- master gear, to report Total
nal data to share that they may have not Composite Error (TCE),
released to the public.” Tooth-to-Tooth Composite
Further researching plastic gear man- Error (T TCE), and Test
ufacture, we determine, not surprisingly, Radius (TR).”
suppliers are tasked with designing and Reiter states that, “Plastic
manufacturing plastic gears and gear gears are designed by bench-
components for applications in which marking — so this is not an
there is no international standard avail- issue. They are necessary to
able for gear predictive engineering. use in order to achieve low
Ellis offers the possibility that, “The cost designs. We evalu-
end user may not be aware of this situ- ate an existing plastic gear
ation. They rely on the gear molder to design using some calculat-
produce an adequate gear.” ing method of our choosing.
To that end Stringer explains that, “It Most plastics people have
is certainly tough to sell a plastic gear their own methods for stress
solution to companies whose applica- analysis that they have devel-
tions are pushing the limits of the cur- oped; none of these methods
rent materials. Most companies will not is exactly correct, but they get

28 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
and granulate suppliers may have a dif- (sometimes if the material has a filler of plastics, so it is important to not only
ficult time in justifying the expense to such as glass fiber, this can increase the understand what you’re operating and
do the testing relative to the size of the wear as well). Fatigue can occur from ambient temperatures are, but what your
granulate market they can achieve.” root bending stress over a number of actual temperature at the tooth flank and
Gleason’s Stringer says “Time/cost to cycles on higher loaded applications. tooth root are during operation.”
actually collect this data. Also, material Sometimes a gear pair will see a peak Reiter has a different take. “I disagree
suppliers may be hesitant to release all torque that simply breaks the teeth in a that wear is one of the most common
their internal data due to liability and stall condition, which isn’t due to fatigue plastic gear failure modes. It does hap-
uncertainty in the data collection pro- at all, but more so due to the tensile pen but most plastic gears that I see are
cess. There is also the topic of how this strength of the material at a specific tem- used intermittently and wear is not an
data is collected, and if all material sup- perature. High temperature is the enemy issue. Fatigue fractures and plastic flow
pliers are using the same methods/stan-
dards (if available), to collect this data.
Without a unified method to collect
plastic gear data, we can never be certain
that the data is accurate.”
“This (lack of data) is true,” says ABA’s
Ellis. “It appears that only a few material
manufactures have gotten together with
the software designers to fill the infor-
mation data archives.”
Research indicates that the most com-
mon plastic gear failure modes are wear,
fatigue, and plastic flow due to material
creep or elevated temperature exposure.
We asked our contributors for comment.
“Yes,” Stringer agrees. “Wear would
be mostly seen on high RPM, unlubri-
cated, continuously running applications

Manufacturers of:

and Universal Gear Company

1605 Industrial Drive
Auburn, CA 95603
Phone: (530) 885-1939
Fax: (530) 885-8157

Photo courtesy ABA-PGT.

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 29

 feature PLASTIC GEAR DESIGN REMAINS A WORK IN PROGRESS

Photo courtesy ABA-PGT.

are significant failure modes. In crossed

The New BMS Dual-Drive axis helical gear applications where hard
stop exists in a gearbox, shear of the
accomplishes The Three ‘Rs’ of Broaching gear teeth is a significant failure mode at
stall.”
The RIGHT Machine For more information:
° Table-Up (No pits or platforms required) ABA-PGT Inc.
° Small Footprint/Cell Friendly 10 Gear Drive
Manchester, CT 06042
° Quick Delivery Phone: (860) 649-4591
The RIGHT Technology [email protected]
www.abapgt.com
° Electric Drive (No Hydraulics)
° Variable Speed and Stroke at the Touch Gleason Corp. (Gleason Plastic Gears)
of a Button 8210 Buffalo Rd.
° Saves Energy and Lowers Operating Bergen, NY 14416
Costs Phone: (585) 494-2470
[email protected]
The RIGHT Company www.k2plasticsinc.com
° American Made/American Owned
° Building Electric Drive Machines for Web Gear Services Ltd.
over 20 Years 379 Gatestone Blvd.
° Unparalleled Service and Support Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2T 2J6
Phone: (519) 885-1387
Fax: (519) 885-0388
[email protected]
www.webgearservices.com

BROACHING MACHINE SPECIALTIES For Related Articles Search

customized broaching solutions
plastic
PHONE:
(248) 471-4500 www.broachingmachine.com at www.geartechnology.com

30 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
 MULTI-CHAMBER VACUUM

CASEMASTER
EVOLUTION
®
A Strong Case For Productivity, Speed and Consistency.
The CaseMaster Evolution® (CMe) is a cost effective alternative to continuous atmospheric multi-
chamber systems. CMe multi-chamber vacuum furnaces are available in two (in-out) and three
(straight-through) chamber configurations. CMe furnaces can be equipped with high pressure gas
or oil quenching. Advantages of these systems include increased productivity, faster carburizing
cycles, consistent processing of densely packed loads, and uniform quenching with less distortion.
Learn more about our CMe furnace and see what SECO/VACUUM can do for you. Visit us at:
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T: +1 814 332 8520 | E: [email protected]
 feature

In-Process, Complete Gear Inspection

at Light Speeds
New GRSL technology adds value to high-volume
transmission gear inspection by combining non-contact
laser inspection with tried-and-true composite roll testing.
Douglas Beerck, Vice President and General Manager, Gleason Metrology Systems

Driven by recent advances in power transmission

design and manufacturing technologies, unprec-
edented improvements in gearbox quality, reli-
ability, noise reduction and overall performance
are now within reach. At Gleason Metrology Systems,
we’re racing to keep pace with the inspection challenges that
now exist for today’s gear manufacturers and, ultimately, to
add value with new technologies that improve accuracies, cycle
times, capabilities and ease of use.

GRSL: Bringing Non-Contact to High Volume

The most recent example of where all of these ‘added value’
user benefits have converged in a single technology: the
new Gleason GRSL Gear Rolling System with non-contact
laser inspection. GRSL combines the latest non-contact gear
analytical measurement innovation with the double-flank roll Non-contact (laser) index and profile inspection can be
performed on all the gear teeth in a matter of just 10 to 15 seconds,
test gear inspection process used today in most high-volume as compared to several minutes when done conventionally.
gear production where 100% inspection is required. This new
product follows the strategy of the recently introduced multi-
purpose GMSL non-contact inspection system from Gleason. expectations have never been higher.
Where the GMSL was developed to exceed the requirements of The GRSL product stays true to the strategy our partner
today’s most stringent gear processing research, development customers continue to ask us to follow. It adds value by adding
and reverse engineering needs, the GRSL brings high accuracy, measuring capability with multiple sensors on a common
high speed, non-contact measurement of gears in-process to platform to reduce cost of ownership, the number of operators
the high-volume production environment, where performance required and the footprint. In addition, it adds throughput by
measuring both the composite, functional
error and the individual part characteristics
of both involute and index simultaneously
during the same revolution of the gear during
the test cycle.

Single Platform, Exciting

Possibilities
This patent-p ending, dual-pur p os e
inspection system provides additional value
by offering the GRSL platform in three
different configurations for use as a stand-
alone manual gauge, a semi-automatic gauge
or even as a fully automated gauge where
high-volume throughput is the priority. Tests
for full analytical results of both involute and
With GAMA gear analysis and charting output, options exist for index are performed on all teeth for most
AGMA, DIN, ISO as well as OEM specific analysis for the involute external, cylindrical gears up to 250 mm
and index measurements, with common charting as seen on the
popular GMS series of analytical machines. diameter in a matter of seconds along with
the composite double-flank roll test, again
with both tests taking place simultaneously.

32 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
 For Related Articles Search

inspection
at www.geartechnology.com

With the new GRSL, the power of high-speed involute and index
measurements also comes with the ability to integrate with Gleason
Metrology’s GAMA gear analysis and charting output. This means
options for AGMA, DIN, ISO as well as OEM specific analysis are avail-
able for the involute and index measurements, with common chart-
ing as seen on the GMS line of analytical machines throughout the
gear industry today.
Consider the possibilities of full, high speed involute and index
measurement in process, inline. Add to that the ability to network
this data in a closed-loop configuration directly to the machine
tool using Gleason Connect to communicate results that can assist
in determining necessary changes to the machine tool, the cut-
ting tool, part setup, etc. All of this is now available, fully inte-
grated with the traditional double-flank roll composite testing
still called for on most part prints today in high-volume gear
production.

Faster Cycle Times, Greater

Throughput.
Measurements of analytical characteristics
are typically taken on a dedicated, stand-
alone analytical machine in a lab or on the
shop floor, but not inline. This typically takes
several minutes for a sampling of teeth, say every
90 degrees, for involute measurement and all teeth
for index. The GRSL offers analytical measurement
of all teeth in a matter of seconds, depending on
the gear size, with many tests completed in 10 to 15
seconds, and provides the double-flank composite
test data simultaneously, thus delivering significant
throughput value for our end users. The GRSL also
offers the flexibility of operating the analytical and
composite, double flank tests independent of one
another if desired. This can offer advantages such as
extending the life of the master gear if , for example, GRSL combines the latest non-contact
it is determined that not all parts require double- gear analytical measurement innovation
with double-flank roll test gear inspection
flank composite testing as more is learned over time from process to deliver unprecedented in-
the involute and index measurements provided by the non- process inspection speed and flexibility for
contact laser inspection. cylindrical gears up to 250 mm in diameter.
Finally, by combining Gleason 4.0 technology with the high-speed,
analytical inspection capability now available with the new GRSL,
gear manufacturers can ‘close the loop’ between inspection system and
machine tool to make machine corrections fast, error-free and in a fully
automated process.

Get In Touch With Non-Contact Douglas Beerck is a

Interested customers can get in touch with non-contact at the Gleason veteran of 25 years in the
booth at this year’s International Machine Tool Exhibition (IMTS) in gear metrology industry and
Chicago September 10–15. has been Vice President
and General Manager of
For more information Gleason Metrology Systems
Gleason Metrology Systems since 2005.
Phone: (937) 859-8273
www.gleason.com

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 33

 feature

Facing the Future

A Look at Emerging Technologies in Heat Treating
Matthew Jaster, Senior Editor

The following article highlights

some of the recent heat treat
products, technologies and
industry news articles for gear
manufacturing. Topics include
a technical article on induction heat
treat advancements, a developing
story on augmented reality on the
shop floor and the use of automation
and IIoT to liven-up eddy current
inspection solutions. Just like general
manufacturing, heat treatment is going
through a variety of noteworthy changes
and developments aimed at making
it easier to manufacture and improve
gear production. Learn more at www.
geartechnology.com. Robot cell heat treatment verification by
Criterion NDT for Schneider & Company.

Criterion NDT
LOOKS TO AUTOMATION TO MEET THE CHANGING NEEDS OF GEAR MANUFACTURERS
Criterion NDT specializes in engineered they provide an optimum designed provide automated adjustments of
eddy current  inspection solutions for solution. The dimensional calculations product inspection limits, minimizing
the non-destructive testing of critical must be precise and should be expected op erator interfacing and human
or essential components. The company when produced on CNC machines. The subjectivity in order to provide
s er ves major automotive OEMs, end goal is that each part manufactured consistent, repeatable and impartial
tier suppliers, industrial products will be physically identical, within some evaluation of each manufactured
manufacturers, and medical device very small tolerance margin. part. Proper implementation of this
companies. “Heat treating is one of the final automated inspection technology can
Criterion NDT offers single-channel key steps to ensuring a manufactured non-destructively test every part for
and single-frequency instruments product will provide its end user the correct heat treatment results, thereby
in addition to multi-channel, multi- intended function, service life and reducing the number of parts that are
frequency inspection instruments  for potential safety requirements,” Jessop destroyed in the lab,” Jessop said.
more complex inspections.  These said. “Automation of heat treating This saves gear manufactures money
eddy current instruments and probes processes provides manufacturers and by minimizing employee time gathering
have been developed specifically for design engineers with the confidence and cutting parts, reducing scrap and
the  component test  market, and are that each of the manufactured products consumable materials expense, while
simple to incorporate into semi- or fully- will result in a correct and consistent ensuring improperly heat treat parts are
automated systems. uniformity of every manufactured part, quarantined before exiting the factory.
Gear Technology recently caught up which meet the needs of the application
with Joe Jessop, president at Criterion as the engineer intended.” Improving Technologies
NDT, Inc., to discuss the role automation This is where Criterion NDT comes Je s s op b e l i e v e s t h at l e v e r a g i n g
plays in the inspection process for heat into play. Advanced eddy current advancements in robotics and the
treating. (electromagnetic test) instrumentation ever increasing power of computer
is a key component of an automated processing, provides gear manufacturers
Meeting the Challenges of Gear heat treatment inspection system. with a range of faster and more precise
Manufacturing Today The instruments provide intuitive automat ion system comp onents.
Jessop said there is a lot to consider user interfaces and essential industrial Continued improvements to ancillary
when designing gears. A mechanical I/O to support automated testing of devices also help to reduce the time
engineer will evaluate a multitude of manufactured materials. and expense to manufacture a given
application aspects, in order to ensure “Modern instrumentation features part. Coupling the key system devices

34 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
with advanced subordinate controls
contribute to automation stations
assigned to one or more of production
lines, consisting of one or more high-
Experience Pays
production speed improvements, while end automation systems. While this new Off
reducing manual operations previously generation demonstrates the ability to Criterion NDT’s team of applications
required for system setup/training and easily comprehend new concepts and engineers has the know-how to
production. complex systems, the rate of employee develop solutions to meet inspection
“For e x a mp l e , a n aut om ot i v e turnover has appeared to increase due to requirements. One example was a
transmission gear can be evaluated for workload burnout,” Jessop said. transmission gear supplier that was
heat treatment in less than 200ms after Recognizing this new normal of high shipping gears that were too soft,
eddy current sensor engagement. The turnover, Criterion NDT has made a resulting in transmission failures.
use of robotics for system setup (loading decision to take an often misunderstood The gear supplier was forced to pay
and unloading of gear components) technology with overly complicated the automobile manufacturer for the
removes operator interaction, thereby instruments and make them more intui- entire cost of the failed transmission.
increasing setup time with real world tive. “This makes the training and opera- The solution was for the gear
operational conditions,” Jessop added. tion much easier for the newer individu- supplier to install an InSite HT eddy
The end goal is ensuring that the als as well as their occasional interaction current test instrument and encircling
eddy current instrumentation Criterion with the instruments during regular pro- coil downstream from their induction
NDT develops provides thoughtful and duction,” he added. hardening system. The InSite HT
flexible communication methods and The company is also looking into IIoT simultaneously tests components at
protocol solutions. Working closely solutions that can provide additional eight unique frequencies, helping it to
with regional machine builders ensures benefits when it comes to productivity capture multiple failure modes.
gear/component manufacturers have a and training. “This is an area that is The InSite HT is very easy to set
responsive local source for any systems providing some exciting opportunities up. Known good components are
support needed. Jessop said that for manufacturers, which we are anxious used to develop the heat treat testing
accessibility, application customization to explore,” Jessop said. “We will remain standards. The data captured from
and responsiveness provide Criterion’s open and adaptable to our customer’s the good components automatically
customers with a unique and welcomed needs as they arise.” creates acceptance thresholds for all
systems solutions partnership. Competition continuously drives eight frequencies. The components
innovation, Jessop said. “Evolution under test are compared to these
Bridging the Skills Gap specifics are hard to pin down, but I acceptance thresholds. Testing times
The skills gap is still a hot topic across think it’s a safe bet saying that there will of less than 1 second per part are
every facet of manufacturing and always be incremental changes providing achievable, making it easy to install in
automation is no exception. So how are the end users with something a little a production line.
manufacturers filling the void left by faster, more reliable and cheaper to The InSite HT has full industrial
employees that have been running these operate.” I/O capabilities, enabling it to
shops for 25 to 35 years? For more information: interface with material handling
“What I’ve witness during my system Criterion NDT systems. The system can be set up
installations & training at manufacturing Phone: (253) 929-8800 to send alarms on consecutive
Criterionndt.com
companies is that younger engineers are rejects, indicating that there is a
process issue on the production line.
These could include power failures
or bent/damaged induction heating
coils. Plugged cooling nozzles can
also cause an improper quench
which, depending on the severity
of the reduced flow, could result in
improperly heat treated parts.
Another example was a powder
metal fuel pump manufacturer
required an in-line hardness test
to provide results comparable with
those from Rockwell hardness
testers. The system had to inspect
100% of the parts and run two
lines simultaneously. Parts to be
Gears and test coils that were part of an automated water pump assembly tested  included 15 star sizes, 10 ring
station. Eddy current test instrumentation and coils then confirmed heat sizes and three lobe geometries for
treatment in advance of pressing the gears onto the water pump shaft.
each size. The test had to be easy to

