Gears and gear manufacturing: Uncontrollable and highly variable wind forces adversely affect the performance and reliability of planetary gears inside wind-turbine power transmissions. A couple developments can lower maintenance on rolling elements and carry greater load in a planetary gearset. The first idea is to equalize gear loads, reducing internal stresses and significantly extending wind…
Rebuilding a better gearbox
With a background as a manufacturer of custom gears and replacement gearing for demanding applications, Xtek, Cincinnati, Ohio, can manufacture and repair gearboxes to meet or exceed original design specifications. The company says its engineers can provide a failure analysis, reverse engineer components, and recommend improvements for upgrading the performance of an existing gearbox. Company…
New plant to churn out 300 gearboxes/year
Bosch Rexroth has expanded its capacity for producing large wind-turbine gearboxes with a new facility in Nuremberg, Germany. The plant, which covers a surface area as large as five football fields, will manufacture about 300 large gearboxes in 2009 and is slated for the latest generation of multi-megawatt turbines. About $246 million (180 million euros)…