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Automotive Brain Power

Four Key Takeaways from CTI Symposium USA 2026

One of my favorite events each year is the Car Training Institute (CTI) Symposium USA in Novi, MI. The program brings together engineers to discuss and debate the current state of the North American automotive market from a powertrain, transmission, and electrification perspective.

Systems Failure

Rethinking failure, replacement, and supply strategy in heavy industry

Optical vs. Tactile Gear Measurement for E-Mobility

A practical comparison of fringe projection and conventional tactile systems for classic and waviness gear characteristics

The Doctor Is In

Inside Luftex’s five-pillar approach to gearbox repair

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Technical Articles

Design Principles of Bevel Gears: Rationale for Zero Sum Profile Shifts and Generating Gear Choices

This article demonstrates why bevel gears are designed with a zero sum of profile shifts—showing that independent shifts merely replicate what a modified pressure angle already achieves—and explains the practical benefits of using conical generating gears for tooth profile crowning.

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Design Method of System Tolerances in Cylindrical Gearboxes for Cost-Efficient Optimization of the Excitation Behavior

The article proposes a method to optimize cylindrical gearbox tolerances by balancing gear noise performance and manufacturing costs using modeling, analysis, and meta-model-based optimization.

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Influence of Tooth Root Contour Deviations on the Tooth Bending Strength

This study investigates how manufacturing-related geometry deviations in the tooth root area affect gear bending strength calculations, demonstrating that accounting for measured tooth contours rather than nominal geometries is essential for accurate material comparisons in fatigue testing.

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Investigating the Effects of Wear, Lubrication and Material Pairing on the NVH Performance of Plastic Gears

This study systematically evaluates how material selection, progressive wear, and grease lubrication affect the noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) performance of polymer gears, providing new insights for designing quieter, more optimized transmission systems.

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Design

As a community, we gear engineers collaborate and share ideas to progress our collective capability. Technology progresses based on our efforts, and we have seen solid advances in the performance of our products as they become quieter, cheaper, more efficient, and more power dense. The pages of this magazine (past and present editions) are filled with examples where talented engineers have dug deeper into a subject using a more precise approach to a particular area concerning gear performance. The implied belief is always that greater precision (complexity) in the calculations brings greater accuracy (alignment with reality).

Grinding

This article introduces the process of polish grinding of gears. Improved surface quality increases the overall efficiency of gearboxes, resulting in reduced friction and torque loss, higher power density, and noise-optimized gears (lower NVH); all these factors are highly relevant, especially for electric drives. When Reishauer developed polish grinding in 2012, the process aimed to improve the efficiency of ICE engine transmissions, and the set goals were easy to achieve. Today, in 2023, the situation is dramatically different. While an ICE engine operates at around 3,000 rpm and supplies acoustic masking of the gear noise, EV drivetrains feature up to 20,000 rpm and offer no such masking.

Inspection

For precision measuring, skilled machinists, toolmakers, and inspectors must have accurate tools and gages, produced from quality materials, carefully manufactured, and rigidly inspected, to ensure lasting dependability. Gages have evolved throughout the years beginning with mechanical, then electronic models, and now convenient wireless electronic versions have come on the scene. Each type has an important place in today’s quality control and inspection processes.

Heat Treating

Quality control, EV components, energy consumption and material influences are just a handful of topics being discussed in heat treating today. New heat treat methods and global trends will be the topic of conversation later this year at Heat Treat 2023. Here’s a round-up of some stories circulating across key market segments.

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Videos

Grob Showcases Gear Ring Production with Power Skiving

The Grob G750T boasts efficient machining for gear rings by offering precise and efficient power skiving and seamless integration of milling and turning for maximum flexibility and productivity.

Industry News

Under the umbrella of Aiktec – Digital Solutions, Klingelnberg brings together smart, industry-ready applications that bring the concepts of Industry 4.0 and the IoT directly to the shop floor. Smart Tracing is a web-based software solution for analyzing machine behavior. It is essentially the Klingelnberg DDQM (Data-Driven Quality Management) for any CNC machine, regardless of the manufacturer. Relevant process and performance information from the CNC machine is uploaded in the form of servo traces and managed and analyzed via a simple browser application.

Product News

Index Corp. will present manufacturers with a variety of strategies to streamline production at IMTS 2026, taking place September 14-19 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. Visitors to the company’s Booth #339119 in the South Building will witness the North American debut of multiple new machines, including an entirely new design concept tailored to small part production. The company will also demonstrate its full portfolio of proven advanced machine technologies, as well as provide insight into how manufacturers can produce every job faster to maximize profitability.

Calendar

RPM Symposium 2026

Sep 22, 2026 - Sep 23, 2026

The RPM (Reliability Process & Maintenance) Symposium (Kalamazoo, MI) is a conference event where end users can network and learn about industrial facilities, reliability, maintenance best practices, electric motor driven powertrains, and IIoT.

Advanced Manufacturing Expo (AME) 2026

Jul 29, 2026 - Jul 30, 2026

TPS (Turbomachinery & Pump Symposia) 2026

Sep 22, 2026 - Sep 24, 2026

Furnaces North America (FNA) 2026

Oct 12, 2026 - Oct 14, 2026

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The Gear Industry Buyers Guide is your complete directory of suppliers in the gear industry, including great companies like these.


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