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 35

 feature FACING THE FUTURE

configure with minimal set-up Inductoheat's Dr.

changes. The goal was to reduce Valery Rudnev received
production scrap and warranty two awards at the ASM
International Thermal
costs. Processing in Motion
The manufacturer installed a conference.
multi-frequency eddy current test
system downstream of the heat-
treat furnace. The system included
a multi-channel, multi-frequency
eddy current instrument, two eddy
current hardness testing coils (one
for stars and one for rings), and two
sorting stations (one per lane). This
provided 100% component testing
up to 60 parts per minute, with the
ability to physically reject out-of-
tolerance components.
While eddy current testing is
typically used as a go/no-go test,
we were able to develop a close
correlation between a measured
Rockwell hardness (HrB) and the
eddy current results. In an initial
Dr. Valery Rudnev
RECEIVES TWO PRESTIGIOUS HEAT TREATING AWARDS
sample test, the eddy current
test results and actual Rockwell Dr. Valery Rudnev was recognized more than 250 engineering/scientific
hardness readings are compared. during the opening ceremony of the publications.
From t his init i a l test t he American Society for Materials (ASM Dr. Rudnev was also presented with
correlation between Rockwell International) Thermal Processing in the ASM International “Best-Paper in
hardness and eddy current was very Motion conference. Dr. Rudnev, director Heat Treating” award for co-authoring
good, showing only about 1~3 HrB of science and technology at Inductoheat an article entitled “Revolution — Not
points variation. Eddy current Inc., an Inductotherm Group Company, Evolution — Necessar y to Advance
readings (solid blue line) tended to received two prestigious awards for his Induction Heat Treating.” The article
show a more consistent value when contributions in the field of induction was published in the September 2017
compared to the Rockwell readings. heating and heat-treating. issue of Advanced Materials & Processes
During a subsequent production Dr. Rudnev was elected as a Fellow to Magazine (HTPro quarterly newsletter),
test, the Rockwell hardness readings The International Federation for Heat and co-authored by Gary Doyon, Collin
were accurate to ±1.0 HrB while the Treatment and Surface Engineering Russell, and John Maher. The ASM
eddy current test provided more (IFHTSE), “For his preeminence in International Heat Treating Society,
consistent results. induction heat treating and modeling Research and Development Committee,
For these and other case studies of the induction heat treating process” established this award to recognize the
visit criterionndt.com (IFTSE, 2018). IFHTSE is a nonprofit best papers in the heat treat industry
group of scientific/technological each year. To be considered, papers must
societies and associations, groups and appear in either the HTPro quarterly
companies and individuals whose newsletter or be published in ASM’s
primary interest is heat treatment and Heat Treat conference proceedings.
surface engineering. Dr. Valery Rudnev Papers are judged on several criteria
is also Fellow of ASM International and including production readiness and
considered by many to be one of the breadth of potential applications.
leading global figures in the induction Over the years, Dr. Rudnev has
heating and heat-treating industry. He contributed a number of publications for
has more than 30 years of experience Gear Technology magazine.
and is known among induction heating For more information:
professionals as “Professor Induction.” Inductoheat Inc.
His credits include a great deal of Phone: (800) 624-6297
https://inductoheat.com
“know-how”, more than 50 patents and
inventions (U.S. and International) and

36 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
Seco/Warwick
DEVELOPS AUGMENTED REALITY TECHNOLOGIES FOR HEAT TREATING
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)
are two technologies that are often mentioned
simultaneously and often confused. VR and AR are
approaches of different but similar formats. What is
the difference between them? Virtual reality (VR)
replaces the real one, cutting off the user from the
environment. AR is a technology that enriches its
experience, supporting the real world with artificial
images, sounds or other stimuli, and Seco/Lens is
based on this technology.
Seco/Lens is an application that, based on
Microsoft holographic computer — HoloLens, intro-
duces heavy industry into the
world of augmented reality.
Slawomir Wachowski, direc-
tor of the automation depart-
ment at Seco/Warwick created In 2016, the company launched Seco/Lab, a state-of-the-
the solution as a way to blend art metallographic laboratory to conduct its own, unique
digital components—sen- research and carry out full metallographic tests and develop
sors, displays and data proces- the acquired or purchased technology, as well as expansively
sors—to real manufacturing invest in new production undertakings around the world.
environments. The metallographic laboratory at Seco/Warwick is divided
Seco/Lens can superim- into two areas. The first one conducts preliminary work, i.e.
pose previously developed prepares material for studies. The research area, on the other
3D models of the device Slawomir Wachowski hand, conducts analyses of the prepared samples. The Seco/
for heat treatment of met- created the Seco/Lens Warwick R&D department is not just about technological tri-
als enabling its monitoring, technology at Seco/Warwick. als or the metallography laboratory; it also provides design
diagnostics, maintenance of support using specialized computer software. The new office
the production process, remote repair and planning the most space serves to carry out computer simulations using the
optimal layout of the production line on the hall. ANSYS application, which is based on the finite element
Seco/Lens will allow for a very accurate visualization of method (FEM).
Seco/Warwick solutions, as well as for conducting training on Using the ANSYS software the company is able to model the
the operation of the device without the need for expensive and distribution of temperatures, flow speeds, pressures, as well
time-consuming travel. With this technology, a service engi- as distribution of stress, deformation, etc. Numerical analyses
neer can check and verify equipment from his desk across the contribute to significant reduction in design times, as well as
globe. Seco/Lens presents an efficient and accurate means to costs. They are an excellent tool which enables to develop and
conduct remote repairs and equipment monitoring. optimize the construction of their equipment, without the
This is just one of many R&D projects that Seco/Warwick is need to build expensive and complex physical models. The
investing on a national and global level to promote new heat use of CFX and Mechanical modules significantly extends
treat technologies. the range of research capabilities of the Seco/Warwick R&D
department.
For more information:
Seco/Warwick
Phone: (814) 332-8400
www.secowarwick.com

For Related Articles Search

heat treating
at www.geartechnology.com

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 37

 feature

Inspection System Upgrades

Meet EV Gear Challenges
Delta Research upgrades its Gleason Metrology
‘Workhorses’ to meet the development
requirements of the latest electrical drive vehicles.

With upwards of 70 million

Electric and Hybrid Vehicles
(EVs) predicted to be in opera-
tion by year 2030, automotive
OEMs and their suppliers are
racing to develop the next gen-
eration of more efficient and
affordable electric cars, trucks
and buses. Delta Research, a lead-
ing Livonia, Michigan producer of high-
precision gears, gearboxes and transmis-
sion components, is deeply immersed in
the efforts of many of the world’s lead-
ing OEMs to develop EV transmission
gears that improve overall efficiency and, Refurbishing existing inspection
most importantly, optimize acoustics. It’s equipment has resulted in
the quest for quieter gears that’s driving increased capability and
productivity at Delta Research.
development of a new class of very high
quality transmission gears with mirror-
like finishes that reduce wear and vibra-
tion — and adding greatly to the work- for expanding capacity of advanced costs, and add capabilities more quickly
load of a very busy Delta Quality Lab, inspection capabilities for gears, we to its Quality Lab, by simply upgrad-
says Delta Research Vice President of found a practical and cost effective solu- ing Delta’s existing two SIGMA 3 gear
Operations Tony Werschky. “Prototype tion from Gleason Metrology Systems.” inspection systems to like-new condi-
gear development relies heavily on Inspection ‘Workhorses’ Running tion. These Gleason machines, built
metrology equipment, and never more Like New. Gleason Regional Sales in 2005, were still in everyday use but
so than with these new gears requiring Manager Metrology Products Americas limited primarily to the routine inspec-
very high precision, mirrored flanks,” he Dave Taylor proposed that Delta could tion requirements of production parts.
says. “As we were planning our actions save significantly on new equipment “In fact, one of the SIGMA machines
had been dedicated for years to inspect-
ing just a single part that’s produced
in high volumes,” recalls Taylor. “This
short, highly repetitive motion had
begun to produce some wear and tear
on the X (radial) and Z (vertical) axes
after years of heavy use, further limiting
its effectiveness. Nonetheless, these two
machines were prime candidates for an
upgrade program that would add impor-
tant capabilities and functionality on par
with our current generation GMS sys-
tems. Delta saw the potential, and gave
us the green light.”
Over the course of about four weeks,
Gleason service personnel completed
the upgrade program. For the SIGMA
Delta Research’s Tony Werschky (left) and Gleason’s Dave Taylor machines, this meant installing an
(right) shown here with one of two Gleason SIGMA 3 upgrades.
SP80H Renishaw fully digital 3-D

38 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
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 feature INSPECTION SYSTEM UPGRADES MEET EV GEAR CHALLENGES

scanning probe system and all associated

hardware, combined with installation
of Gleason’s latest GAMA suite of appli-
cations software and Windows system,
thus bringing the SIGMA machines to
the current level of applications software
and probing system found on the latest
generation of Gleason GMS machines.
Additionally, the guideways for the X
and Z axes for the one SIGMA described
previously were returned to Gleason
Metrology Systems’ facility in Dayton,
OH, where they were re-ground,
inspected in-house and returned in like-
new condition. The existing machine
base, sub-assemblies, mechanical com-
ponents, drives and motors on both
SIGMA machines were inspected, deter-
mined to be in good working order and
did not require replacement or major
refurbishment. The controllers were
upgraded in order to run the new GAMA
suite of software, and a flat screen moni- GAMA simplifies the creation of new part programs, and aids the operator with
tor was added. dynamic charts that depict index, lead, and involute tests as they progress.
“It’s like having a new machine — we
now can do things with the SIGMA Our operators have found it to be very duplication of programming on two
machines that would have been impos- easy to use, and we now have the capa- machines.
sible before,” says Werschky. “The new bility to quickly and easily output data to Werschky says that a day or two of
probe system, along with the added conform to all the international industrial training was all it took for his operators
GAMA software, makes it easy to change standards (AGMA, DIN, ISO, JIS, GOST) to begin using GAMA and performing
over and apply a broad range of styli to do as well as utilize the many custom analy- gear inspections. The point-and-click
everything from root scans to tooth con- sis packages developed by Gleason for graphical user interface makes it much
tact analysis to unknown gear checks to leading gear OEMs.” easier to create new programs, and the
inspection of hobs, shaper cutters — even Note that, with the addition of operator is aided throughout the gear
straight bevel gears. We even have the GAMA’s GearNet feature, both machines inspection with an information panel
capability now to do surface finish now can share a common database that displays all pertinent information
inspection. But it’s the GAMA software of part programs and inspection his- on the workpiece and type of inspections
package that really makes the difference. tory, eliminating the time-consuming being performed as well as dynamic,
real-time charts that depict index, lead
and involute tests as they progress.
“Not every OEM is around to ade-
quately service their older machines,
let alone offering such an effective way
to extend their useful life,” concludes
Werschky. “The Gleason upgrade solu-
tion nicely fills the gap between the
limitations of older machines, and the
significantly higher cost of brand-new
machines.”
For more information:
Delta Research
www.deltaresearch.com
Gleason Metrology Systems
www.gleason.com
Upgrade of two Delta Research Gleason
SIGMA 3 metrology systems has put new
inspection capabilities at the operator’s For Related Articles Search
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for Delta’s prototype gear development efforts. inspection
at www.geartechnology.com

40 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

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July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 45
 technical

A Comparison of Current AGMA,

ISO and API Gear Rating Methods
John M. Rinaldo

Introduction gear units that are in continuous service However, it does incorporate language to
There are many different gear rating without installed spare equipment. The allow the use of alternate rating methods
methods in use today, and they can give gears may be single or double helical, if the API method would result in
substantially different results for any one or two stage, and may be designed excessive pitch line velocity or excessive
given gearset. This paper will make it easy as reducers or speed increasers, but it face width.
to understand the choices and the impact does not apply to integrally geared units API 617 — 8th Edition (2014):
the choices have on gearbox design. Eight such as integrally geared compressors Axial and Centrifugal Compressors
standards are included — AGMA 2001; (which are covered by API 617 and and Expander-Compressors; Par t
AGMA 6011; AGMA 6013; ISO 6336; 672). Most of its requirements do not 3 — Integrally Geared Centrifugal
API 613; API 617; API 672; and API apply to general purpose gears since Compressors. This was first published
677. A brief introduction and history of they fall under API 677; however, gear in 1958 and covered only barrel-type
each standard is presented, and the basic ratings calculated according to API centrifugal compressors, since inte-
differences between them are highlighted. 613 and API 677 are the same. API 613 grally geared centrifugal compres-
Two sets of examples are used to illustrate covers not only gear rating, but also the sors did not exist at that time. The 2002
the differences. These examples are related lubricating systems, controls, and seventh edition expanded the scope
presented in both tabular and graphical instrumentation. It was first published in to cover Integrally Geared Centrifugal
format, and are fully discussed. The first 1968 based on AGMA formulas, but in Compressors and Expander-compressors.
set contains a wide range of gears, and 1977, the second edition was published It is now essentially three standards pack-
each gearset is rated by each standard. with a very simplified approach. It was aged as one. Each section has its own set
The second set compares gears designed designed so preliminary sizing of gearing of annexes, and for integrally geared cen-
for a specific set of requirements could easily be done with just a slide rule. trifugal compressors, an annex in part 3
according to each of these standards. It does require the Geometry Factor “J” specifies a rating method based directly
The perils of increasing service factor from AGMA 908, but before the age of on ANSI/AGMA 2001. This method
are mentioned, particularly in regard computers, this was often estimated from specifies how each factor is to be calcu-
to high pitch line velocity gears. Finally, graphs. This simple method is still the lated, and then imposes an additional
there is a discussion of how to make a one used in API 613, even though slide 20% derating factor. So, it is quite con-
gearbox more reliable without changing rules are hard to find and engineers who servative, but not nearly as conservative
the rating method or service factor. The know how to use them are becoming as API 613. The eighth edition of API
choice of rating method can have a huge quite rare. The very conservative ratings 617 was published in 2014 and did not
impact on the size of the gearbox, and this stem mainly from basing the material change this rating method.
paper should help avoid specifying the allowable stresses on the lowest grade ANSI/AGMA 2001-D04 (2004):
wrong standard and having an oversized materials (grade 1) from the AGMA Fundamental Rating Factors and
gearbox. It should also be useful as an standard in effect in 1977, even though Calculation Methods for Involute Spur
aid to customers who are unsure of the use of the better “grade 2” materials is and Helical Gear Teeth. AGMA 2001 and
differences between the standards. required. Although AGMA allowable 2101 (the metric version) are the basic
stresses have increased over the years to AGMA gear rating standards that most
Description of the Standards reflect increasingly stricter metallurgical other AGMA rating standards are based
API 613 — 5th edition (2003): Special requirements, improved metallurgy, on, and they have evolved from standards
Purpose Gear Units for Petroleum, and extensive field experience, the API originally published in 1946. The ratings
Chemical and Gas Industry Services. ratings have remained unchanged. The calculated by these standards have slowly
Most of the main gearboxes in refineries sixth edition is currently in development risen over the years as a result of higher
must conform to this specification. This and may be published this year (2018). allowable stress numbers that have been
is the most conservative standard, and It appears that the rating equations introduced along with stricter metallurgi-
if you specify this, you will probably will change to mirror those in AGMA cal requirements. The user is given some
pay substantially more for the gearbox 2001, but there will be a derating factor flexibility in selecting the values of the
than if another standard was specified. introduced so the resulting ratings may factors to be used in the rating, so even
This standard is for parallel shaft helical be similar to those of the prior editions. given complete information on a gearset,

Printed with permission of the copyright holder, the American Gear Manufacturers Association, 1001 N. Fairfax Street, Fifth Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314-1587. Statements
presented in this paper are those of the author(s) and may not represent the position or opinion of the American Gear Manufacturers Association.

