The United States exported around 42.7 million dollars worth of industrial machines in 2010 alone. However, some people skimp out on the routine maintenance and repairs needed to assure that these machines are running at the top of their game. Below are five tips to keeping your industrial gearbox working smoothly.

1. Cleaning
   A machine as powerful as this is going to end up being a little dirty sometimes. That being said, it is a good idea to do what you can to keep both the machine and the area it’s sitting in as clean as possible. This will inevitably keep any gearbox repair costs low, should you need to see it fixed one day.
2. Assure All Components Are Not Broken
   Even incredibly strong machines can start to break down. And unless you want to spend hours with a gearbox rebuild guide, trying to figure out how to repair your machine from the ground up, you’d better keep an eye on each individual mechanical component. Gear teeth can snap off, leading to worse problems for your machine later on. Be sure to pay careful attention to this.
3. Lubricate Your Gearbox
   The phrase “Like a well-oiled machine” comes to mind with this tip. Indeed, industrial gearboxes, like a lot of heavy machinery, need to be properly lubricated in order to continue working properly. Be sure to use the right type and the right amount, or else your machine’s integrity can be compromised.
4. Be Mindful of Overheating
   You should keep an eye on your industrial gearbox’s temperature to ensure it’s not getting too hot. If plastic melts or water evaporates too quickly around your gearbox, it’s a sign of overheating. Heat damages metal over time, making it weaker and brittle.
5. Take it in for Small Repairs
   For problems you don’t know how to fix yourself in your gearbox rebuild guide you should take it into a repair shop. They can assist in providing routine maintenance and repairing small issues with your machines, so that they don’t become far bigger and more expensive issues later on.

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Worm gear is a gearbox or  mechanical power transmission device. It is an invaluable piece of equipment and is available for power transmission in a wide range of machinery. Automobiles material handling equipment, machines, boats, elevators, forklifts, conveyors, cars — anything that relies on torque to produce its energy will need a gearbox. That’s because the gear box is the mechanism in which torque, the force generated by rotation, is converted into mechanical work.

Among the many different types of industrial gearboxes, one of the most common types is the Worm gear. The average worm gear has two parts, a steel worm gear and a phosphor bronze worm wheel. The worm and worm wheel mesh at a 90 degree angle.  These gears are very popular where you need mechanical power transmission for heavy loads using low energy consumption at high reduction ratios.

Because of its unique design, worm gears have a very specific type of use. Here are some of the most common utilizations.

1. When Stopping Fast Is a Priority: Since back driving is nearly impossible with the worm gear, they have become a popular tool for devices where stopping needs to be done quickly and assuredly. Typical examples would be elevators and lifts.
2. When Too Much Noise is a Problem: The two different materials in the worm gearbox and sliding contact gearing can greatly reduce the noise pollution from your gearbox, making it perfect for spaces where noise would be distracting. Industrial applications, elevators and escalators at various public places stand out as beneficiaries of this perk.
3. When Space is a Concern: It’s not only majestic ships sailing through the ocean blue or trucks barreling down a deserted highway who benefit from a gear. Many machines that need to use torque must do so in confined spaces. The unique shape of the worm gear allows a greater flexibility and versatility for engineers. Packaging equipment, conveyors, and generally all small machinery will benefit here.
4. Where Shock Loading is a Reality: Again the worm gear benefits from its uniquely different materials. The softer metals can more easily absorb the energy of sudden shock with less damage. This is particularly useful to rock crushers and heavy duty machines.

Whether you are looking to increase the speed of your convey belt or trying to find a quiet solution to your machinery needs, the worm gear has a number of advantages that might make it the right tool for your job.

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Industrial gearboxes are an important component of all types of equipment. When they fail to operate as they should, it can be one of the huge gearbox problems for any business. With experience, you’ll learn to recognize four of the common signs of gearbox problems, which include excessive noise, vibrations, fluid leaks, and oil contamination. But when a gearbox completely fails, it’s important to know why. Gearbox repair specialists can help you identify the cause of the failure, gearbox problems and what type it is before conducting automatic gearbox repairs, but it’s also beneficial for you to be able to recognize the kind of gearbox failure you’re dealing with, too. Here are just three of the common gearbox failures you might run into. If you notice warning signs of these failures, be sure to inquire about immediate industrial gearbox repair.

