A manufacturer of industrial couplings has broken ground for a 90,000 sq. ft. facility in Changzhou, China. Altra says it new plant, near Shanghai, will let the company better serve the Chinese market by providing shorter lead times and enhanced technical support. Initially, production of couplings at the new facility will be focused on products…
Make shaft attachments without keyways
Heavy duty models of the popular ETP Express keyless shaft bushings are now available in 20, 40 and 60-mm sizes. ETP Express shaft locking bushings provide fast and frequent mounting/dismounting capabilities with only one radial screw. This saves space in a system and provides accurate mounting without axial movement of the ETP bushing along the…
Couplings 101
Mechanical couplings connect shafts so one can transmit rotational power to the other. Shafts are never perfectly aligned so the coupling tolerates slight misalignments, but only to a degree. There are three types of misalignment. The center lines of the shafts might be parallel but offset, the centerlines might form an angle, or the distance…
A 3-MW drivetrain all in one package
A recent wind-turbine drive combines a two-stage gearbox, coupling, and permanent-magnet generator into one compact package. One design goal for the HybridDrive from manufacturer Winergy (winergy-ag.com) is to reduce drivetrain size. A direct connection between gearbox and generator allows shortening the drivetrain by about 35% and nearly eleminating alignment tasks. The company says it demonstrates…
Wind turbine couplings deliver 100,000 nm, retrofit and new
An ISO 9001:2008 certified manufacturing firms says of its wind turbine couplings now cover a broad range of wind turbine applications. Zero-Max Wind Turbine Couplings are available as an upgrade replacement for existing wind turbines and for OEM applications. Successfully tested under conditions simulating a 20-year load spectrum of continuous operation, the turbine couplings easily…
Wind Turbine Torque limiter by Centa
CENTA produces an enhanced version of its Torque Hub, the slip clutch which offers a simple and low-cost design for torque overload generator protection. In wind power plants, electrical circuit problems are known to cause short-term torque peaks. In this event, slip clutches protect the costly gearbox against overload by slipping at a defined maximum…
A closer look at gearbox-to-generator couplings
Wind power stations do not rest. Vibrations are pervasive. Constant alternating loads with difficult environmental conditions make metals fatigue and wear earlier than in other applications. Despite that, expectations for efficiency continuously increase. To meet such challenges, KTR Corp., Michigan City, Indiana, developed the Radex-N, a steel-laminate coupling for wind turbines. The backlash and maintenance-free…
Composite disc couplings for wind turbines
Plymouth, MN – Zero-Max, Inc.announces introduction of its Composite Disc Couplings for the wind turbine industry. “These couplings withstand extreme misalignment while remaining torsionally stiff and have passed the ‘hell hole’ test at Tehachapi, California Wind Farm,” reports James Motz, member of the Wind Team for Zero-Max. “The couplings were tested under conditions simulating a…
Hydraulic pitch control for wind-turbine blades
Generating steady shaft speed on a wind turbine means constantly adjusting the pitch of each blade to accommodate wind variations. The blades connect to a huge hub mounted to a shaft that turns a gearbox and a generator. Best turbine efficiency calls for a continuous pitch control on the blades. Blade pitch is powered by…
Composite coupling handles high-power misalignments
The Ixilflex link coupling absorbs misalignment of power transmission shafts through bushes linked to alternate flanges. The bushes are made by vulcanizing rubber to metal parts under high compression. The coupling can be run in either direction without reversing the coupling. Other features include high misalignment and torque capability, torsional damping, low restoring forces, silent…