46 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
two engineers may use different values It contains multiple methods to establish AGMA 2001 allows the use of either
for some factors and come up with differ- ratings, including method “A” (testing the service factor or safety factor — but they
ent ratings using this standard. Therefore, gears under simulated or actual operating are NOT interchangeable. ISO 6336 uses
specific application standards such as API conditions) and various calculation safety factors, and in addition to a lot
617 part 3, AGMA 6011, or AGMA 6013, methods. In general, method “B” should be of other factors also uses an application
provide guidance on selecting the fac- used. There are a number of fundamental factor. It should be noted that, with the
tors to be used in the rating. The AGMA differences between the AGMA and ISO exception of the load distribution factor,
Helical Gear Rating Committee has been rating methods. The ISO standard finds the the factors used in ISO are calculated quite
working for many years to revise this calculation points for bending strength by differently from those used in AGMA.
standard, but it may be a while before a fitting an equilateral triangle into the base
new revision is released. of the tooth, whereas the AGMA method Differences between Ratings
ANSI/AGMA 6013-B16 (2016): is to use the Lewis parabola. The ISO Standards for Specific Gearsets
Standard for Industrial Enclosed Gear dynamic factor is based on shaft vibration In this section the maximum power rat-
Drives. This standard is for low- to mod- and proximity to a critical speed based on a ings according to six different gear rating
erate-speed gears. This, and its metric very simplistic model of the shaft, while the methods will be compared for fourteen
version AGMA 6113-B16, is a combi- AGMA dynamic factor is based mainly on sets of gears covering a range of sizes
nation of prior standards ANSI/AGMA allowable single tooth pitch variation. Yet and speeds. There are only six unique
6009-A00 and ANSI/AGMA 6010- despite these and other differences, the gear methods in the eight gear rating stan-
F97 — which in turn were based on ratings are often fairly similar. The working dards mentioned here. API 672 states that
AGMA 480, AGMA 460, and AGMA group ISO/TC60/SC2/WG6 is currently the gears shall be rated to ANSI/AGMA
420. It presents general guidelines for revising Parts 1–3, and a new edition might 6011. Similarly, the section on gear rat-
design, rating, and lubrication of parallel, be published in 2018 or 2019. ing in API 677 has the same equations,
concentric, and right-angle shaft drives. API 672 — 4th e dition (2004): factors, and limits as API 613, except for
However, this paper will only consider Packaged, Integrally Geared Centrifugal a minor difference in allowable L/d ratio
the rating of parallel shaft gearboxes. Air C ompre ss ors for Pe trol e um, (pinion face width to reference diameter)
For these gearboxes, this standard only Chemical, and Gas Industry Services. for nitrided gears.
applies when the pitch line velocity does This was originally published in 1979, The gearsets used in this comparison
not exceed 7,000 ft/min (35.56 m/s). It with the fourth edition published in 2004. are presented in Table 1. All are grade 2
specifies that ANSI/AGMA 2001-D04 is This standard directs the user to rate the (MQ for ISO) alloy steel, and carburized
to be used for the rating, and provides gears according to ANSI/AGMA 6011. (58 Rc), nitrided (R 15N 90), or through
the specific factors to be used. The rating API 677 — 3rd e dition (2006): hardened (321 BN) as noted. No profile
is for 10,000 operating hours, using the G e ne ral-Pur pos e G ear Units for shift was used and all sets were run on
least conservative life factors. Petroleum, Chemical and Gas Industry standard center distance. Speeds range
ANSI/AGMA 6011-J14 (2014): Services. This was first published in from 700 to 45,000 RPM. The resulting
Specification for High-Speed Helical 1989 and used a modified K factor rat- ratings range from 200 to over 20,000
Gear Units. The first high-speed gear ing method. The 1997 second edition HP. An even wider range of gears could
unit standard was adopted in 1943 and changed the rating method to that given have been analyzed, and additional exam-
has evolved over time. It is now based in API 613. The current third edition was ples could show more variability, but that
on ANSI/AGMA 2001-D04 and applies published in 2006. probably would not change the general
when the pitch line velocity exceeds conclusions of this study. The values and
6,890 ft/min (35 m/s). The factors to be Some Standards Use Service factors chosen are sufficient for the pur-
used for rating are either specified or a Factors, Others Use Safety Factors poses of this study, but they were selected
specific calculation procedure is given. Service factors have long been used as a for simplicity; they do not represent
The rating is for a minimum of 40,000 simple method to provide an appropri- actual gears in production and should not
operating hours, using the most conser- ate margin when designing gears. API be used as a recommendation or guide
vative stress cycle (life) factor. However, 617, API 672, AGMA 6011, and AGMA for gear design.
if the number of stress cycles exceeds 6013 use a service factor that includes the Ratings are for 20 years of continuous
the stress cycle factor graph endpoint, combined effects of safety factor, over- operation, except ANSI/AGMA 6011-
then the designer has the option of using load, and reliability (for pitting, these fac- J14, which specifies that ratings are for
the graph endpoint or extrapolating the tors are SH, Ko , Yz, and for bending SF, a minimum of 40,000 hours. Therefore,
curve to lower values. Ko , Yz). API 613 and API 677 use the for comparison, ANSI/AGMA 6011
ISO 6336-2006 (with the exception of service factor as the sole factor, so their ratings are presented both for 40,000
part 5, released in 2003): Calculation of service factors also include the dynamic, hours and 175,200 hours (20 years). The
Load Capacity of Spur and Helical Gears. size, load distribution, stress cycle (life), ANSI/AGMA 6013 ratings are for 10,000
This standard, which is composed of five and temperature factors — plus either hours, as stipulated. The rating results are
separate parts, is largely based on prior surface condition factor (for pitting) presented even if the pinion speed or the
DIN standards and is generally accepted or rim thickness factor (for bending pitch line velocity was too high or low for
everywhere outside of the United States. strength). the standard to apply.

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 47

 technical
Table 1  Geometry and speeds of example gear sets
Set Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Type increase increase increase increase increase increase reduce increase reduce increase increase reduce reduce reduce
Bull gear teeth 151 167 151 151 167 167 167 97 173 367 151 173 59 97
Pinion teeth 29 35 29 29 35 35 35 29 35 30 29 35 35 29
Module, mm 5 3 5 5 3 3 3 6 2 2 5 2 3 6
Pressure Angle 20° 25° 20° 20° 25° 20° 25° 25° 25° 25° 20° 25° 25° 25°
18° 25° 25°
Helix Angle 18° 16° 18° 16° 16° 16° 16° 20° 18° 16° 15°
Double Double Double
Center distance 18.63 12.41 18.63 18.63 12.41 12.41 12.41 16.42 8.52 16.63 18.63 8.52 5.75 16.42
Face width, inch 6.25 5.50 6.25 8.25 5.50 5.50 5.50 8.00 3.00 2.75 6.25 3.00 4.50 8.00
Reference diameter,
6.00 4.30 6.00 6.00 4.30 4.30 4.30 7.56 2.87 2.51 6.00 2.87 4.28 7.56
inch
Input Speed, RPM 3600 3600 3600 3600 3600 3600 3600 4500 3600 3600 3600 3600 3600 4500
Output Speed, RPM 18,745 17,177 18,745 18,745 17,177 17,177 754 1,345 728 44,040 18,745 728 2,136 1,345
Pitch line velocity,
28,796 19,339 29,456 29,456 19,339 19,339 4,053 8,905 2,702 28,983 28,796 2,702 4,034 8,905
ft/min
Thru Thru Thru Thru
Heat Treatment Nitrided Nitrided Carb. Carb. Carb. Carb. Carb. Carb. Carb. Carb.
Hard Hard Hard Hard
RPM RPM RPM RPM
RPM RPM RPM RPM RPM RPM RPM RPM RPM RPM
below below below below
above above above above above above above above above above
Notes 613, 677, 613, 677, 613, 677, 613, 677,
6013 6013 6013 6013 6013 6013 6013 6013 6013 6013
672, 6011 672, 6011 672, 6011 672, 6011
limit limit limit limit limit limit limit limit limit limit
limits limits limits limits

Figure 1  Pitting ratings as a ratio to AGMA 2001 pitting rating.

Figure 2  Bending ratings as a ratio to AGMA 2001 bending rating.

48 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
 Figure 3  Ratio of bending rating to pitting rating.

Because of the wide range of power ratings that use AGMA methods as their bending than is used for pitting.
these sets are capable of transmitting, basis are quite consistent for the cases It is interesting to note that the graphs
the results in Figures 1 and 2 are pre- studied. It is not surprising that the ISO show that the ratings remain consistent
sented as the ratio of the rating to the 6336 methods do not track the AGMA even outside the scope specified in the
ANSI/AGMA 2001-D04 rating. Each line method very well at all, since the rating standards. However, a standard should
represents one rating standard. A line methods are quite different. Also, the low not be specified if the application is not
chart is used for clarity; it is not meant to ISO ratings for sets 11–14 correspond to within the scope.
imply any relationship between different the through hardened gearsets. Most gear experts recognize that the
gearsets other than they are being rated The ratio of bending rating to pitting ratings from the standards are just a
with the same method. The order of the rating is shown for each example and rough approximation of the power that
sets is arbitrary, except that the nitrided each rating method in Figure 3. When can be safely transmitted through the
sets are presented first, followed by the the ratio is above 1.0, i.e. — when the gears. The truth of this becomes obvious
carburized sets, and then the through bending rating is above the pitting rat- as the results of this study are examined.
hardened ones. For the pitting ratings ing — bending ratings are ignored and There is only one power level that will
shown (Fig. 1), all the ratings that use the surface durability ratings deter- cause failure after a specific number of
AGMA methods as their basis are quite mine the gearset ratings. It can be hours of operation, yet different stan-
consistent for the cases studied. API 613 seen that whether it is pitting or bend- dards give vastly different approxima-
ratios show a lot more variability, due ing that determines the overall rating, tions of what that load is. Since gear fail-
to factors in the AGMA standards that both depend on the gearset in question ures are not common, clearly even the
API 613 does not use. The major change and the rating standard used. For any least conservative standards are sufficient
comes with a change to through hard- standard, examples can always be found for most applications. Yet when a stan-
ened material (sets 11–14), and ISO rates where pitting limits the set rating, and dard has been specified, the gear vendor
through hardened steels far lower than other examples will show that bending must ensure that the gear rating accord-
AGMA does. This may be due to his- limits the rating. ing to the specified standard meets the
torical differences — particularly cleanli- Many designers strive for gearsets that specified power.
ness — between the through hardening have close to “balanced” ratings, but often
steels used in Europe and those used in with the pitting rating slightly lower than The Positive and Negative
the United States. the bending rating. This means that the Consequences of Imposing a
For most of the example gearsets, the gears are more likely to pit than break. More “Conservative” Design
AGMA 6011 ratings are about double It is far better for the gears to become Purchasers sometimes try to assure
the API 613 ratings. This is a staggering noisy due to pitting and therefore get themselves that gears will be very reliable
difference! The API 613 ratings for case inspected and repaired or replaced, rather by the selection of a “conservative”
and surface hardened gears are consis- than breaking and potentially ruining the rating standard or by increasing the
tently the lowest, both for bending and whole gearbox. But a balanced gearset required safety or service factors. The
pitting. The highest ratings come from according to one method may not be bal- advantage of doing this is the supposedly
ISO 6336 and ANSI/AGMA 6013, though anced according to another method. lower chance of failure. However, if an
the inclusion of 6013 may be a bit unfair It should be noted that when using adequately sized gearset will not fail, it
since it uses stress cycle factors for only AGMA or API standards, usually the is already sufficiently reliable. A larger
10,000 hours of operation. All the other same service factor is used for both gearset will not be more reliable. For
AGMA ratings are fairly consistent. the pitting rating and bending rating. low-speed sets, the only negative
Figure 2 compares the bending ratings However, when using ISO 6336, often consequences of being “conservative”
to ANSI/AGMA 2001-D04. Again, all the a much higher safety factor is used for may be size, price, and slightly higher

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 49

 technical

operating costs due to higher losses. For of a failure: during startup.

• Lubricant used. The viscosity, the FZG • Micro-geometry of the gear teeth.
high-speed sets, being “conservative” can
load stage, the base stock, and the addi- Proper profile modifications will
lead to high face widths or high pitch decrease the chance of problems.
line velocities that can have significant tives used all have a significant role in
the life of a gearset. The lubricant can Highly loaded gears often require tip
negative consequences. Increased face relief to avoid the tip of the driven gear
make the difference between success-
width not only makes the gearset more from gouging into the flank of the driv-
ful operation and failure not only for
sensitive to alignment, it is detrimental ing gear. Helix (lead) modification can,
pitting, but also for scuffing and micro-
due to the heating of the oil, which is pitting. It is essential to keep the oil free and in many cases should, be used to
transported across the face width as the of water and to change it at appropriate compensate for tooth deformations that
contact line sweeps across. The further intervals. Proper filtration of the lubri- will occur during operation, both from
the oil travels across the face, the higher cant is critical, since entrained particles the load and the temperature profile of
its temperature gets. Increased pitch can result in wear. In some cases, use the tooth flanks. The use of ISO1328-1
line velocity leads to increased sliding of an electrostatic filter to remove sub-
class 4 or better tolerances for the tooth
velocities, which also lead to a higher micron particles may even be justified.
See ANSI/AGMA 9005-F16 for more flanks may be appropriate for some
temperature in the contact zone and gears to assure that the specified modi-
higher risk of varnishing or scuffing. In information on lubricants.
• Application of lubricant to the gear fications are achieved, although the
some cases, high tooth temperatures have use of such tight tolerances may not be
teeth. While in some cases, occasion-
resulted in a metallurgical transformation appropriate for general purpose or low
ally painting tar on the teeth of very
that distorted the helix, thereby adversely large and slow-moving gears may be speed gears where class 6 or 7 is consid-
affecting the load distribution across the sufficient, and dip or splash lubrication ered good.
tooth flanks. As John Amendola (CEO, is adequate for moderate speed gear- • Alignment. The best gears in the world
Artec Machine Systems; AGMA standards ing (up to about 15 m/s or 3000 ft/min can fail if not properly aligned. In addi-
committees) has said: “So bigger is not pitch line velocity), high speed gears tion to the parallelism of the bores
necessarily more conservative. In reality, require spray lubrication. This spray machined into the gearbox, bearing
the most important factors are good load may be directed into the in-mesh of play, differential thermal growth, and
distribution, low sliding velocities, and the gears, or on higher speed gears into internal or external load-induced dis-
proper lubrication.” the out-mesh where the partial vacuum tortions of either the gearbox or gears
created by the separating teeth helps themselves should be accounted for.
suck the oil mist onto the tooth flanks, • Material used. The gear material is
How to Reduce the Risk of Failure or the system may use multiple nozzles obviously critical to the life of the gears.
The load that will cause failure depends on both the in-mesh and out-mesh to It is important to consider the specific
on many things, so an accurate rating can provide optimal lubrication and cool- material chemistry, the material cleanli-
only be determined by testing. However, ing. When spraying both the in-mesh ness, its processing (hot or cold worked,
in many cases, testing to determine a safe and out-mesh, usually about one third total reduction ratio, forged or rolled),
load over the full life of a gearbox is not of the flow goes to the incoming side and heat treatment. The following brief
practical — which is why rating standards for lubrication and the rest goes to the comments barely scratch the surface of
exist. The rating standards provide mini- outgoing side for cooling. gear metallurgy. For more information,
mum requirements that must be met for • Temperature of the gear teeth. The gear see AGMA 923-B05 or consult with a
the rating to be valid. The gear cost can teeth normally are cooled by the flow gear metallurgist.
be minimized by just meeting these mini- of lubricant, both on the teeth them- ¤¤ The appropriate alloy should be
selves and on their sides. While suffi- selected for the application. Some
mum requirements, but by going beyond cient lubrication is essential, with high steels are easier to harden than oth-
them, an extra margin of safety can be speed gears, excessive lubricant flow ers, but note that there can be sig-
achieved. Rather than simply increas- can be detrimental and lead to excessive nificant differences between differ-
ing the required service or safety factors heat generation and power losses. In ent batches of the same alloy. The
or specifying the use of a very conser- high speed gears, oil that gets between material chemistry of the specific
vative rating standard, every aspect of the teeth is often ejected axially, some- batch can affect the hardenability.
the gearbox should be carefully exam- times at supersonic speeds when the Jominy end-quench tests can be used
ined. The first step is to determine the gears have high pitch line velocity and to assess hardenability, and pub-
maximum load and the load spectrum low helix angles. Excessive oil mist sur- lished ranges can be used to aid in
based on a full analysis of the application. rounding the gears can lead to high the selection of which alloy to use.
Additionally, there are many things that windage losses, raising the bulk tem- They may also be incorporated into
perature of the gears. Excessive tem- the specification of the properties the
should always be considered —especially
peratures in the contact zone can lead alloy must have.
for critical applications. There are many to varnishing, scuffing, or other prob- ¤¤ Material cleanliness is critical, since
standards — such as those from AGMA lems. With pressure-fed systems, the inclusions can be stress risers and
and ISO, as well as many books — that oil temperature is typically controlled be the initiation points for failures.
provide a great deal more information on with oil coolers. When the gearbox is in Cleaner steels can safely carry higher
these topics. The following very brief list a cold environment, it is good practice loads.
just touches on some of the things that to preheat and circulate the oil prior to ¤¤ The processing of steel from billet to
should be considered to reduce the risk startup so it has an acceptable viscosity final part can have an effect on the

