Access the software from the developers homp page, excelgear.com. Excel-Lent contains three sections: Design, Analysis, and Gear Dimensions. Any of the sections can be used individually to run calculations. On a typical job, according to Excel Gear, hundreds of hours typically spent doing the calculations can be saved.
Excel-Lent software, from a longtime builder of gears and gearboxes, quickly determines optimum gear parameters for various industries. The developer says it cuts hundreds of engineering hours off projects. Interested users can download a demo to see how easy it is to design a new gearbox.
The most interesting section to design engineers will be “Design”. With minimal input, the program will calculate the number of teeth in the pinion and gear, DP or Module, face width, and other factors required to transmit the power, and within a few seconds. The calculated data can be exported to the “Analysis” section for complete examination by picking the “Transfer Data “ tab on the screen. The calculated capacity will be close to the required power and on the first try.
Also, the software’s dimensioning program may be the most versatile available. Non-standard center distance or matching a new gear to an existing gear is as easy as clicking the indicated option. The material tables list all commercially available materials, with heat treat and mechanical properties so users can choose any gear material to fit their need.
In all three sections, sample input data are stored for users to get started. Click on Samples to open a table of examples. Selecting one of the samples fills the input screen with data. To run the sample select“Calculate”. The developer says it welcomes comments and suggestions regarding the our software at any time.
In response to the gear market’s need for optimization software, which has been lacking for many years, Excel-Lent gear and gearbox design and analysis software has been developed by Excel Gear, Inc., Roscoe, Ill. The software is written in Visual Basic.Net by engineers who also design and manufacture gears for their own use, according to company president N.K. “Chinn” Chinnusamy.
“Although commercial software has long been available in the gear industry, it has been too expensive or too complicated for engineers without specialized gear design knowledge,” say Chinnusamy. “Our software is specifically designed with a user-friendly interactive input screen providing defaults and options in accordance with the AGMA 2001 standard (American Gear Manufacturers Association).” Software users can easily navigate through the input screens to edit, analyze and produce reports on the optimum gear and gearbox design for various industrial and other applications.
“This software is not designed for any specific industry,” adds Chinnusamy. It can be used for machine tools, heavy materials handling equipment, even the wind-turbine industry. For the wind turbine industry, for example, the designer needs a full understanding of all the operating loads on the gear members to arrive at the required power rating.
The key calculations performed are the AGMA power rating and load calculations, including bending strength geometry factor (J) and pitting resistance geometry factors (I). Output from the software is a single page of data printed in a format that is easy to read and interpret. Other commercial software typically prints five or six pages of information, which may be confusing to most design engineers unless they are gear experts, says Chinnusamy.
The users of Excel-Lent need not be familiar with AGMA standards to use this software. Those who are not gear engineers can also benefit from the gear engineering knowledge embedded in the software package.
For further information, a test demo, pricing and purchase of this software, please visit www.excel-lentsoftware.com.
EXCEL GEAR INC.
www.excel-lentsoftware.com
Filed Under: Components, Gearboxes, News