3 COMMON TYPES OF GEARBOX FAILURES

GEARBOX FAILURE 1 – MICRO PITTING AND MACRO PITTING

These types of failures sound very similar and can affect some of the same components, but they’re a bit different. When there’s inadequate lubricant film between two surfaces that have a lot of sliding action between them, micro pitting may occur. You can recognize it by the change in surface appearance, as it will appear matte or frosted. This gearbox failure can be prevented by a change in lubricant or by reducing rough surface textures. Macro pitting, on the other hand, happens when contact stress is too much for a material to handle. You can identify it by corrosion and craters in the material. This can be prevented by lessening loans or by making gear and material improvements. Micro pitting may be a bit easier to fix, but either kind of failure may require automatic gearbox repair.

GEARBOX FAILURE 2 – FRETTING CORROSION 

Fretting corrosion impacts the same areas as the above failures — the gears or bearings — and can also be identified by the mark the process leaves behind. When two surfaces make repeated contact through oscillating motion with no lubricant, fretting corrosion may occur. It can also be caused by having no rotation over a long period of time. You can tell it’s occurred by the rusts, as well as debris that’s black or brown in colour. If you reduce non-rotation time, you can often prevent this type of failure.

GEARBOX FAILURE 3- BENDING FATIGUE 

This type of failure affects the gear teeth and occurs when those teeth aren’t able to handle the amount of stress being put upon them. When you operate at incorrect heat temperatures or have overly heavy loads, bending fatigue may be imminent. You’ll notice this failure by the marks and cracks left behind on the gear teeth. By decreasing your loads and improving the strength of your gears, you’ll go a long way in keeping this failure from happening.

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On the surface, it may seem that gears are being “reduced” in quantity or size, which is partially true.  When a rotary machine such as an engine or electric motor needs the output speed reduced and/or torque increased, gears are commonly used to accomplish the desired result. Gear reduction specifically refers to the speed of the rotary machine; the rotational speed of the rotary machine is “reduced” by dividing it by a gear ratio greater than 1:1.  A gear ratio greater than 1:1 is achieved when a smaller gear (reduced size) with fewer number of teeth meshes and drives a larger gear with greater number of teeth.

Gear reduction has the opposite effect on torque.  The rotary machine’s output torque is increased by multiplying the torque by the gear ratio (when the gears are efficiently designed), less some efficiency losses.

While in many applications gear reduction reduces speed and increases torque, in other applications gear reduction is used to increase speed at reduced torque.  Generators in wind turbines require very little input torque.  The gear reduction (in speed increases) is used to increase the speed of the generators in this manner to convert a relatively slow turbine blade speed with heavy rotating torque to a high speed from the gearbox (when used as an increaser) capable of generating electricity.

How is gear reduction achieved?  Many reducer types are capable of attaining gear reduction including, but not limited to, parallel shaft, planetary and right-angle worm gearboxes.  In parallel shaft gearboxes (or reducers), a pinion gear with a certain number of teeth meshes and drives a larger gear with a greater number of teeth.  The “reduction” or gear ratio is calculated by dividing the number of teeth on the large gear by the number of teeth on the small gear.  For example, if an electric motor drives a 13-tooth pinion gear that meshes with a 65-tooth gear, a reduction of 5:1 is achieved (65 / 13 = 5).  If the electric motor speed is 3,450 rpm, the gearbox reduces this speed by five times to 690 rpm.  If the motor torque is 10 lb-in, the gearbox increases this torque by a factor of five to 50 lb-in (before subtracting out gearbox efficiency losses).