50 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
 life of the part. Sufficient reduction hardening. Also, these hardening A good gearbox designer or vendor
ratios are beneficial, and appropriate processes require numerous test
will look at all of these, and thus be able
forging, such as pancake forging pieces to certify the process, so
for bull gear disks, can result in they may not be suitable for very provide a very reliable design no matter
favorable grain size and structure. low volume or one-off production. which standard is specified. However,
¤¤ Heat treatment is used to obtain the ◊ Nitriding produces a very thin but the size and therefore the price of the
proper hardness distribution in the very hard surface layer, so it is very gearbox will be affected by the rating
gear. Specification of a better hard- good at reducing the chance of standard chosen.
enability material can be negated by pitting.
improper heat treatment. The spac- ◊ Some people consider case carbu- Effect of Rating Standards on the
ing of the gears in the furnace and rized gears to be the best, and in Size of a Gearset Designed for a
during quenching, the quenchant some cases, they may also be the Specific Application
used, and the flow rate and amount least expensive since they can be As an example of the effect the rating
of agitation of the quenchant will smaller than other gears rated for
standard can have on the size of a gear-
all affect the heat treatment results. the same power. Case depth needs
Larger sections are more difficult to to be controlled to be sure that it box, Table 2 presents designs of gearsets
properly heat treat than small ones, is sufficient to avoid a subsurface that are rated at 4,800 HP for 20-year
and so may require materials with failure, but not excessive since gear life, according to five standards. In all
better hardenability. tooth tips may become brittle and cases, the rating is pitting limited. The
◊ Hardness and strength are gener- break. only changes made to meet the rating
ally proportional, so the harder ◊ It is not unusual to use different were to adjust the module and face width,
the gear, the higher the rating will hardness for the pinion and bull keeping the L/D ratio for the pinion at
be. For a given required power, it gear specifications. When there is approximately 1.0. While it would be
is not unusual for a higher hard- a difference, the pinions are usu- very unusual to actually make gears with
ness specification to result in a less ally harder due to higher stress in such odd modules, this example serves
expensive gear since the harder the pinions, resulting from their
to illustrate the average effect rating stan-
gear can be smaller. For case or tooth shape and their having more
surface hardened gears, just as stress cycles. dards have on one particular set of design
critical as the hardness is the • Surface finish: Improved surface fin- conditions. Actual designs would use
hardness profile. If the hardness ish generally leads to improved gear standard modules, so changes in num-
falls too rapidly with depth, then performance. In addition to minimiz- bers of teeth would be made to get close
at some depth from the surface, ing surface roughness, the lay of any to the rating. If only number of teeth
the sub-surface stress can exceed machining or grinding marks can be were changed, then for designs such as
the strength, leading to a subsur- important. There used to be a theory this, which are close to being balanced
face failure that can grow to the that some roughness was required to between pitting and bending, increasing
surface. Jominy data along with hold an oil film, but testing on isotropic the number of teeth could cause the set to
knowledge of the part size, heat superfinished surfaces has disproved become bending limited.
treatment, and quench severity that. Careful grinding can produce a
Since the cost of a gearbox is roughly
is useful to predict the hardness 16ra (micro-inch) finish, while isotro-
profile. pic superfinishing can bring it down to proportional to the volume of the gears,
◊ Use of through hardened gears is 2ra. Claimed benefits include reduced the API 613 gearbox will cost about 60%
common, even though their hard- noise, reduced gear wear, increased more, even if all other design criteria are
ness is considerably lower than power output, increased part life, and kept the same. But even if the extra cost of
that of surface or case hardened lower operating costs. Of course, as the gearbox is not a concern, the increased
gears. Since they are heat treated with all manufacturing processes, a cost pitch line velocity and increased face
before machining, they can be benefit analysis should be performed to width should be. It can be seen that for
machined to final size without determine the optimal level of surface this case, use of API 613 results in almost
worrying about the changes that finish for the application. 20% higher face width and pitch line
can occur during heat treatment. • Dynamic loads including vibration: velocity than that which would result from
Machining becomes more dif- It is critical to know the maximum
designing to AGMA 6011. While this may
ficult or impossible as hardness load that the gearset will ever see,
increases, but the hardness cutoff and preferably the lifetime load not be a serious issue when the pitch line
point for through hardened gears spectrum will be known. The entire velocity is not very high, it can become a
varies by manufacturer, and it wind energy business was almost major problem when the power and speed
has increased over the years due brought to a complete halt due to requirements require a pitch line velocity
to advances in manufacturing miscommunication of maximum loads. approaching or exceeding 30,000 ft/min
technology. Vibration, either lateral or torsional (150 m/s). So being “conservative” in the
◊ Flame or induction hardening (which may be difficult to detect), can specifications can sometimes result in a
can produce a hardened surface ruin gears. Proper analysis during the compromised design.
layer, and dual frequency design stage can generally be used
induction hardening can produce to guide any necessary changes so
a particularly good surface layer. damaging vibrations will not occur
However, API 613 and 677 do during operation.
not recognize flame or induction

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 51

 technical

Conclusions Table 2  Gearbox size as a function of rating standard

ANSI/AGMA ANSI/AGMA API 617 API 613,
When a gearbox is properly specified units ISO 6336
6011 20 year 2001 chapter 3 API 677
and built so it will not fail, then there Number of teeth, bull gear 173 173 173 173 173
is no way to make it more reliable. Number of teeth, pinion 35 35 35 35 35
There is an old engineering saying: Module mm 2.84 2.97 3 3.18 3.54
good enough is best. Specifying a Pressure Angle deg 25 25 25 25 25
different standard or increasing ser- Helix Angle deg 16 16 16 16 16
Material carburized carburized carburized carburized carburized
vice or safety factors can make the
Face Width inch 4.03 4.2 4.3 4.65 5.06
gear box more expensive, but if the Pinion Pitch Diameter inch 4.071 4.257 4.300 4.558 5.075
gearbox would be adequate without L/D 0.990 0.987 1.000 1.020 0.997
the additional expense, then nothing Gear Pitch Diameter inch 20.123 21.044 21.257 22.532 25.083
is gained by adding requirements. In Pinion volume inch^3 52.5 59.8 62.5 75.9 102.3
fact, being too conservative in the Gear volume inch^3 1281.7 1460.8 1526.0 1854.1 2500.3
specification of a gearbox may have Total volume inch^3 1334.1 1520.6 1588.4 1930.0 2602.6
Input Speed rpm 3600 3600 3600 3600 3600
negative consequences.
Output Speed rpm 17794 17794 17794 17794 17794
It is important to fully understand Pitch line velocity ft/min 18965 19833 20034 21236 23640
all the loads and environmental con- Pitch line velocity as % of 2001
94.7% 100.0% 106.0% 118.0%
ditions the gearbox will be subjected ANSI/AGMA 99.0%
to so that the gearbox requirements Volume ratio to 2001 84.0% 95.7% 100.0% 121.5% 163.8%
Note: T he ANSI/AGMA 6013 standard was not included in this comparison since it specifies 10,000-hour life, as opposed to
can be properly specified. It is very
the 175,200-hour (20-year) life used in these examples.
important to properly specify all
loads, the expected operating life,
and any special circumstances so the
proper factors can be specified for the
rating. The standard specified for gearbox
rating and the service or safety factors
should be appropriate for the application
and should not be excessively conserva-
tive. John Rinaldo is retired
from Atlas Copco Comptec
LLC where for 25 years he
References designed gears for high-
1. API 613 Sixth Edition: Special Purpose Gear speed, integrally geared
Units for Petroleum, Chemical and Gas Industry centrifugal compressors.
Services. He is currently a member of
2. API 617 Eighth Edition: Axial and Centrifugal the API 613 taskforce, and
Compressors and Expander-compressors; Part 3 serves as the vice chair of the AGMA Gear
— Integrally Geared Centrifugal Compressors. Accuracy committee and the Nomenclature
3. API 672 Fourth Edition: Packaged, Integrally committee. He is the convener of ISO TC60/
Geared Centrifugal Air Compressors for SC1/WG4 “Terminology and notation of
Petroleum, Chemical, and Gas Industry Services. For Related Articles Search
gears” and is the U.S. delegate to ISO TC60/
4. API 677 Third Edition: General-Purpose Gear WG2 “Accuracy of gears” working group. His
Units for Petroleum, Chemical and Gas Industry rating
varied career started with the aerodynamic
Services. at www.geartechnology.com
design of compressor impellers, shifted to
5. AGMA 2001-D04: Fundamental Rating Factors
the design of compressor control systems
and Calculation Methods for Involute Spur and
and then moved to general research and
Helical Gear Teeth.
development of centrifugal compressors. He
has been licensed as a Professional Engineer
in both Wisconsin and New York, has been
granted 4 patents, and is a recipient of the
AGMA Distinguished Service award.

For more information, see the Appendix for this paper in its
digital version at www.geartechnology.com/issues/0718/.

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 technical

Complete Measurement
of Gearbox Components
Christof Gorgels

Introduction parts need to be reworked or reinvested, For this purpose, an overall measure-
In today’s production environment, a including their high costs and lead times. ment of all relevant features at the end
variety of different measurement devices of the production chain is necessary; but
is used to assess the quality and accu- Productivity Improvement in this requires the use of different mea-
racy of workpieces. These devices include Measurement Technology suring devices present in the measuring
CMMs, gear checkers, form testers, In manufacturing gearbox components, room. This inevitably requires time- and
roughness testers, and more. It requires such as gears and shafts, a multitude of personnel-intensive set-up and clamping
a high machine investment and a high measurement tasks occur at different processes.
handling effort — especially if a full end- points in the process chain. The results One approach to increasing the effi-
of-line measurement is needed. of all these measurements are either used ciency in quality control and documenta-
One approach to reduce quality costs for process monitoring or documentation tion is to integrate different measurement
is to include all measurements in one of the final state of a component. Various tasks on one single measuring machine in
single machine that is suitable and measuring instruments are used for the an automated process in order to reduce
robust enough for use in production. various measuring tasks. These range the number of setups and clamping pro-
This reduces machine investment, han- from gauges for a simple test of com- cesses to a minimum. For this purpose
dling efforts, and set-up time. Being ponent features to complex measuring a measuring device is required in which
able to measure in production also helps machines. Which measuring or check- all measurement tasks of the coordinate,
to reduce idle times by reducing trans- ing instrument is used depends on many form and surface inspection are inte-
port ways to climate-controlled measur- factors; the environmental conditions, grated as much as possible. However,
ing facilities. Klingelnberg combines the measurement time, qualification of the no compromises can be made with
experience from machine tool develop- operator and, of course, investment and regard to the accuracy of the measur-
ment and high-precision measurement. operating costs, play a decisive role. ing medium. Ultimately, the measuring
This report describes how a CCMM In the area of pure production moni- equipment’s capability for the required
(circular CMM) can be integrated into a toring, simple and also more complex accuracy must be given for each individ-
production environment. The main chal- gauges are often used, which are easy to ual characteristic.
lenges are dust and oil fog contamina- handle and very robust against the envi- A further step towards improving pro-
tion, temperature changes throughout ronmental influences of a typical shop ductivity is the integration of a measur-
the day, and vibrations from production floor environment. ing machine directly into production. As
machines. Operator qualification is also However, the low flexibility of gauges is a result, in the first step — the transport
an issue, since the measuring machine a big disadvantage. distance to the measuring room — and
is handled by production machine Gauges are often exactly designed for often also the costly measuring room
operators. one characteristic only. Design changes to itself — can be omitted. For this purpose
The result is a measuring machine this feature require a new gauge, resulting a measuring machine must be consis-
showing the capability and necessary in high costs and lead times. On the other tently designed to the requirements of
accuracy in measuring gear components. side, high-precision measuring machines the shop floor environment. The essen-
This accuracy applies to all features of are used. CMMs typically require the tial components are the compensation
rotational, symmetric parts within a gear clean and air-conditioned environment of of temperature fluctuations, environ-
box. Finally, it will be shown how capital- a measuring room. Measuring machines mental influences caused by dust and
intensive gauges can be substituted using are characterized by a higher degree of oil mist, as well as floor vibrations at the
the full flexibility of a modern CNC- con- flexibility — compared to gauges — while installation site. This allows shifting shop
trolled measuring machine. Compared being operated by trained staff. floor checks from gauges towards a high-
to gauges, much more useful informa- Increasingly, system manufacturers and accuracy coordinate measuring machine.
tion can be gathered and statistically OEMs are shifting their quality control This enables us to use all advantages of
evaluated to support production control. to suppliers. The component suppliers a CMM, including accuracy, documenta-
Furthermore, component design changes are required to measure and document tion, and statistics.
only require slight software modifica- all relevant features classified by their
tion — at no cost. Using gauges, expensive customer as part of a final inspection.

Printed with permission of the copyright holder, the American Gear Manufacturers Association, 1001 N. Fairfax Street, Fifth Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314-1587. Statements
presented in this paper are those of the author(s) and may not represent the position or opinion of the American Gear Manufacturers Association.

54 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
 Figure 1 Surface roughness measurement on precision measuring center.

Integrating Surface Roughness the feed axis of the machine. This is an to directly measure other different geom-
Measurement into the CMM important difference from standard sur- etry elements on the clamped part. By
The roughness measurement is typically face roughness measurement systems means of this design, different gears and
carried out on special measuring devices using a straight axis as the reference bearing seats can be measured on a com-
with linear feed. In this case the compo- plane. With a straight reference, the invo- ponent in one clamping. The usual char-
nent and the roughness sensor are manu- lute curve of a gear flank is part of the acteristic values of the roughness mea-
ally positioned relative to one another for measurement. This has two main disad- surement are calculated (Fig. 1).
every measurement. So, a lot of manual vantages; one is that the involute is part Especially for the measurement of
adjustment and set-up process for each of the measurement and has to be fil- small contours with small measuring
component is required. Since the posi- tered, including the risk of also filtering lengths, it is important that as little mea-
tioning is done manually, the position information about the surface. The sec- suring distance as possible is lost by the
at which the roughness measurement is ond disadvantage is that the probe cannot skid as a reference system. Therefore the
performed cannot be absolutely identical, be kept perpendicular to the surface as skids and stylus can be integrated in such
and thus the reproducibility of the mea- the standards call for, which can, depend- a way that the full available measuring
surement result is impaired. ing on the curvature, also influence the range can be utilized as far as possible.
Integrating the roughness measure- measurement result. Using the four axes An example of this integrated solution is
ment on a coordinate measuring machine of the measuring machine, a generat- shown in Figure 2. With this very small-
offers several advantages. The highly ing movement can be realized by always sized roughness probe, the roughness
accurate axes of the coordinate measur- keeping the probe perpendicular to the measurement on tooth flanks of cylin-
ing machine are available for positioning surface. The downside of a multi-axes drical gears is possible, starting from a
the probe. The measurement can there- movement is that the control quality of module of mn = 0.9 mm (DP 28). The skid
fore always be carried out at exactly the the axes can influence the measurement is positioned to the side of the roughness
same position. In addition, the roughness result. This can be avoided by using a probe itself in order to be able to measure
measurement can be integrated into the skidded system where the skid forms the such small gear flanks. The photo on the
measuring sequence. In conjunction with reference. lower right shows the automatic exchange
an automatic probe changer, set-up and The skid itself has a large radius so of the roughness probe system. In this
set-up times are completely eliminated. that the measuring results cannot be fal- case there are two positions in the probe
Figure 1 shows the roughness measure- sified by the reference plane. The blade changer magazine in order to measure
ment on the tooth flank of a cylindrical with the probe tip is rotatable-mounted. surface roughness on a bevel gear, and a
gear (upper photo) and on the axial bear- The rotation to the measuring position is bearing seat in one clamping and in an
ing seat of a crankshaft (lower photo). automatically controlled by the measur- automated measuring sequence.
A skidded system for roughness ing software. As a result, the left and right A major advantage of the skidded sys-
measurement is used. Thus, the refer- tooth flanks of a gear can be measured tem on a coordinate measuring machine
ence plane for the measurement result without a manual set-up effort with only is shown in Figure 2. To avoid falsifying
is the surface of the component and not one probe. In addition, it is also possible the measuring results, the probe tip must

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 55

 technical

Figure 2 Design of surface roughness probe.

always be positioned perpendicular to standard gear measurement, the C-axis positions and geometries on the parts
the surface during the roughness mea- and the X-axis perform a coupled move- to be measured. Still, the flanks of inter-
surement. Traditional roughness mea- ment. This is the typical generating nal gears cannot be reached this way.
surement systems with a straight refer- movement following the involute flank, Therefore a further extension of the sur-
ence plane cannot achieve this on curved i.e. — keeping the position between flank face roughness measurement is shown
surfaces, such as an involute gear tooth and measuring stylus constant. In this (Fig. 3). The surface probe is mounted
flank. In addition, in the case of involute way the involute tooth flank is transferred to a special construction and turned by
gear flanks, the tooth curvature is in the into a flat plane relative to the touch 180°. This now makes it possible to mea-
measurement results and has to be fil- probe. The sketches in Figure 2 show that sure internal gears using the same prob-
tered. This represents a significant disad- the probe tip is always perpendicular to ing system described and shown before.
vantage of these systems, since this makes the measured surface. This ensures that It can also be handled by the automatic
it impossible to achieve a standard mea- the roughness measurement is carried probe changer, and gears can be mea-
surement perpendicular to the surface. out according to the relevant standards. sured starting with module mn = 0.9 mm
Measurements of involute gear flanks The possibility of automatically rotat- (DP 28).
are carried out on four-axes, precision ing the surface roughness probe presents Figure 4 represents an example of a
measuring centers. In this case, as in a the possibility of reaching many different roughness measurement. In this case,

Figure 3 Roughness measurement — internal gears.

