In a traditional automatic transmission, a torque converter is installed between the engine and transmission. This core component contains an impeller, turbine wheel and a guide wheel. Driven by the engine, the impeller blade catch oil in the housing which creates a flow that will delayed drive the turbine wheel. This principle ensures a smooth startup and separates the drive train from the engine’s vibrations (referred to as engine irregularities).
There are no cars that don’t have differentials in them—otherwise we would be driving through tight curves with the wheels spinning and tires screeching. This essential component is located in the center of the drive axle, where its function is to make sure that the two wheels can turn at different speeds when driving around curves, while nonetheless having exactly the same propulsive power. The torque of the motor is always divided in a fixed ratio.
By the way: All-wheel drive vehicles have a differential on each axle, plus a central differential that distributes the engine power between the axles in a given ratio.
For over 50 years, Kordel has developed a variety of drive systems and transmissions used in agricultural and construction equipment, as well as industrial trucks. This is a task that requires both robust machining and precision, simultaneously. The family-owned business with its headquarters in Dülmen near Münster, Germany relies on the competence of its employees, flat hierarchies and a high level of integration with a “state-of-the-art” machine system. For over 20 years, EMAG’s pick-up technology has played a major role at Kordel. More than 17 production solutions from the Southern German machine builders are used at the production sites in both Germany and Poland. The most recent additions are two VLC 200 GT turn-grind centers. Below is a conversation we had with the Kordel Managing Director, Johannes Kordel, about the success of his company, and the important part mechanical engineering has played in it.
The scroll-free turning of rotor shaft sheet metal housings has a number of advantages over the traditional turning process. For one, scroll-free turning provides significantly higher feed rates per revolution, leading to a reduction in overall cycle time. Machine time is also reduced by using the entire cutting edge of the tool – providing the additional benefit of improving tool life. This technology has also proven to achieve significantly better surface qualities.
Whether excavators, trucks or buses – the market for construction machinery and utility vehicles has been on the upswing for a while now. Where does this success come from and what role will electric drives play in the future? We will examine this by exploring the current situation.
High-strength materials, complex geometries, large unit volumes—the production of turbocharger shafts is one of the most challenging tasks in automotive manufacturing. With its new turn-key production system, EMAG has developed a holistic and complete solution. How exactly does it work?
“Smart technologies drive tomorrow’s production!” That is the motto for EMO 2019 in Hanover, Germany. But we believe that smart people, and not just smart technologies, are what matters—and we need to bring those people together to talk.
So, at the EMAG Group’s booth, we will be focusing not just on networked technologies, but also on networking with our visitors.
To give you a preview of who you really should talk to at the EMO, over the next few weeks we will be publishing regular interviews with the EMAG experts who will be there in person.
In the past year, for the first time ever, more than 2 million electric vehicles were sold worldwide as reported by the Center of Automotive Management (CAM). With 60% of the worldwide demand, China is the main driver of this development.
How can commonly mass-produced transmission components, such as planetary gears be produced even more efficiently? The EMAG Group provides a customized answer to this question with the development of the twin-spindle pick-up turning center, VL 1 TWIN. It machines two identical components simultaneously in the same machining area. This technology opens up a wide range of possibilities: When two machines are combined in a line, the planetary gear can be machined from two sides—and all that is completed with shorter cycle times. What exactly does the line solution for planetary gears look like?
Presentations at the EMAG Group’s 2019 Technology Forum
Part 3: Tomorrow’s Mobility—Connected Cars
A guest presentation by Prof. Stefan Bratzel, Center of Automotive Management
Over the next few weeks, this multi-part series will be detailing the contributions of our guest speakers at the EMAG Group’s Technology Forum, to be held on May 15 and 16 in Salach, Germany.
In this blog, we’d like to present the contribution made by Prof. Stefan Bratzel, Director of the Center of Automotive Management (CAM). The CAM is an independent scientific institute for empirical automotive and mobility research, as well as, for strategic advice at the FHDW (university of applied sciences) in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. The institute’s research mainly focuses on questions for the future, such as e-mobility, networked vehicles, mobility services and autonomous driving. In addition, the Center of Automotive Management jointly awards the yearly AutomotiveINNOVATIONS Award together with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and thus rewards the year’s most innovative car manufacturer and supplier. The AutomotiveINNOVATIONS study identifies the future trends of automotive groups based on the CAM database of technical innovations in the automotive field.