Cutter Sharpening Cutter sharpening is very important both during manufacturing and subsequently in resharpening after dulling. Not only does this process affect cutter "over cutting edge" quality and the quality of the part cut, but it can also affect the manner in which chip flow takes place on the cutter face if the surface finished is too rough or rippled.

Six years ago this month, the very first issue of Gear Technology, the Journal of Gear Manufacturing, went to press. The reason for starting the publication was a straightforward one: to provide a forum for the presentation of the best technical articles on gear-related subjects from around the world. We wanted to give our readers the information they need to solve specific problems, understanding new technologies, and to be informed about the latest applications in gear design and manufacturing. The premise behind Gear Technology was also a straightforward one: the better informed our readers were about the technology, the more competitive they and their companies would be int he world gear market.

Solutions to the governing equations of a spur gear transmission model, developed in a previous article are presented. Factors affecting the dynamic load are identified. It is found that the dynamic load increases with operating speed up to a system natural frequency. At operating speeds beyond the natural frequency the dynamic load decreases dramatically. Also, it is found that the transmitted load and shaft inertia have little effect upon the total dynamic load. Damping and friction decrease the dynamic load. Finally, tooth stiffness has a significant effect upon dynamic loadings the higher the stiffness, the lower the dynamic loading. Also, the higher the stiffness, the higher the rotating speed required for peak dynamic response.

Cubic boron nitride (CBN) finishing of carburized gearing has been shown to have certain economic and geometric advantages and, as a result, it has been applied to a wide variety of precision gears in many different applications. In critical applications such as aerospace drive systems, however, any new process must be carefully evaluated before it is used in a production application. Because of the advantages associated with this process, a test program was instituted to evaluate the load capacity of aerospace-quality gears finished by the CBN process as compared to geometrically identical gears finished by conventional grinding processes. This article presents a brief description of the CBN process, its advantages in an aerospace application, and the results of an extensive test program conducted by Boeing Helicopters (BH) aimed at an evaluation of the effects of this process on the scoring, surface durability, and bending fatigue properties of spur gears. In addition, the results of an x-ray diffraction study to determine the surface and subsurface residual stress distributions of both shot-peened and nonshot-peened CBN-ground gears as compared to similar conventionally ground gears are also presented.

The paper describes a procedure for the design of internal gear pairs, which is a generalized form of the long and short addendum system. The procedure includes checks for interference, tip interference, undercutting, tip interference during cutting, and rubbing during cutting.

Pitting and micropitting resistance of case-carburized gears depends on lubricants and lubrication conditions. Pitting is a form of fatigue damage. On this account a short time test was developed. The test procedure is described. The "pitting test" was developed as a short time test to examine the influence of lubricants on micropitting. Test results showing the influence of case-carburized gears on pitting and micropitting are presented.

Our research group has been engaged in the study of gear noise for some nine years and has succeeded in cutting the noise from an average level to some 81-83 dB to 76-78 dB by both experimental and theoretical research. Experimental research centered on the investigation into the relation between the gear error and noise. Theoretical research centered on the geometry and kinematics of the meshing process of gears with geometric error. A phenomenon called "out-of-bound meshing of gears" was discovered and mathematically proven, and an in-depth analysis of the change-over process from the meshing of one pair of teeth to the next is followed, which leads to the conclusion we are using to solve the gear noise problem. The authors also suggest some optimized profiles to ensure silent transmission, and a new definition of profile error is suggested.

Taxes may be one of the only two sure things in life, but that doesn't make them popular. Nobody is happy to pay them, and the bigger the amount due, the unhappier the taxpayer. Conversely, politicians know that coming out in favor of a tax cut is the equivalent of voting for apple pie and motherhood. It's a sure-fire success at the ballot box.

Gear shaping is one of the most popular production choices in gear manufacturing. While the gear shaping process is really the most versatile of all the gear manufacturing methods and can cut a wide variety of gears, certain types of gears can only be cut by this process. These are gears closely adjacent to shoulders; gears adjacent to other gears, such as on countershafts; internal gears, either open or blind ended; crown or face gears; herringbone gears of the solid configuration of with a small center groove; rack; parts with filled-in spaces or teeth, such as are used in some clutches.

Recently, there has been increased interest in the dynamic effects in gear systems. This interest is stimulated by demands for stronger, higher speed, improved performance, and longer-lived systems. This in turn had stimulated numerous research efforts directed toward understanding gear dynamic phenomena. However, many aspects of gear dynamics are still not satisfactorily understood.