Parallel shaft gearboxes many times contain multiple gear sets thereby increasing the gear reduction.  The total gear reduction (ratio) is determined by multiplying each individual gear ratio from each gear set stage.  If a gearbox contains 3:1, 4:1 and 5:1 gear sets, the total ratio is 60:1 (3 x 4 x 5 = 60).  In our example above, the 3,450 rpm electric motor would have its speed reduced to 57.5 rpm by using a 60:1 gearbox.  The 10 lb-in electric motor torque would be increased to 600 lb-in (before efficiency losses) provided adequate size and mechanical strength parameters have been taken into consideration while designing gears.

If a pinion gear and its mating gear have the same number of teeth, no reduction occurs and the gear ratio is 1:1.  The gear is called an idler and its primary function is to change the direction of rotation rather than decrease the speed or increase the torque.

In planetary gearboxes where the sun gear is the driver and ring gear is stationary, calculating the gear ratio is dependent on the number of teeth of the sun the planet and ring gears.  The planet gears act as idlers and do not affect the gear ratio.  The planetary gear ratio equals the sum of the number of teeth on the sun and ring gear divided by the number of teeth on the sun gear.  For example, a planetary set with a 12-tooth sun gear and 72-tooth ring gear has a gear ratio of 7:1 ([12 + 72]/12 = 7).  Planetary gear sets can achieve ratios from about 3:1 to about 11:1.  If more gear reduction is needed, additional planetary stages can be used. However there are many potential configurations of planetary or epicyclic gear boxes.

The gear reduction in a right-angle worm drive is dependent on the number of threads or “starts” on the worm and the number of teeth on the mating worm wheel.  If the worm has two starts and the mating worm wheel has 50 teeth, the resulting gear ratio is 25:1 (50 / 2 = 25).

When a rotary machine such as an engine or electric motor cannot provide the desired output speed or torque, a gear reducer may provide a good solution.  Parallel shaft, planetary, right-angle worm drives are common gearbox types for achieving gear reduction

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1. Automatic Transmission Gearbox:

A transmission in which various speeds are obtained automatically is known as an automatic transmission. An automatic transmission is generally subdivided into two types:

• Epicyclic gearbox: This type of gearbox uses no sliding dogs or gears to engage but different gear speeds are obtained by merely tightening brake bands on gear drum. It consists of a ring gear annular wheel, sun gear and planet gears with a carrier. In order to obtain different speeds, any one of these units can be held from rotation by means of brake bond. The ring gear contains teeth on its inner circumference and is surrounded by a brake band. The brake band is operated by a gear stick or lever to grip the ring gear and hold its movement. The sun gear is attached to the clutch shaft thus moves along with the movement of the engine crankshaft. The planet gears are in constant mesh with both the sun gear and ring gear and are free to rotate on their axes carried by the carrier frame which in turn is connected to the driver shaft.When the ring gear is locked by the brake band, the rotating sun gear causes the planet gears to rotate. Since the ring gear cannot move. The planet gears are forced to climb over it. During this position, the ring gear acts as a track for the planet gears to move over. The driven shaft which is connected to the planet gear carrier is thus rotated. When the ring gear is released, it is free to move in consequence to the rotation of planet gears which rotate around their axis. During this position, there is no movement of planet carries and hence the driven shaft remains stationary. A planetary gearbox contains a number of such units to obtain various speed reductions.

• Hydraulic torque converter: Hydraulic torque converter is same as the electric transformer. The main purpose of the torque converter is to engage the driving member to driven member and increase the torque of driven member. In the torque converter, an impeller is bolted to the driving member, a turbine is bolted on the driven member and stationary guide vanes are placed between these two members. This all parts are enclosed in a single housing filled with hydraulic liquid. The impeller rotates with the driven member and it through the liquid outward by centrifugal action. This liquid flowing from the impeller to turbine runner exerts a torque on the stationary guide vanes which change the direction of liquid, thereby making possible the transformation of torque and speed. The difference of torque between impeller and turbine depends upon these stationary guide vanes. This serves as the function of both gearbox and clutch.

2. Manual Transmission Gearbox:

In this type of transmission, different speed ratio or gear ratio is selected by the driver manually. According to their design, this is subdivided into three types-

• Sliding mesh gearbox: This is one of the oldest types. It this, gears on the main shaft are moved right or left for meshing them with appropriate gears on the countershaft for obtaining different speed. This type of gearbox derives its name from the fact that the gears are meshed by sliding. One disadvantage of it is that special skill is required to operate this gearbox.