56 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
three different teeth of a gear have been the roughness measurement only
checked in profile direction on the left reflecting the surface, but not the
and right flank. The results are shown on involute or lead with corrections.
a printout very similar to the printout for Involute and lead are still repre-
a standard involute check. On the right sented by the standard gear mea-
flank, it is clearly visible that the char- surements; surface roughness is
acteristic profile features can be found always additional information.
at identical positions of the profile. One
such example is marked in the printout. Precision Measurement on
In conjunction with the very reproduc- the Shop Floor
ible machining result from a generating The precision measuring cen-
grinding process, it is also clearly visible ters are uncompromisingly
that the measurement and the measuring developed for use in produc-
position are very reproducible. tion. Here the experience gained
Finally, it can be stated that a rough- in machine tool development is
ness measurement on a coordinate mea- combined with the expertise in
suring machine offers many advantages. precision measurement technol-
The first is the fully automated integra- ogy. The main success factors are
tion into the measurement cycle. This the robustness of the machine in
eliminates the need for setting up the conjunction with a temperature
measurement each time a new part needs model in order to compensate for
measuring. Another important advan- the influence of temperature gra-
tage is the reproducibility — not only of dients on the shop floor (Fig. 5).
the measuring result — but also of the In combination with vibration Figure 4 Example measuring sheet for surface
roughness measurement.
measuring position. The user influence isolation, this is the basis for
on the measuring result is completely Klingelnberg ambience neutral
eliminated. Finally, however, the possibil- technology. are the guides, bearings, and scales.
ity also exists of placing curved surfaces, The production environment is charac- Though robustness is the key factor,
such as a tooth flank, in a measuring terized by contamination of the air with accuracy cannot be compromised. In the
plane and thus testing it in a standardized oil and dust. A measuring machine used production environment, the only option
manner. Still, it is important to note that on the shop floor has to be designed to is to use roller bearings instead of air
the reference is always a straight plane. operate in this environment. The main bearings, and also roller guides instead
So there is a clear separation between components in need of special attention of air guides. For a machine with form

Figure 5 Precision measurement on the shop floor.

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 57

 technical

testing capability, the design and also measurement results. tasks can be carried out on a precision
precision manufacturing of a precision Another aspect of the production envi- measuring center. Basically, it is a coor-
roller bearing is a challenge. Basically, ronment is temperature fluctuation. The dinate measuring machine with a rotary
for a good gear measuring machine main challenges are the compensation table for rotational symmetric com-
being capable of form testing on shafts, of the machine changes due to tempera- ponents — which we like to call a cir-
a radial runout of the rotating axis of ture change, and ensuring that differ- cular coordinate measuring machine
less than 0.5 mm is necessary. Also, it is ent materials used in the machine with (CCMM). In addition, important features
rather difficult to keep the glass scales different temperature growth do not are required to significantly increase the
absolutely safe from any dust. Therefore cause inner tension, and so influencing accuracy. The rotary table bearing has a
the best solution is to strike a compro- machine performance. In order to keep radial runout deviation of significantly
mise between isolation and accessibil- the system simple, one good way is to less than 0.5 μm, and thus has a sufficient
ity — thus enabling the user to include ensure that all components of the mea- accuracy for form measurement. This is
the glass scale cleaning into the yearly suring machine have the same tempera- achieved by a highly accurate probing
maintenance. Experience shows that a ture growth. This can be achieved by lim- system with low masses, which is well
yearly cleaning is sufficient in approxi- iting the material choice to steel and cast suited for both form testing and rapid
mately 90% of the cases, and increasing iron. Therefore, the machine bed is made coordinate measurement. This means
the frequency to twice a year has proven from cast iron instead of granite. By mea- that all requirements are fulfilled in order
to be sufficient in all cases. suring the temperature of the machine, to carry out nearly all measurement tasks
On the shop floor, vibrations induced the environment, and the workpiece, all on shafts, in addition to the roughness
into the floor by different sources, such as necessary information is there in order to and gear measurement.
manufacturing machines or fork lifts, are use an analytical temperature model for Figure 6 shows examples of measure-
another challenge; those floor vibrations the compensation. This model has been ment and evaluation options along the
are often below 15 Hz. In order to iso- proven in a temperature range from 15° C process chain in gear production. Before
late a machine against such low frequen- up to 35° C. Still, the temperature gradi- green machining of the gear teeth, the
cies, very soft damping isolation material ent throughout the machine is another blank can already be measured com-
is required. Since this would result in a important factor. Therefore, the maxi- pletely with all relevant features. Both
“shaking” machine when axes or masses mum temperature change per hour to dimensional measurement tasks, as well
are moved, an active controlled system make the system work has been set and as form measurement tasks, can be inte-
with pneumatic springs is absolutely nec- proven to ∆T = 2° C/h. grated. The same also applies, of course,
essary. In this way it is possible to achieve to the measurement of all elements
the necessary isolation against low-fre- Complete Measurement of All after heat treatment and before hard-
quency vibrations below 15 Hz from the Features machining of the gear teeth, such as gear
shop floor, while keeping the machine In addition to roughness and gear mea- grinding.
stable and avoiding all influences on the surement, numerous other measuring In addition to classical gear

Figure 6 Measuring possibilities along the process chain of gear manufacturing.

58 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
measurement, tools used can also be
measured; shown here (Fig. 6), for exam-
ple, on a hob. The advantages of rough-
ness measurement on a coordinate mea-
suring machine were described in the
previous section. What’s more, the evalu-
ation of ripple on the tooth flanks after
the gear grinding process is possible in
order to assess gear noise issues. The
capabilities of the precision measuring
centers for form measurement make a
highly precise measurement of the ripples
possible. With the corresponding evalua-
tion software “deviation analysis,” sound
phenomena, such as so-called ghost fre-
quencies, can be analyzed and important
information for their avoidance in pro-
duction can be gathered.
Figure 7  Typical measuring tasks for gauges performed on a CCMM.
P 16 G: Replacing Gauges in
Production
On today’s shop floor, gauges are used the possibility of using the measuring a measuring machine on the shop floor
for quality assurance of different pro- machine directly on the shop floor. The is the qualification of the operators. In
cess steps. Gauges can be used, without necessary robustness, in combination the measuring room, experienced mea-
restrictions, directly on the shop floor with temperature compensation and suring machine operators are typically
and close to the machine tools. They vibration isolation, makes this possible. available. A CMM on the shop floor
are characterized by a high robustness So with these preconditions, it is possible used for replacement of a gauge is nor-
against the shop floor environment and to replace gauges as described before by a mally used by the machine operators;
“built-in temperature compensation.” If measuring machine. they have a lot less experience in mea-
the gauge consists of a material with the Figure 7 shows typical measuring tasks suring technology. Still, the quality and
same coefficient of thermal expansion for gauges carried out on a P 16 G. In this reliability of the measurement results
as the workpiece, and has the same tem- case, for example, diameters, distances must be ensured. For this purpose a sys-
perature, the thermal influence on the and lengths, positions to a reference, and tem called EasyStart has been developed.
test result is thereby excluded or compen- many other different parameters are mea- This is software that consequently sep-
sated. The test is also very simple and can sured. These can be realized as measure- arates the setup of the measuring pro-
be performed directly by the operator of ment tasks on a coordinate measuring gram and the measurement itself. In
the machine tool itself. device. The flexibility of the measuring order to start an already-programmed
The main drawbacks of gauges are device is much higher compared to a measuring cycle, very little knowledge
the individual adaption to the compo- gauge. Any number of different compo- is required; this helps to reduce training
nent and the test task combined with a nents can be checked; only the appropri- efforts. The operator finds the necessary
high investment and long delivery times. ate measuring program has to be created. measurement program for his specific
Basically, this makes gauges very inflex- The adaptation to geometrical changes of part directly on the start screen. In order
ible. Design changes are especially critical existing components can be realized by to start the cycle, only one click on the
since they require a new gauge, resulting only small changes of the measurement button is necessary. This procedure can
in another high investment combined program. be further simplified by using a scanner
with the long lead time. In addition, doc- Figure 8 shows the P 16 G — a measur- in conjunction with an identifier on the
umentation of the test result is only quali- ing machine for disc-shaped components component. This identification can be
tative and cannot be used for process and short shafts. This represents a high handled in multiple ways; the most com-
control. It is therefore desirable to have a number of typical parts in the automotive mon today is a QR-code on the surface of
measuring machine that has the advan- industry. Measuring on the shop floor the part.
tages of gauges and is suitable for use allows improvements for process con-
in production, showing a much higher trol. By means of the statistical evaluation Conclusion
flexibility. of measured values, for example, trends The measurement technology is an inte-
In the previous sections it is shown can be detected at an early stage, thus an gral part of the production of transmis-
that nearly all measurement tasks on intervention can take place before the sion components. Quality control is an
rotational-symmetrical components can first component is out of tolerance and important part of the process chain and,
be carried out on a Klingelnberg preci- needs to be scrapped. like the manufacturing process itself,
sion measuring center. There also exists Another important factor for moving should be part of continuous efforts to

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 59

 technical

Figure 8  P 16 G as a replacement for gauges on the shop floor.

improve productivity. On the one hand, be carried out within the scope of quality
costs for the measurement processes can documentation, so that a gauging test is
be saved. On the other hand, important often an additional process step anyway.
information for an optimization of pro- Ultimately, measurement in production,
duction processes can be collected by uti- coupled with statistical process control,
lizing measurement capabilities. also enables the acquisition of trends, for For Related Articles Search
It is shown in this paper that the pro- example, so that intervention can take
cess integration of different measure- place in the process before the first part is inspection
ment tasks — which typically take place out of quality and needs to be scrapped. at www.geartechnology.com

on multiple machines — is possible on

one machine. On a precision measuring
center, all coordinate measuring tasks, as
well as form testing, can be carried out
in addition to the classical gear measure-
ment. This is supplemented by the rough-
ness measurement, which results in both
efficiency advantages and starting points
for improving the reproducibility of the
measurement result. Christof Gorgels is Director
Precision Measurement with
If the measuring machine is moved out Klingelnberg. Gorgels started his
of the measuring room and placed on the career as a research assistant in
shop floor, further productivity increases 2003 at WZL, Aachen University
investigating gear profile grinding
can be achieved. In addition, cost savings with a special emphasis on grinding
are possible if the number of measuring burn. From 2008 to 2011 Gorgels has
rooms can be reduced. With a measuring headed the Gear Technology department in Aachen;
machine on the shop floor, gauge checks, he was awarded his doctorate in 2011.
and thus the investment into gauges, can
be replaced by CMM measurements. In
this way the possibilities of statistical pro-
cess monitoring can be used more inten-
sively. Qualitative measurements have to

60 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

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 technical

Sensitivity Study of Press Quench

Process and Concept of Tooling Design
for Reduced Distortion by Modeling
Zhichao (Charlie) Li and B. Lynn Ferguson
Press quenching is designed to harden steel gears while minimizing distortion, and the process is especially applied for hardening
large diameter thin-wall gears, face gears and bevel gears. The dimensional control aims at maintaining flatness, out-of-round,
straightness and consistency of radial size. The press quench tooling and the process design have been mainly experience-based,
using a trial and error approach for implementation of new processes, new gear materials and gear configurations. Both the
out-of-round distortion and the radial distortion, including straightness and size change of thin-wall gears, are critical due to the
maximum allowed grinding amount of the carburized case. Factors affecting the dimensional consistency of a press quench process
can be classified as originating from gear/material conditions or the process parameters. The gear/material conditions include the
variations of the initial gear dimensions, carbon distribution, residual stresses and material microstructures prior to hardening. The
press quench process parameters include the heating rate, austenitizing temperature, applied load type, load amount, load location
on the part from the tooling, friction between the tooling and the gear, and the quench rate, etc. All these factors may lead to
inconsistent distortion, including the size and shape in quench-hardened parts. In this paper, the effects of several critical factors on
dimensional inconsistency are analyzed using the heat treatment modeling software DANTE. The analysis results indicate that the
current press quench with expander design does not effectively maintain a consistent radial size for thin-wall gears after hardening.
By replacing the expander with an oversized plug, the effects of austenitizing temperature, cooling rate and initial gear size on the
distortion are analyzed, and the press quench with plug design leads to consistent radial size. This concept of tooling design is
demonstrated by modeling a hardening process for a simplified thin-wall spiral bevel gear made of carburized AISI 9310 steel.

Introduction phase transformation stress during both traditional experimental trial-and-error

Quench hardening is used to increase the heating and cooling processes. The phase methods. DANTE is a coupled ther-
hardness, strength, and fatigue perfor- transformations make the quench hard- mal, carbon diffusion, phase transfor-
mance of steel gears. A combination of ening process highly nonlinear due to mation and solid mechanics finite ele-
carburizing and quenching can generate the changes of the thermal properties, ment based program for simulating the
beneficial surface compressive residual mechanical properties and density of the heat treatment of steel parts (Refs. 1, 2).
stresses due to its delayed martensitic material, and it is difficult to investigate DANTE material models link with either
transformation in the case. The compres- the sources of distortion through experi- ABAQUS Standard or ANSYS Mechanical
sive residual stresses in the surface ben- ments. Heat treatment results that are solvers. The modeling results include
efit the high cycle fatigue performance. of common interest include the volume residual stress state after hardening, the
During quenching, stresses caused by fractions of phases, hardness, residual evolution and final volume fractions of
the thermal gradient and phase trans- stresses and part dimensional change. metallurgical phases, hardness, and part
formations generate plastic deformation The development of heat treatment sim- distortion. DANTE can be used to model
and distortion in hardened parts. Gear ulation software makes it possible to austenitizing, gas carburizing, low pres-
components with large distortion will understand the material response dur- sure carburizing, immersion quench,
increase gear noise and reduce the fatigue ing the heat treatment process, includ- high pressure gas quench, spray quench,
life in service. Final machining of case ing the evolution of internal stresses and induction hardening, press/plug quench,
hardened gears often leads to nonuni- deformation, the phase transformation and tempering processes. In this paper,
form case depth distribution, so a maxi- sequences and the probability of crack- DANTE is used to investigate the sensi-
mum amount of distortion allowed by ing. Computer simulation has increased tivities of several critical process param-
hardening is often specified for quality the level of understanding of heat treat- eters on distortion for a press quenching
control, and parts with distortion exceed- ment processes because the events that process of a simplified thin-wall bevel
ing the specification will be scrapped. occur during heating and cooling can be gear.
Press quenching is one effective process accurately modeled. In turn, advances
to reduce distortion during hardening. in computer hardware, in combination Phase Transformation Models
Quench hardening is a transient ther- with accurate simulation, have made the Quench hardening is a highly nonlin-
mal stress process; the main sources of design and optimization of heat treat- ear process due to the phase transfor-
distortion include the thermal stress and ment processes more cost effective than mations, and the accuracy of the phase

Printed with permission of the copyright holder, the American Gear Manufacturers Association, 1001 N. Fairfax Street, Fifth Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314-1587.
Statements presented in this paper are those of the author(s) and may not represent the position or opinion of the American Gear Manufacturers Association.