• Constant mesh gear box: In this gearbox, all the gears are in constant mesh with each other all the time. The gears on the main shaft rotate freely without rotating the main shaft. Constant mesh gear box consists two dog clutches. These clutches are provided on the main shaft, one between the clutch gear and the second gear and the other between the first gear and reverse gear. When the left side dog clutch is made to slide left by means of the gearshift lever, it meshes with the clutch gear and the vehicle runs at top speed. If this clutch slides right and meshes with a second gear than the vehicle runs on second gear speed. So in constant mesh gearbox, we can change the gear ratio by shifting the dog clutch. This type of gearbox is more popular than sliding mesh because it creates low noise and less wear of gears.

• Synchromesh gearbox: This gearbox is same as the constant mesh gearbox except dog clutch is replaced by synchromesh devices. Synchromesh gear devices work on the principle that two gears to be engaged are first brought into frictional contact which equalizes their speed after which they are engaged readily and smoothly. The synchromesh looks like as the cone clutch where the outer surface of cone consists the frictional surface. This type of gearbox is widely used in an automobile.

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1)   Herringbone Gear – Herringbone gears resemble two helical gears that have been placed side by side. They are often referred to as “double helical”. In the double helical gears arrangement, the thrusts are counter-balanced. In such double helical gears, there is no thrust loading on the bearings.

2) Spur Gear- Parallel and co-planer shafts connected by gears are called spur gears. The arrangement is called spur gearing.   Spur gears have straight teeth and are parallel to the axis of the wheel. Spur gears are the most common type of gears. The advantages of spur gears are their simplicity in design, an economy of manufacture and maintenance, and absence of end thrust. They impose only radial loads on the bearings.
Spur gears are known as slow speed gears. If noise is not a serious design problem, spur gears can be used at almost any speed.

3) Helical Gear-Helical gears have their teeth inclined to the axis of the shafts in the form of a helix, hence the name helical gears.
These gears are usually thought of as high-speed gears. Helical gears can take higher loads than similarly sized spur gears. The motion of helical gears is smoother and quieter than the motion of spur gears.
Single helical gears impose both radial loads and thrust loads on their bearings and so require the use of thrust bearings. The angle of the helix on both the gear and the must be same in magnitude but opposite in direction, i.e., a right-hand pinion meshes with a left-hand gear.

4) Bevel/ Miter Gear-Intersecting but coplanar shafts connected by gears are called bevel gears. This arrangement is known as bevel gearing. Straight bevel gears can be used on shafts at any angle, but the right angle is the most common. Bevel Gears have conical blanks. The teeth of straight bevel gears are tapered in both thickness and tooth height. 
Spiral Bevel gears: In these Spiral Bevel gears, the teeth are oblique. Spiral Bevel gears are quieter and can take up more load as compared to straight bevel gears.

Zero Bevel gear- Zero Bevel gears are similar to straight bevel gears, but their teeth are curved lengthwise. These curved teeth of zero bevel gears are arranged in a manner that the effective spiral angle is zero.

5) Worm Gear- Worm gears are used to transmit power at 90° and where high reductions are required. The axes of worm gears shafts cross in space. The shafts of worm gears lie in parallel planes and may be skewed at any angle between zero and a right angle. In worm gears, one gear has screw threads. Due to this, worm gears are quiet, vibration free and give a smooth output. Worm gears and worm gear shafts are almost invariably at right angles.

6) Rack and Pinion- A rack is a toothed bar or rod that can be thought of as a sector gear with an infinitely large radius of curvature. Torque can be converted to linear force by meshing a rack with a pinion: the pinion turns; the rack moves in a straight line. Such a mechanism is used in automobiles to convert the rotation of the steering wheel into the left-to-right motion of the tie rod(s). Racks also feature in the theory of gear geometry, where, for instance, the tooth shape of an interchangeable set of gears may be specified for the rack (infinite radius), and the tooth shapes for gears of particular actual radii then derived from that. The rack and pinion gear type is employed in a rack railway.