62 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
 Figure 1 a) Dilatometry strain curve with martensitic transformation. b) TTT diagram of diffusive transformation for AISI 9310 steel.

transformation models is critical to the cubic (FCC) lattice to martensite’s also characterized by dilatometry tests. A
modeling results. The diffusive and body centered tetragonal (BCT) lattice. series of dilatometry tests with different
martensitic transformation models in Martensite’s BCT structure has a lower cooling rates can be used to fit a full set
DANTE are described in Equations (1) density than austenite’s FCC structure. of diffusive and martensitic phase trans-
and (2) below. The strain change during transforma- formation kinetics parameters. Once the
dΦd = v (T)Φ α1 (1–Φ )β1 Φ (1) tion is a combination of thermal shrink- full set of phase transformation model
dt d d d a
age and phase transformation expansion. parameters are fit from dilatometry
dΦm = v (1–Φ )α2 (Φ  + φΦ )β2 Φ (2) The data obtained from this specific type tests, isothermal transformation (TTT)
dT
m  m m d a of dilatometry test include coefficient of and continuous cooling transformation
thermal expansion (CTE) for austenite (CCT) diagrams can be generated for
Where Φd and Φm are the volume frac- and martensite, martensitic transforma- users to review. TTT/CCT diagrams are
tions of individual diffusive phase and tion starting (Ms) and martensitic trans- not directly used by DANTE phase trans-
martensite transformed from austenite; formation finishing (Mf) temperatures, formation kinetics models, but they are
Φa is the volume fraction of austenite; νd transformation strain, and phase trans- useful because users can see the harden-
and νm are the mobilities of tranforma- formation kinetics (transformation rate) ability of the material graphically. Figure
tion products, α1 and β1 are material from austenite to martensite. These data 1(b) is an isothermal transformation dia-
related constants of diffusive transforma- are critical to the accuracy of model- gram (TTT) for AISI 9310 steel created
tion; α2, β2, and ϕ are constants of mar- ing the internal stress and deformation from the DANTE material database.
tensitic transformation. For each individ- caused by quenching.
ual phase formation, one set of transfor- Diffusive phase transformations are
mation kinetics parameters is required.
Dilatometry data are often used to
characterize the martensitic phase trans-
formation behavior of steels. Figure 1(a)
is a continuous cooling dilatometry strain
curve generated from the DANTE data-
base, representing the martensitic forma-
tion of AISI 9310. The horizontal axis
in Figure 1(a) is temperature, and the
vertical axis is the strain caused by tem-
perature change and phase transforma-
tion. The strain change due to martensitic
transformation is clearly quantified by
the dilatometry experiments.
When the dilatometry test sample
cools below the martensitic transfor-
mation start (Ms) temperature, its vol-
ume expands with the crystal structure
change from austenite’s face centered
Figure 2 Simplified thin-wall bevel gear. a) CAD model and dimensions. b) Finite element mesh.

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 63

 technical

Figure 3 Modeling results of immersion oil quench process. a) Radial displacement. b) Axial displacement. c)
Carbon fraction. d) Martensite fraction. e) Circumferential residual stress.

Figure 4 Temperature, austenite and radial displacement distribution contours during heating process. a) At 422.6 s. b) At
515.5 s. c) At 627.0 s. d) At the end of heating.

64 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

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Description of Gear Geometry, selectively, as shown in Figure 2(b). Other 3(b). After quenching, the thin-wall sec-
Finite Element Model and Heat surfaces are copper plated during carbu- tion is through hardened with close to
Treatment Processes rization to block the carbon flux into the 100% martensite, and the carburized sur-
A simplified thin-wall bevel gear is used surface. A two-step carburization process face has about 10% retained austenite
in this study. The CAD model of the is used. The first step is a boost step: with because of its lower martensitic trans-
gear is shown in Figure 2(a). The inner the temperature being 925° C, the carbon formation starting and finishing tem-
diameter of the gear is 78.0 mm, the potential being 0.9%, and the time dura- peratures, due to higher carbon content.
height is 100.0 mm, and the outer diam- tion being 14400 seconds. The second Compressive circumferential residual
eter of the tapered bevel tooth section step is the diffuse step: with the tempera- stresses are predicted in the carburized
is 100.0 mm. The thickness of the upper ture dropping down to 875° C, the carbon case due to the delayed martensitic phase
wall is 7.0 mm, and the thickness of the potential being 0.8%, and the time dura- transformation and corresponding vol-
lower wall is 5.0 mm. This gear geometry tion being 7200 seconds. The predicted ume expansion, as shown in Figure 3(e).
is selected because of its tendency for effective case depth (ECD) is 0.75 mm, During heating, the initial phases of
large distortion during quench harden- and the predicted carbon distribution the gear transform to austenite when the
ing, mainly due to its stepped thin-wall contour is shown in Figure 3(c). material is above the austenitizing tem-
and conical bevel tooth section geometric After carburization, the gear is slowly perature. The temperature distribution
features. The gear material is AISI 9310, cooled to room temperature, followed in the part varies during heating due to
and a portion of the inner wall surface is by reheating for hardening. In this study, its nonuniform wall thickness and the
selectively carburized, as shown in Figure the residual stresses and distortion from thicker bevel tooth section. Figure 4(a)
2(b). The out-of-round, straightness and the carburization process are ignored. shows the temperature, austenite and
size of the gear wall are the main distor- The reheating temperature is 850° C, and radial displacement distributions at 422.6
tion modes. It is expected that the bevel the total heating time is 1800 seconds, seconds during heating. The temperature
tooth section will affect the straightness including soaking, with the assumption is just below the austenitizing tempera-
and radial size distortion. The bevel teeth that all the carbides are dissolved into ture, so the internal stresses are caused
are not modeled to simplify the model the iron matrix. After heating, the gear purely by the temperature gradient. The
geometry, but the conical angle of the is transferred from the furnace to the predicted radial displacement is from the
tooth tip surface is kept to more accu- quenching equipment in 10 seconds. thermal expansion. At 515.5 seconds dur-
rately catch the top die load effect dur- The quench oil temperature is 65° C, and ing heating, the temperature at the lower
ing press quench. After removing the the total quenching time is 300 seconds, portion of the wall reaches 788° C, and
bevel teeth, the volume of the simpli- which is long enough for the gear to cool the transformation to austenite occurs.
fied model is kept the same as that of the to the oil’s temperature. After quench- With the transformation to austenite, the
original model by adjusting the conical ing, the gear is taken out and cooled material volume shrinks, and the radial
surface position. For press quench using to room temperature. To better under- displacement of the lower portion of
either expander or plug tooling design, stand the press quench tooling effect the wall is reduced from 0.7 mm before
the out-of-round distortion can be con- using expander or plug tooling design, the austenitic transformation starts to
trolled effectively, but the radial distor- an immersion oil quench without any 0.65 mm when transformation occurs,
tion is difficult to control in general. The mechanical tooling constraint is modeled even though the temperature increased
two-dimensional axisymmetric model first. With the assumption of a uniform from 750° C to 788° C. With further heat-
can be used to predict the radial distor- thermal boundary condition applied on ing, the temperature distribution of the
tion, including the straightness and the the entire surface of the part, the model- middle axial section of the gear wall
radial size effectively. In this study, one ing results are shown in Figure 3 for the exceeds the austenitic transformation
cross-section of the gear is used to model immersion quench process, including the temperature, and radial shrinkage occurs
the gear response during quench harden- axial and radial displacements, carbon along with the transformation, as shown
ing, and the finite element mesh is shown distribution, volume fraction of martens- in Figure 4(c). After the gear reaches
in Figure 2(b). The FEA model contains ite, and the circumferential stress distri- 850° C, transformation to austenite has
3,659 nodes and 3,468 4-node linear ele- butions. Again, the distortion is due to been completed, and the radial displace-
ments. Fine elements are used in the the austenitizing and quench hardening ment of the wall is relatively uniform, as
part surface to catch the steep gradients without including the distortion from the shown in Figure 4(d). The main interest
of carbon, temperature, phase transfor- carburizing process. Figure 3(a) shows a of this study is to investigate the distor-
mation and stress evolutions during the barrel shape The bore of the bevel tooth tion during quench hardening, so the
entire hardening process. section shrinks after hardening about heating rate is carefully controlled, and
-0.09 mm radially. The bevel tooth sec- the stresses caused by the thermal gra-
Heat Treatment Process Problem tion also has an axial warpage upward dient and phase transformation during
Statement of about +0.17 mm, as shown in Figure heating are low enough to avoid exces-
The gear is gas carburized, followed by 3(b). The reference point “A” for the axial sive distortion. However, excessive distor-
reheating and quench hardening. The displacement, being 0.0 mm (U2 = 0.0), is tion may occur in heat treatment practice
bevel tooth surface and the middle sec- located at the inner bottom surface of the with a high heating or austenitizing rate,
tion of the bore surface are carburized bevel tooth section as shown in Figure especially for parts with large section

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 65

 technical

Figure 5 Temperature, austenite/martensite and radial displacement distribution contours during quenching. a) At 2.0 s. b) At 12.1
s. c) At 32.4 s. d) At the end of quenching.

thickness variations (Ref. 3). Stepped distortion caused by quenching is higher upper portion has about 50% martensite
heating can be used to obtain more uni- than that of heating. At 2.0 seconds of formed. With martensitic transforma-
form temperature in the part when phase quenching, the bottom of the gear wall tion, the material expands, and the radial
transformation to austenite occurs, which has cooled to about 400° C (Ms), and the displacement is a combination of thermal
is an effective method to control the dis- martensitic transformation is about to shrinkage and volume expansion caused
tortion caused by heating process. start. At this point, the internal stresses in by the martensitic phase transforma-
After heating, the gear is taken out the part are caused purely by the temper- tion. The radial displacement difference
from the heating furnace to quench using ature gradient. With lower temperature between the lower and upper portion of
oil, and the transfer time is 10 seconds. at the bottom of the wall, its radial dis- the gear wall is reduced at this moment
Figure 5 shows the temperature, austen- placement decreases to +0.01 mm from due to a combination of temperature and
ite/martensite phase, and radial displace- the +0.70 mm at the end of the heating phase transformation effects on dimen-
ment of the gear at different times dur- process, as shown in Figure 5(a). The sional change.
ing quenching. The martensitic trans- radial displacement at the top of the wall After 32.4 seconds of quenching, the
formation starting temperature is about is about +0.40 mm. With further cool- martensitic transformation in the core
400° C for AISI 9310 base carbon steel, ing, the bottom of the wall drops to about of the thick bevel tooth section is com-
as shown in Figure 1(a). The internal 200° C, and the top is still above 350° C, pleted, while the carburized case is still
stresses caused by the temperature gra- as shown in Figure 5(b), at 121.1 sec- austenite due to its lower Ms tempera-
dient and phase transformations during onds during the quench. The martens- ture. The predicted radial displacement
quenching are much higher than those itic transformation in the lower portion shows that the gear has a barrel shape at
of the heating process, which is why the of the wall is almost finished, while the this moment, as shown in Figure 5(c),

66 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
and the positive values of the radial dis-
placement mean the gear size is large
than the original size. Between 32.4 sec-
onds and the end of quenching, the car-
burized case has further phase transfor-
mation to martensite. The volume expan-
sion caused by the martensitic phase
transformation leads to compressive
stresses in the case, which are balanced
by tensile stresses in the core of the gear.
Because the carburized case has a rela-
tively small region, its delayed martens-
itic transformation has an insignificant
effect on further deformation of the part.
The main contribution of deformation is
from the thermal shrinkage of the part. Figure 6 Press/Plug quenching tooling design. a) Tooling-1. b) Tooling-2. c) Tooling-3. d) Tooling-4.
At the end of quench, the middle sec-
tion of the wall has a radial displacement
of about +0.12 mm, the bottom is about the gear. The expander/plug is short axi- warpage of bevel tooth section is com-
0.0 mm, and the top (bevel tooth section) ally in the tooling-1, tooling-2 and tool- pared in Figure 7. A concentrated force of
is -0.09 mm. These results will be com- ing-3 designs, as shown in Figures 6(a), 10 KN is applied on the top die for all the
pared with press quench modeling results 6(b) and 6(c). In the tooling-1 design, four models. The plug size is +0.0 mm,
in later sections of this paper. both the bottom and the top dies have which means the plug size is the same
small contact areas with the bevel tooth as the bore size of the gear at the room
Press Quench using Expander/ section. In the tooling-2 design, the size temperature. The predicted radial dis-
Plug Tooling Design of the lower die is increased. In the tool- placements (U1) of the four models have
The immersion oil quench modeling ing-3 design, both the bottom and top no significant difference. However, the
analysis shows that the sources of distor- dies have increased contact area. In the predicted axial displacements (U2) of the
tion can be summarized as the plastic tooling-4 design, the expander/plug size bevel tooth section have noticible dif-
deformation caused by the thermal stress is increased to cover the entire bore of ferences, indicating warping of the bevel
and phase transformation stress. A 2D the gear wall. To model the press quench tooth section. In tooling-1, tooling-2
axisymmetric model is used to investigate processes using either expander or plug, and tooling-3 designs, the expander/plug
the press quench process by assuming the all the tool members are modeled as rigid doesn’t cover the entire bore surface of
gear behaves uniformly in the circum- surfaces. The bottom die is constrained, the gear, which makes both the radial and
ferential direction, so the out-of-round and the top die moves freely in the axial axial distortion of the bevel tooth section
distortion is not modeled. In heat treat- direction. A concentrated force is applied sensitive to the load applied on the top
ment practices, the oil flow around in on the top die to control the axial warp- die. From modeling results with various
the circumferential direction of the gear age of the bevel tooth section. In a press plug size and die load combinations, it is
may not be uniform, which will cause quench model using the expander, a con- found that the tooling-4 design produces
out-of-round distortion. For gears with centrated force is applied on the expander the most consistent results in the four
thin-wall feature, press quench is often to control the radial distortion of the expander/plug tooling designs. In later
used to reduce the distortion. For the gear wall, and the expander can move in sections of this paper, all the sensitivity
simplified thin-wall bevel gear used in the radial direction. If the plug is used studies of different process parameters
this study, an expander/plug is required instead of the expander, the radial degree are based on the tooling-4 design.
to control the out-of-round distortion, of freedom of the plug is constrained in It is expected that the load applied on
straightness, and the radial size of the the model. The radial position of the plug the top die doesn’t have significant effect
thin-wall section. Bottom and top dies can be adjusted to represent different on the radial distortion of the gear wall.
are required to control the warpage of plug sizes. In later sections of this paper, a Using the plug size +0.0 mm and the tool-
the bevel tooth section. Iterations of tool- plug size of +0.0 mm means that the plug ing-4 design, the effect of the top die load
ing designs are modeled using DANTE, has a perfect contact with the gear wall on the axial warpage of the bevel tooth
with variations of tooling load applied. at room temperature, while a plug size of section is investigated. Figure 8 shows
Four schematic tooling designs are +0.1 mm means the plug has a +0.1 mm the predicted axial displacements with
shown in Figure 6. In each of the tool- overclosure radially with the bore of the 2.5 KN, 5.0 KN, 7.5 KN, 10.0 KN, and
ing designs, the expander/plug is mod- gear at room temperature. 12.5 KN loads on the top die. Without
eled as two pieces, so the radial posi- Using the press quench with the applying die load (immersion quench),
tions of the lower and upper portion of plug design, the effect of the four tool- the warpage of the bevel tooth is about
the expander/plug can be more flexibly ing designs shown in Figure 6 on the +0.17 mm upward, as shown in Figure
adjusted to control the straightness of radial distortion of the gear wall and the 3. By comparing the magnitude of axial

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 67

 technical

Figure 7 Predicted radial and axial displacements from press quench model using the plug design with +0.0 mm plug size and 10 KN
load applied on the top die. a) Tooling-1. b) Tooling-2. c) Tooling-3. d) Tooling-4.

displacement predicted in Figure

8, a 10 KN die load is necessary to
control the warpage of the bevel
tooth section. The axial displace-
ment predicted at the end of
quenching includes the effects from
both warpage and size change. A
top die load that is too high will
lead to low straightness of the gear
wall because the top die pushes the
bevel tooth section inward from the
conical surface of the bevel tooth
surface. After comparing the pre-
dicted axial distortion, the 10 KN
die load is selected for further pro-
cess variable sensitivity investiga-
Figure 8 Effect of top die load on predicted axial displacement using plug +0.0 mm and the tooling-4 tion in later sections of this paper.
design. a) 2.5 KN. b) 5.0 KN. c) 7.5 KN. d) 10.0 KN. e) 12.5 KN. In a press quench hardening
process, either expander or plug
designs can be used to control the
radial displacement of thin-wall
gear components. The radial dis-
placements include the out-of-
round distortion, straightness and
the radial size of the hardened
parts. In this study, the effect of
plug size on the radial displacement
is investigated, and the modeled
plug sizes are +0.0 mm, +0.1 mm,
+0.2 mm and +0.3 mm. Higher
expander load or larger plug size
will reduce the out-of-round dis-
tortion in general. However, if the
plug size is too large, it will be dif-
ficult to insert the plug into the part
due to possible out-of-round shape
change and thermal shrinkage
Figure 9 Effect of plug size on predicted radial displacements with the tooling-4 design and from the air transfer step. In this
10 KN applied on the top die. a) Plug size +0.0 mm. b) Plug size +0.1 mm. c) Plug size study, the largest plug size modeled
+0.2 mm. d) Plug size +0.3 mm. is +0.3 mm. The predicted radial