7) Internal & External Gear- An external gear is one with the teeth formed on the outer surface of a cylinder or cone. Conversely, an internal gear is one with the teeth formed on the inner surface of a cylinder or cone. For bevel gears, an internal gear is one with the pitch angle exceeding 90 degrees. Internal gears do not cause direction reversal.

8) Face Gears- Face gears transmit power at (usually) right angles in a circular motion. Face gears are not very common in industrial application.

9) Sprockets-Sprockets are used to run chains or belts. They are typically used in conveyor systems.

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Gear Efficiency Comparison Table

 Spur Gear Efficiency

Spur gearing is a parallel shaft arrangement, and these gears can achieve much higher efficiencies compared to other gears types. Its efficiency varies from 94% to 98% with lower gears ratios.

Straight Bevel Gear Efficiency

Straight bevel gearing is similar to spur gearing with perpendicular shaft arrangement. Like spur gearing these gears also only can handle lower gears ratios with higher efficiencies (93% to 97%).

Spiral Bevel Gear Efficiency

Because of tooth shape and contact spiral bevel having less noise and vibrations compared to straight bevel gears, and thus having better efficiency (95% to 99%).

Worm Gear Efficiency

Worm gears efficiency varies significantly when lead angle, friction factor and gears ratio changes. In higher ratios efficiency of worm gears, drops.

Hypoid Gear Efficiency

Hypoid-Gear

The efficiency of a hypoid gears is around 80-95% and can achieve very high gears ratios up to 200:1.

Helical Gear Efficiency

Helical gears can run with very high pitch line velocity and can achieve much higher efficiencies (94%-98%) with maximum gears ratios up to 10:1.

Cycloid Gear Efficiency

These gears can work in very high efficiencies at relatively high gears ratios above 30:1 and under normal working conditions cycloid gearing efficiency ranges from 75% to 85%.

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 YEARLY MAINTENANCE CHECKLIST

• Check the machine for visual damages.
• Replace the worm reduction gear oils
• Check the compacting shoes for wearing. Replace if necessary.
• Check the blankets for wearing.
• Check the foundation bolts of the machine.
• Grease all the bearings and moving parts.
• Check the bearing bolts and replace them if necessary.
• Change the gear oil of the gearboxes
• Check the rubber coating of the fixation & drive rollers
• Complete check of the cooling plant
• Check the spray rings, piping and armatures
• Check the pneumatic piping for proper connection
• Check and retighten the electric connections of machine
• Replace the chains and chain wheels of the drives

WEEKLY MAINTENANCE CHECKLIST

• Clean the reflector for the edge guiding photocell
• Check drive belt and chain
• Check the inspection table with a cloth
• Yarn singeing machine
• Cleaning the burner rings
• Cleaning the root blower suction air filter
• Clean the traveling blower
• Visually check the motors and pumps
• Check the chain drives and tension of chains
• Check that all the expanders are properly adjusted
• Check the surface & readability of the expander rollers
• Clean The machine from fluffs, dirt, chemicals
• Check The function of the Solenoid valve
• Check the spraying nozzles and clean them if blocked
• Check the rubber coating of the Drive rolls

MONTHLY MAINTENANCE CHECKLIST

• Grease Driveline
• Adjust poly Tank Straps
• Torque Axle Bolts
• Check Hydraulic Filter indicator
• Clean Radiator
• Inspect and Clean Engine Air Filter
• Inspect cab air Filter
• Inspect Boom for Damage and Boom pipe for leaks
• Inspect Hydraulic system for leaks
• Cycle rear suspension all the way up and down

The post General Maintenance check list for machines you must follow appeared first on MaxPowerGears.

Repairing or replacing a failed gearbox is an extremely expensive undertaking. When a Common Gearbox Failures occurs, it is important to correctly identify the failure mode so that the appropriate actions can be taken to reduce the likelihood of a reoccurrence of the same type of Common Gearbox Failures.

Gearbox failures can be caused by fundamental design issues, manufacturing defects, deficiencies in the lubricant or lubrication system, excessive time at standstill, high loading, and many other reasons. A correct failure mode diagnosis is the first step in identifying the actions that can be taken to prevent additional failures. Five of the most common gear and bearing failure modes, along with tips on identification and potential means of prevention, are provided below.

Micropitting on Gear Teeth

Micropitting can affect both gears and bearings, and failures due to micropitting are very common in gearboxes. Micropitting occurs when the lubricant film between contacting surfaces is not thick enough and the surfaces have high amounts of sliding action. Micropitting results in a frosted or matte finish surface in affected areas, as seen in the figure above. Micropitting-related failures can be prevented by changing lubricant type or by reducing component surface roughness.

Macropitting on Gear Teeth

Macropitting can also affect both gears and bearings. Macropitting occurs when the contact stress in the gear or bearing exceeds the fatigue strength of the material. Gears and bearings are typically designed for a 20-year service life, and macropitting that occurs before the end of the design life is an indication that one or more design assumptions, such as contact stress, material properties, lubricant condition or applied load, were not met. Macropitting results in craters on the gear tooth or bearing ring (or roller) surface. Beach marks due to the presence of corrosion and lubricant in the crack are sometimes present and indicate a fatigue progression process. Macropitting failures can be prevented by reducing loads, improving gear and bearing profiles to reduce stress, using cleaner steel, or increasing material strength, through alloy selection or a heat treatment process.

Bending Fatigue

Bending fatigue is a failure mode that affects gear teeth. Bending fatigue failures occur when the stress at the root of the gear tooth exceeds the capability of the gear material. This can be due to excessive loads, incorrect heat treatment, inclusions in the steel or a notch in the root of the tooth. The appearance of the fracture surface will vary depending on whether the failure was high or low cycle fatigue. Features such as ratchet marks are occasionally present and indicate multiple crack origins. Bending fatigue failures can be prevented by decreasing load, increasing gear material strength or optimizing the gear root fillet geometry.

Fretting Corrosion

Fretting corrosion can affect gears and bearings. It is a surface-wear phenomenon that occurs when two contacting surfaces have small oscillating relative motions, with no lubricant film between the surfaces. It often occurs in gearboxes due to transportation or to spending extended periods of time with no rotation. Fretting corrosion can be identified by the presence of ruts along the lines of contact, along with the presence of reddish-brown or black wear debris. Fretting corrosion can be prevented by minimizing the amount of time that a gearbox spends without rotating or by improving transportation conditions, depending on the cause of the fretting corrosion

Axial Crack

Axial cracking is a phenomenon that occurs in bearings, almost always on the bearing inner ring. Common Gearbox Failures of this type have become very common in gearboxes and were the subject of an article in the June 2013 issue of North American Windpower. The cracks develop in the axial direction, perpendicular to the direction of rolling. Axial crack failures are most likely to occur in through-hardened bearings. Axial crack failures can be prevented by using case carburized bearings, ensuring that the appropriate amount of retained austenite is present, applying a black oxide coating, and ensuring the correct level of interference fit exists between the bearing inner ring and the shaft on which it is mounted.

The post Five Common Gearbox Failures And How To Identify Them appeared first on MaxPowerGears.

BRUSH DC MOTORS

Glossary of terms:

• Commutator:

Transfers the electric current through the brush assembly to the armature.

• Brushes:

Ride on the commutator and sends electric current to the armature.

• Armature:

The rotating part of a brush DC motor that contains the wire windings.

Brushed Motors have been the most used DC technology over last 100 years.

BRUSHLESS DC MOTORS

Glossary of terms:

• Stator:

The outer, non-rotating structure that contains the windings

• Rotor:

The rotating part of a brushless DC motor which contains fixed magnets

The DC motor was invented in 1880 by Werner von Siemens

From 2003 to 2010, the brushless Dc motor market grew from $300million to over $1.3billion, partly due to the rise in technologies that use the motors such as robotics and packaging

KEY DIFFERENCES

Brushless And Brush Motors functionally are explained by Faraday’s law of induction (1831).  This predicts how magnetic fields react to electronic current.

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