68 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
displacements are shown in Figure 9 for Sensitivity Analysis of Press The two factors will cause different inter-
the several plug sizes. The load applied Quench Hardening Process with actions between the expander and the
on the top die is 10 KN for all the models. Expander or Plug Design lower/upper portion of the gear wall. The
With the plug size being +0.0 mm, the The critical process parameters in a press different interactions include contact
predicted minimum radial displacement quench process include the austenitiz- time and reaction force, which makes the
is +0.101 mm at the bore of the bevel ing temperature, the quenching rate and radial shape of the gear wall nonlinear in
tooth section, and the maximum radial the applied loads, etc. In this modeling terms of the load applied. From the mod-
displacement is +0.23 mm at the middle study, the effect of several critical pro- eling results, 10.0 KN is required to make
height of the gear wall section. Compared cess parameters on distortion is investi- the expander effect more consistent. In
to the radial displacements of -0.09 mm gated. The difference between the press this paper, the 10 KN expander load will
and +0.12 mm predicted for the immer- quench with expander and plug tooling be used for the sensitivity analysis of
sion quench process as shown in Figure designs is also analyzed. If the expander other process parameters, including the
3(a), the plug is effective in control- is used, the load applied on the expander austenitizing temperature and quenching
ling the radial size of the gear. However, is expected to affect the out-of-round, rate, as well as gear initial size effect.
the straightness of the gear wall is not straightness, and size of the gear after During the quench hardening process,
improved using this plug. By increasing hardening. Figure 10 shows the predicted the gear is first heated to transform to the
the plug size, the predicted radial dis- radial displacement distribution contours austenite phase prior to quenching. The
placement of the gear wall is getting more from press quench with 2.5 KN, 5.0 KN, effect of austenitizing temperature on the
consistent, as shown in Figures 9(b), (c) 7.5 KN, 10.0 KN, and 15.0 KN loads radial distortion is shown in Figure 11,
and (d). Figure 4(d) shows that the radial applied on the expander, respectively. with the austenitizing temperature being
displacement of the gear after heating is The load doesn’t have a significant effect 810° C, 825° C, 850° C, 875° C, and 900° C,
+0.69 mm, which will allow a maximum on the maximum radial displacement of respectively.
plug size of +0.69 mm. However, con- the gear wall. However, its effect on the Lower austenitizing temperature is pre-
sidering a possible out-of-round shape radial displacement of the bevel tooth ferred in press quench for more consis-
change and thermal shrinkage during air section is significant. Higher expander tent results in general. However, the gear
transfer, a plug size of +0.3 mm is selected load increases the radial displacement of may not be fully austenitized if the aus-
for further sensitivity analysis of other the bevel tooth section, so the straight- tenitizing temperature is too low, plus
process parameters. The process consis- ness of the gear wall is improved. The the temperature variation in the furnace.
tency can be defined as the variation of effect of the expander load on the radial An austenitizing temperature of 810° C is
process parameters that are found to be displacement of the gear wall is highly often used in the industry for gears made
less sensitive to the obtained distortion in nonlinear due to two main reasons: 1) of AISI 9310. With 810° C austenitizing
the hardened part. If the process is con- different wall thickness leads to differ- temperature, the model assumes a com-
sistent, the initial gear configuration can ent thermal shrinkage between lower plete transformation to austenite.
be adjusted to compensate for distortion and upper portion of gear wall, and 2) Using the same process setting with the
and size change. The goal of this study martensitic transformation has a time plug +0.3 mm tooling design, the austen-
is to investigate the sensitivity of critical difference between the lower and upper itizing temperature effect on the radial
process parameters and how to improve portion of the gear wall, which leads to displacement is shown in Figure 12.
the process consistency. material expansion at difference times. With the same legend range magnitude

Figure 10 Effect of expander load on predicted radial displacement using press quench with 850° C austenitizing
temperature. a) 2.5 KN. b) 5.0 KN. c) 7.5 KN. d) 10.0 KN. e) 15.0 KN.

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 69

 technical

Figure 11 Effect of austenitizing temperature on predicted radial displacement using press quench with a 10 KN
load on top die and a 10 KN load on the expander. a) 810° C. b) 825° C. c) 850° C. d) 875° C. e) 900° C.

Figure 12 Effect of austenitizing temperature on predicted radial displacement using press quench with 10 KN load
on top die and plug +0.3 mm design. a) 810° C. b) 825° C. c) 850° C. d) 875° C. e) 900° C.

Figure 13 Effect of quenching rate on predicted radial displacement using press quench with 850° C austenitizing
temperature and 10 KN expander load. a) 50% HTC. b) 75% HTC. c) 100% HTC. d) 125% HTC. e) 150% HTC.

70 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
 Figure 14 Effect of quenching rate on predicted radial displacement using the plug quench with 850° C austenitizing
temperature and plug +0.3 mm tooling design. a) 50% HTC. b) 75% HTC. c) 100% HTC. d) 125% HTC. e)
150% HTC.

(0.155 mm) used in Figures 11 and 12, 50% HTC means the values of the HTC to reheating or austenitizing processes,
the contour plot color can be used to is half of the values of the standard HTC. etc. It is expected that the press quench
compare the predicted radial displace- Figure 13 shows the predicted radial dis- process with either expander or plug
ments directly. With higher austenitiz- placements from 50% HTC, 75% HTC, design is effective for controlling the out-
ing temperature, the predicted radial 100% HTC, 125% HTC and 150% HTC of-round distortion. However, controlling
size of the bevel tooth section decreases, using the press quench with the expander the radial size of the gear after harden-
which is true for press quench using tooling design. With faster cooling rate, ing is critical if the part is carburized or
either expander or plug design. The pre- the radial displacements decrease. With selectively carburized, as only a small
dicted straightness between the expander 50% HTC, the maximum radial displace- grinding amount after hardening should
and the plug tool designs doesn’t show ment of the gear wall is about +0.14 mm, be permitted.
any significant difference by comparing versus about +0.10 mm with 150% HTC To make the post-processing of the
Figures 11 and 12. (Figs. 13[a] and 13[e]). final radial displacement contours more
The cooling rate of the gear during With the same thermal boundary intuitive, the variation of the initial gear
quenching is affected by the oil tem- conditions and the plug +0.3 mm tool- size is modeled by assigning the gear with
perature, oil flow pattern, oil flow rate, ing design, Figure 14 shows the pre- specified initial temperatures, followed
etc. Oil pumps are used in press quench dicted radial displacements. The pre- by ramping the gear to the room tem-
equipment to drive the oil flow around dicted radial displacement of the gear perature of 20° C. The radial displace-
the part, and the pumping power can wall is more consistent compared to ments, due to the thermal shrinkage or
be adjusted as a process parameter to the results using the expander design, displacements of the bore to represent the
affect the quenching rate. To investigate shown in Figure 13. The radial displace- gear sizes, the radial displacements are
the effect of the quenching rate on dis- ments of the bevel tooth section have -0.10 mm, -0.05 mm, 0.0 mm, +0.05 mm,
tortion, a series of heat transfer coeffi- a similar sensitivity level to the cooling and +0.10 mm, as shown in the contour
cients are applied on the gear surface. rate between the expander and the plug plots of Figure 15. Due to the thermal
The heat transfer coefficient is defined +0.3 mm tooling designs. shrinkage or expansion, there are also
as a function of the part surface tem- The gear dimensions prior to quench- initial radial displacements in the bevel
perature (Ref. 4), and it is assumed that ing may vary due to the following pos- tooth section, which will be carried over
the entire surface has a uniform heat sible reasons: 1) dimensional difference to the final predicted distortion after
transfer coefficient applied with a con- due to previous machining processes, 2) hardening. The internal stresses in the
stant oil temperature of 65° C for all residual stresses in the part prior to heat- gear are zero prior to heating because the
the models. To evaluate the quenching ing and shape change due to the stress temperature in the gear is uniform during
rate effect, the heat transfer coefficient relaxation during heating, 3) distortion the temperature ramping process.
curve versus part surface temperature caused by carburizing and sequential
is multiplied by a factor. For example, cooling processes, and 4) distortion due

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 71

 technical

Figure 15 Radial displacement contours (initial gear sizes) of the gear at room temperature prior to heating. a)
–0.1 mm. b) –0.05 mm. c) 0.0 mm. d) +0.05 mm. e) +0.1 mm.

Figure 16 Effect of initial gear size on predicted radial displacements using the press quench with 10 KN expander
load and 850° C austenitizing temperature. a) –0.10 mm. b) –0.05 mm. c) 0.0 mm. d) +0.05 mm. e) +0.10 mm.

Using the displacements shown in With a smaller gear dimension prior to the final gear size is approximately lin-
Figure 15 as the starting point, the press heating, the final gear size is also smaller ear to the initial gear size prior to heat-
quench processes with both the expander after hardening if the expander tooling ing. For gears with a radial size varia-
and the plug tooling designs are mod- design is used for the press quench pro- tion before hardening, the final gear sizes
eled. The uniform standard heat trans- cess. As shown in Figure 16(a), the max- after hardening will be scattered unless
fer boundary conditions described pre- imum radial displacement of the gear the press quench process can be adjusted
viously are applied for all the models, wall predicted is about 0.0 mm if the ini- accordingly, which may not be feasible in
with the 10 KN load applied on the top tial gear size is –0.10 mm. The predicted most cases.
die. Either the 10 KN will be applied on radial displacements are +0.057 mm, Using the same process setting and
the expander, or the plug size +0.3 mm +0.112 mm, +0.170 mm, and +0.221 mm replacing the expander by the plug
will be used for the two different tool- for the initial gear sizes of –0.05 mm, +0.3 mm tooling design, the predicted
ing designs, respectively. The predicted 0.0 mm, +0.05 mm, and +0.1 mm, respec- radial displacements from various initial
radial displacements after hardening are tively, as shown in Figures 16 (b) through gear sizes are shown in Figure 17. The
shown in Figures 16 and 17 for various (e). The predicted radial displacements predicted radial displacements of the gear
initial gear dimensions and the two tool- after hardening in Figure 16 have sig- wall have a variation range of 0.03 mm
ing designs. nificant difference. One conclusion is that (0.53 mm–0.50 mm). Compared to the

72 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
 Figure 17 Effect of initial gear size on the predicted radial displacements using the press quench with plug size
+0.3 mm and 850° C austenitizing temperature. a) –0.10 mm. b) –0.05 mm. c) 0.0 mm. d) +0.05 mm. e) +0.10 mm.

results of 0.22 mm (0.22 mm–0.00 mm) hardening process, the initial gear con-

from using the expander tooling design, figuration can be adjusted to compensate
the press quench with the oversized plug the distortion.
is much more consistent. The predicted
straightness of the gear wall doesn’t Bibliography
have significant difference between the 1. B. L. Ferguson, A. Freborg, and G. Petrus,
“Software Simulates Quenching”, Advanced
expander and the plug tooling designs. Materials and Processes, H31–H36, August
The straightness can be improved (2000)
2. D. Bammann, et al., “Development of a Zhichao (Charlie) Li is
by using a profiled expander or plug the Vice President and one
Carburizing and Quenching Simulation Tool:
configuration. A Material Model for Carburizing Steels of the owners of DANTE
Undergoing
nd Phase Transformations”, Proceedings Solutions, Inc., located in
Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Li’s
Summary of the 2 International Conference on Quenching
area of expertise is design,
and the Control of Distortion, 367–375,
Using a simplified bevel tooth gear with November (1996) innovation and optimization
stepped thin-wall geometric features, 3. Z. Li, B. L. Ferguson, and A. Freborg, “Data for heat treatment
the concept of press quench using either Needs for Modeling Heat Treatment of Steel processes, materials characterization, and
Parts”, Proceedings of Materials Science & finite element modeling. Dr. Li’s responsibilities
expander or plug tooling design is ana- Technology Conference, 219–226, (2004) at DANTE are project management, heat
lyzed by finite element models. The mod- 4. Ferguson, B.L., Freborg, A.M., Li, Z., “Probe treatment software development, new heat
eling results have clearly shown that the Design to Charactrize Heat Transfer dur- treatment process development, technical
ing Quenching Process”, Proceedings of 6th support, and new market development.
main sources of distortion are from the International Quenching and Control of
thermal stresses and phase transforma- Distortion Conference, Chicago, Illinois, Dr. B. Lynn Ferguson,
September 9–13, 2012, pp. 792–801 a graduate of Drexel
tion stresses. With phase transformations, University, is President
the material will be in plastic deforma- of DANTE Solutions,
tion field due to the localized volume Inc., formerly known
change of the material, which will make as Deformation Control
Technology, Inc., a company
the gear shape change permanently even he founded in 1982. His
with low external load. Because of the career has focused on the
phase transformations, the press quench broad field of mechanical metallurgy, with
can be effective with low load applied. For Related Articles Search a concentration on thermal and mechanical
processing of metals. Over the past twenty
During a press quench, the tooling inter- press quench years, he has been primarily involved with
action with the gear includes the contact at www.geartechnology.com
analysis of the metallurgical events that take
region, contact timing, and contact force. place during heat treatment of steel parts,
including prediction of distortion, residual
The modeling results have shown that the stress, and the evolution of microstructural
press quench with an oversized plug is phases. He has published more than 70
much more consistent in controlling the technical papers, authored many sections
distortion of hardened gear, compared of various ASM handbooks, co-authored
one book, and been an instructor in several
to using the expander design. With more sponsored short courses. He is a Fellow of
consistent distortion from the quench ASMI, Alpha Sigma Mu and IFHTSE.

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 73

 industry news

Zoller Inc.
INAUGURATES NEW NORTH AMERICAN HEADQUARTERS
Zoller Inc. inaugurated its new North American Headquarters “Our new Headquarters underscores our commitment to our
on May 18th, 2018 in the presence of the Zoller family, customer base in North America and will ensure a superior
esteemed architect David Gebhardt, and Paul Krutko, president customer service and aftersales experience for our existing and
and CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK. The entire North American target customers”
employee base and their families and friends also attended the Zoller is a market leader in presetting and measuring tech-
gala celebration event. The new facility encompasses more than nology, and offers smart innovative solutions for manufactur-
44,000 sq. ft. and houses the U.S. corporate offices including ing processes. These solutions range from design to machined
sales, service and administration. In addition the facility fea- part, and the entire Zoller product line, is available for training
tures an 8,800 sq. ft. Industry 4.0 Tech Center. and demonstration at the new facility. Presetting and measur-
Zoller Inc. is a third generation family owned company that ing machines and spare parts are stocked in the warehouse to
was founded in Germany in 1945 by Alfred Zoller. Alexander ensure rapid delivery to customers across the U.S., Canada and
Zoller, president of ZOLLER Inc. was the visionary to execute Mexico once machine or service orders are placed. In addition
the expansion plan for the new North American Headquarters. to hardware such as presetting and measuring machines, uni-
versal measuring machines, robotic solu-
tions, and tool cabinets, Zoller also offers
relevant software solutions to prepare pro-
duction companies for the smart manufac-
turing of the future and increase digitiza-
tion with a consistent, clearly structured
database.
Innovation is a part of everyday life at
Zoller and the company has long recog-
nized the opportunities computer technol-
ogy afforded for the manufacturing sector.
Therefore Zoller Inc. also has established
an in-house software development team,
whose expertise is constantly focused on
the needs and requirements of their cus-
tomers in North America.
(www.zoller-usa.com)

Siemens Award
GOES TO INDEX GROUP
With the delivery of an Index MS22-8 multi-spindle automatic
lathe to Paul Bippus GmbH & Co KG in Oberndorf am Neckar,
Germany, Index-Werke sold the 1000th license of its innovative
“Virtual Machine” product. Siemens AG took this proud num-
ber as an opportunity to honor the Esslingen-based lathe man-
ufacturer. On Thursday, April 26, 2018, Jürgen Köhler, division
head of Digital Factory Germany, visited the Index Open House
with a delegation to present the Siemens Award in the form of a
glass cube with the hologram of a “Virtual Machine”.
Dirk Prust, technical managing director, and Eberhard Beck,
head of control technology, accepted the award on behalf of
all employees involved in the Index Virtual Machine. Paul
Bippus GmbH & Co KG, specializing in turned parts produc-
tion and purchaser of the 1000th license, was also present at the
award ceremony. Martin Melzer, head of production at Bippus,
received a glass cube as well.
Index’s Virtual Machine is a digital 1:1 copy of a real (Left to right) Jürgen Albrecht, Dirk Prust, Eberhard Beck, Martin Melzer,
machine. Tried and tested for years, this proven Industry 4.0 and Jürgen Köhler.

74 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
product offers great potential for increasing productivity. With
Virtual Machine, the user can virtually plan, test and even opti-
mize in advance new startups and machining processes, away
from production, in real time and with 100% transferability to
the real machine. Possible problems can be detected at an early
stage so that there is enough time to remedy them. As a result,
setup times and downtime in ongoing production are reduced,
while safety and cost-effectiveness increase. Index-Werke won
only in December 2017 the “100 Places for Industry 4.0” award
of the state of Baden-Württemberg for its “Virtual Machine”
product. (www.siemens.com, www.index-werke.de)

JTEKT Toyoda
Americas
Corporation
ADDS PHILLIPS CORPORATION TO
DISTRIBUTION NETWORK 45th 2018
1973 RY
A NNIVERSA
JTEKT Toyoda Americas Corporation recently announced
that Phillips Corporation was added to their distribution net-
work. Phillips’s full-service, 45-person sales force and 98-per-
son service team will support Toyoda customers in Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee,
Arkansas, and the Florida Panhandle.
Having technical showrooms in 5 of the 8 southeastern states
served, Phillips stands by their mission to be the best resource
in manufacturing technology, for Toyoda CNC owners. For
more than 50 years, the company has built a dedicated fleet of
expert staff vested in continuous improvement of high perfor-
mance results on a localized level.
In addition to carrying JTEKT Toyoda America’s entire line
of CNC machines (horizontal and vertical machining centers,
bridge-type mills, turning centers, grinding machines and auto-
mation solutions), Phillips offers engineering and application
support. JTEKT Toyoda Americas looks forward to working
with the entire team at Phillips Corporation throughout their NEW
new endeavors carrying Toyoda and Takisawa Taiwan machin-
ing centers. (www.toyoda.com, phillipscorp.com) Release
03/2018

Star SU KISSsoft Highlights

ANNOUNCES RICCARDO RUBINO AS
OPERATIONS MANAGER ▪ Strength calculation of asymmetrical gears
▪ Displacement for bevel and hypoid gears
Star SU of Hoffman Estates, IL ▪ Interface to GEMS® with data exchange
formally announces the appoint- ▪ Shaft editor with background drawing
ment of Riccardo Rubino as its ▪ Calculation of conical compression springs
new operations manager for the KISSsoft AG/Gleason Sales
▪ And many more ...
Americas. Brian P. Stringer
Phone (585) 494-2470 Get your free trial version at
“Riccardo brings operations [email protected] www.KISSsoft.com
and supply chain leadership expe-
rience from positions held both
in the U.S. and Italy. He will work
closely with me overseeing opera-
tions starting with for the Star SU

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 75

GearTech_KISSsoft_Release2018_89x120_5mm.indd 1 26.04.2018 13:09:42
 industry news

Hoffman Estates and Star SU Federal de Mexico and taking

over the quality control for those operations. I am confident in
Riccardo’s experience in his previous leadership role will help
lead our team in continuous growth and enhance operational
activities,” says David Goodfellow, president of Star SU LLC.
Rubino has spent the last six years building a career sur-
rounding operations, procurement, sales and product manage-
ment with Somaschini North America (South Bend, IN) and
Somaschini Automotive (Bergamo, Italy). He earned a BS and
MS in Industrial and Management Engineering while studying
in Italy. (www.star-su.com)

Kitagawa
ANNOUNCES REGIONAL SALES MANAGER
Kitagawa North-Tech, Inc., stan-
dard chucks, advanced chucks,
custom engineered workhold-
ing and steady rests manufacturer,
has announced Mike Roberts
of ITEX Workholding, has joined
the company as regional sales man-
ager for the southwest region of the
United States. His territory includes
Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and
Texas. Roberts, a seasoned veteran
in oil and gas workholding chucks, will be selling and support-
ing Kitagawa’s complete offering with a focus on oil and gas
workholding.
Robert’s has had a longstanding history and connection
to Kitagawa Chucks starting with his first inside sales posi-
tion in the machine tool and workholding industry. In 1990,
Roberts started his career at Rex Supply, Machine Tool and
PUTTING Workholding Division as a master distributor representing
A LIFETIME Kitagawa NorthTech chucks. The Rex Workholding Division
was later acquired by Regal Machine and Roberts continued
OF in a sales capacity for the company. In 1997, he co-founded
GEAR ITEX Workholding in Cypress Texas, specializing in serving
the workholding needs and requirements of oil and gas tool
DESIGN manufacturers and services companies. ITEX was a master dis-
tributor of Kitagawa Chucks and the exclusive North American
EXPERIENCE importer of Noble heavy duty brand manual chucks.
“It was an easy decision to merge ITEX Workholding opera-
TO WORK FOR YOU
tions with Kitagawa NorthTech, partially because of the long-
lasting and successful relationship we’ve had for almost 30
• Reverse engineering • Design reviews years. Kitagawa also has an enduring heritage, great Chuck
• Gearbox upgrades • Bid evaluations
• Custom gearbox design • Tooling design
brand and reputation for manufacturing and engineering
• Specification development • Customized gear training superior workholding for the metalworking industry and we
• Project management • Equipment evaluation believe they are a great fit for customers in oil and gas country,”
• Vendor qualification • Custom machine design Roberts said.
Charles D. Schultz Roberts resides in South Texas and will be report out of
Kitagawa NorthTech’s headquarters and full-service manufac-
[email protected] turing facility for the Americas based in Schaumburg, IL. The
[630] 209-1652 Kitagawa NorthTech facility features in-house design, custom
engineering, manufacturing and repair services for Kitagawa
Workholding and other brands. (www.kitagawa.us)
www.beytagear.com

76 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

[www.geartechnology.com]
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 ad index
6K Products — Page 44 Nordex Inc. — Page 42
6kproducts.com
AFC Holcroft — Page 17
www.nordex.com
Oelheld US Inc. — Page 44
DO YOU HAVE SURPLUS
www.afc-holcroft.com www.oelheld.com GEAR MACHINERY FOR
Ajax Tocco Magnethermic — Page 42
www.ajaxtocco.com
Presrite — Page 45
www.presrite.com SALE OR AUCTION?
B&R Machine and Gear Corp. — Page 27
www.brgear.com
Proto Manufacturing — Page 14
www.protoxrd.com
You need to talk to Goldstein Gear
Beyta Gear Service — Page 76 Riverside Spline and Gear — Page 42
Machinery LLC (GGM), of which
www.beytagear.com www.splineandgear.com Michael Goldstein was President and
Bourn & Koch — Page 3 Schnyder S.A. — Page 4 primary buyer and seller at his former
www.bourn-koch.com www.schnyder.com
company, Cadillac Machinery Co., Inc.
The Broach Masters & Universal Gear — Page 29 Seco/Vacuum Technologies — Page 31
www.broachmasters.com www.secovacusa.com For large departments or whole
Broaching Machine Specialties — Page 30 Shangchi Group — Page 76 plants, 100% of the SALE proceeds
www.broachingmachine.com www.jssc.com.cn
Circle Gear — Page 43 Solar Atmospheres — Page 18
goes to the owner
www.circlegear.com www.solaratm.com GGM is the only one experienced
DTR Corp. — Page 15
www.dragon.co.kr
Star SU LLC — IFC-Page 1, Page 43
www.star-su.com
gear machinery expert to get you the
DVS Group — Page 13 United Tool Supply — Page 75
highest value. Gear equipment is not
www.dvs-technology.com unite-a-matic.com like general purpose machinery; they
ECM USA — Page 23 Wenzel America — Page 11 have unique features and capabilities,
www.ecm-usa.com www.wenzelamerica.com
which only an expert can describe
Forest City Gear — Page 12
www.forestcitygear.com and know to photograph, especially
Frenco GmbH — Page 22 Gleason mechanical bevel equipment,
www.frenco.com of which GGM is the leading expert.
Gear Research Institute — Page 44
gearresearch.org GGM has over 55 years of experience
Gleason Corporation — Pages 19, 75 buying/selling and auctioning gear
www.gleason.com
machinery, with a reputation for
IMTS — Page 41
www.imts.com knowledge, experience and capability
Index Technologies — Page 43 second to none. GGM, and Michael’s
www.gregallenco.com prior company, Cadillac Machinery,
Ipsen International — Inside Back Cover
www.ipsenusa.com
were in a joint venture with Industrial
Kapp Niles Metrology — Page 16
Plants Corp (IPC) in Industrial Plants
www.gearinspection.com Ltd (UK) (IPC-UK) and Michael was
Kapp Technologies — Page 21 the primary auction evaluator and
www.kapp-usa.com
organizer for over 10 years. As he
KissSoft USA, LLC — Page 75
www.kisssoft.com tracks every gear auction, worldwide,
Klingelnberg — Outside Back Cover he has records of what every gear
www.klingelnberg.com machine is sold for.
Liebherr — Page 5
www.liebherr.com Get experience and
Lubriplate — Page 39
www.lubriplate.com knowledge working for you
Machine Tool Builders — Page 7
Machinetooldbuilders.com
Mcinnes Rolled Rings — Page 25
www.mcinnesrolledrings.com
Midwest Gear & Tool — Page 4
[email protected]
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America — Page 8
www.mitsubishigearcenter.com

www.gearmachineryexchange.com
78 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018
[www.geartechnology.com]
 calendar
July 30–August 2—CAR Management Briefing September 11–14—Basic Training for Gear
Seminars Grand Traverse Resort, Traverse City, Michigan. Manufacturing (Fall) Hilton Oak Lawn, Chicago, Illinois.
Initiated by the University of Michigan in 1965, the first Center Learn the fundamentals of gear manufacturing in this hands-on
for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars (CAR course. Gain an understanding of gearing and nomenclature,
MBS) hosted only 30 people. When the industry was at its high- principles of inspection, gear manufacturing methods, and hob-
est number of employment, the event grew to attract more bing and shaping. Utilizing manual machines, attendees will
than 1,400 attendees annually from more than 35 states and develop a deeper breadth of perspective and understanding of
15 countries−representing industry, academia, media and the the process and physics of making a gear as well as the ability to
government. CAR MBS leads the industry in providing a con- apply this knowledge in working with CNC equipment commonly
text for auto industry stakeholders to discuss critical issues and in use. Although the Basic Course is designed primarily for
emerging trends while fostering new industry relationships in newer employees with at least six months’ experience in setup
daily networking sessions. Seminars include targeted sessions on or machine operation, it has proved beneficial to quality control
manufacturing strategy, vehicle lightweighting, connected and managers, sales representatives, management, and executives.
automated vehicles, advanced powertrain, supply chain, sales Instructors include Dwight Smith, Peter Grossi and Allen Bird.
forecasting, purchasing, talent and designing for technology. For For more information, visit www.agma.org.
more information, visit www.cargroup.org.
September 17–20—Gear Dynamics and Gear Noise
August 6–8—SAE Fundamentals of Modern Short Course 2018 Columbus, Ohio. The Gear Dynamics
Vehicle Transmissions Seminar Troy, Michigan. Starting and Gear Noise Short Course will be offered this year on the
with a look at the transmission’s primary function — to couple Ohio State campus from September 17 to 20, 2018. It has been
the engine to the driveline and provide torque ratios between offered for over 38 years and is considered extremely valuable for
the two — this updated and expanded seminar covers the latest gear designers and noise specialists who encounter gear noise
transmission systems designed to achieve the most efficient and transmission design problems. Attendees will learn how to
engine operation. Current designs, the components and sub- design gears to minimize the major excitations of gear noise:
systems used, their functional modes, how they operate, and the transmission error, dynamic friction forces and shuttling forces.
inter-relationships will be discussed. For more information, visit Fundamentals of gear noise generation and gear noise measure-
www.sae.org/learn/content/99018. ment will be covered along with topics on gear rattle, transmission
dynamics and housing acoustics. This course includes extensive
August 21–22—Fraunhofer CMI: Fundamentals of demonstrations of specialized gear analysis software in addition
Gear and Transmission Technology Brookline, MA. In to the demonstrations of many Ohio State gear test rigs. A unique
this course on gear and transmission technologies, basic proper- feature of the course is the interactive workshop session that
ties of gears as machine elements, gear manufacturing technolo- invites attendees to discuss their specific gear and transmission
gies, methods for quality control, as well as testing and analysis noise concerns. For more information, visit www.nvhgear.org.
of load carrying capacity and running behavior are presented.
The course focuses on methods of interpretation, analysis and September 20–21—Fundamentals of Worm &
solving challenges in the design, manufacturing and application Crossed Axis Helical Gearing Alexandria, Virginia.
of gears. The course is meant for designers and manufacturing Provides an introduction and emphasize the differences between
engineers working in gear and transmission technology, as well parallel (the experience base) axis and worm and crossed axis
as for shop floor and department managers involved with the helical gears. Describe the basics of worm and crossed axis heli-
production and sale of gears and gearboxes. Fee is $1,495. For cal gears, their fundamental design principals, application guide-
more information, visit www.cmi.fraunhofer.org. lines and recommendations, lubrication requirement, a discus-
sion of accuracy and quality and summarize with a brief review
September 10–15—IMTS 2018 Chicago, Illinois. More of common failure modes. The instructor is William “Mark”
than 115,000 industrial decision-makers attend the International McVea. For more information, visit www.agma.org.
Manufacturing Technology Show to get ideas and find answers
to their manufacturing problems. They will see new technology September 27–29—Epicyclic Gear Systems:
demonstrated in areas like aerospace, automotive, machine shop, Application, Design and Analysis Rosemont, Illinois.
medical and power generation. The IMTS Conference Program Learn and define the concept of epicyclic gearing including some
will focus on six topics in 2018 including Process Innovations, basic history and the differences among simple planetary gear
Alternative Manufacturing, Plant Operations, Automation, systems, compound planetary gear systems and star drive gear
Quality and Industry 4.0/IIoT. Co-located shows include Hannover systems. Cover concepts on the arrangement of the individual
Messe USA: Integrated Automation, Motion & Drives, Surface components including the carrier, sun, planet, ring and star gears
Technology, ComVac and Industrial Supply. The Smartforce and the rigid requirements for the system to perform properly.
Student Summit will once again promote student and educator This session provides an in-depth discussion of the methodology
attendance and other familiar attractions such as AMT’s Emerging by which noise and vibration may be optimized for such systems
Technology Center will highlight the latest manufacturing tech- and load sharing guidelines for planet load sharing. The instructor
nologies. For more information, visit www.imts.com. is Raymond Drago. For more information, visit www.agma.org.

July 2018 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 79

 addendum

Machine Tool Memories

Taking a Step Back Before Taking a Step Forward
Matthew Jaster, Senior Editor

IMTS 2018 promises all the machine tech-

nology manufacturing has to offer. From 3D
printing to digital manufacturing, Chicago will keep its
biennial promise to wow the manufacturing industry
with the latest innovations and machine developments.
If your career has anything to do with manufactur-
ing and engineering, it’s essential to spend six days at
McCormick Place to see these technologies up close and
personal.
Before seeking out the new and the noteworthy,
however, it’s equally as important to jump in the time
machine and see how far manufacturing has come. A
recent visit to the Henry Ford Museum of American
Innovation, located in Dearborn, Michigan, helped
remind this editor how different the manufacturing
floor looked when the Ford Model-T was first being
produced in the early 1900s.
In fact, an exploded Model T in 3D on display at the
museum hints at the innovation and technology that
would be applied, redesigned, and reimagined in the
automotive industry for years to come. Just beyond that
fascinating 1922 Model T, visitors will find a room full
of machine tools — everything from lathes to gear cut-
ters to drills and planers. Here are a few highlights:
A precision gear cutter invented in the early 1890s
by Duane H. Church, Waltham’s superintendent of
toolmakers was on display highlighting the company’s
tradition of automatic machinery. Church’s inventions
were so precise that gauges and templates were not
needed to produce interchangeable parts. An exploded Model T in 3D on display at the Henry Ford Museum of
The Waltham Watch Company began its operations American Innovation.
in 1854 and, through innovation, introduced a sys-
tem of interchangeable parts. The Company devel- fact, the Armington & Sims Machine Shop in Greenfield Village
oped machinery that could make watch parts so precisely that is a building that essentially provides support for a system of
they were interchangeable with one another. This innovation shafts and pulleys that distribute mechanical energy to rows
served to catapult productivity and place the Waltham Watch of metalworking machine tools arranged along the building’s
Company on the international forefront as the first company to length. According to the website, the machinists who worked in
mass produce a complete watch under one roof. shops like this could tackle a wide range of jobs. It was machine
A Brown & Sharpe Co. gear cutter from around 1850 helped shops like this that were the training grounds for many techno-
demonstrate just how difficult and delicate gear cutting was logical innovators in the 19th century.
at the time. Getting just the right angle so the gears would I asked my 8-year-old son what he thought of the old gear
mesh smoothly took both mathematical knowledge and cutters, lathes and drills on display at the museum. I was given
practical experience. This machine made the work easier and the all-too-familiar shoulder shrug from a kid that would rather
the product more accurate and uniform, because of the rings be playing baseball or Nintendo than looking at machine tools.
of concentric holes used to “index” or measure the different In his defense, it was lunchtime and when an 8-year-old has
angles. Brown and Sharpe — founded in 1833 — was one seen one gear cutter, he’s seen them all.
of the most influential machine tool builders and a leading “They look old and dusty,” he finally shared his opinion. “I’m
manufacturer of micrometers and indicators. sure at the time they were good for something or they wouldn’t
If you’re ever in Metro Detroit and have a day or two to spare, be in here.” (A fair and perfectly reasonable assessment)
the museum and Greenfield Village are a great way to gather Sources for this article include www.walthamwatchfactory.
some historic context on engineering and manufacturing. In com, www.thehenryford.org and brown-sharpe.com.

80 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | July 2018

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