Meeting Point For Drive Technology Experts

The annual meeting of the Research Association for Drive Technology eV (FVA) in Würzburg is already a tradition. This year 600 researchers and drive technology experts met and discussed research results and trends in mechanical engineering and the automotive industry. If you look at the program of the FVA information conference with 52 specialist lectures, you are certain that bearings, gears or seals are by no means "old hat" - even in times of digitalization. The research projects presented show that there is still a need for research, particularly in the area of ​​gears and gear elements, but also in bearing technology and the use of lubricants.

FVA also wants to tackle Industry 4.0

The focus of the conference was on mechanics, but the topic of Industry 4.0 is also a concern for FVA members. Dirk Spindler from Schaeffler Technologies reported in his keynote how Schaeffler is implementing the “digital agenda”. The focus here is on digitizing your own value chain and creating new products, services and business models. The possibilities and benefits of Industry 4.0 became clearly tangible in the lecture: For example. By merging operational and design data in a “service cloud”, not only will more precise statements about maintenance and replacement of rolling bearings be possible, but the designs of subsequent generations can also be continuously optimized.

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"Industry 4.0 is a special challenge for the industry, we will tackle the issue proactively at FVA. It is very valuable for small and medium-sized companies to discuss this challenge in the FVA with the large companies and to carry out pre-competitive research projects,”says Bernhard Hagemann, deputy managing director of the FVA.

New version of the FVA Workbench presented

The new FVA Workbench 4.5 was presented on the second day of the event. The software collection provides comprehensive tools for all things gearbox calculation. This is where the research results of the FVA flow in, for example to refine the calculations or now also to take the gearbox housing into account in the calculation. The new version is now available in modules. Extensive element and calculation libraries are available. The participants were able to convince themselves of the new possibilities of the expanded transmission display and 3D animation during the trade exhibition.

The FVA Workbench also uses a gear model - like many other design software. However, it would be helpful if you could edit all models in all programs. For this reason, a standardized FVA gearbox model is to be created, which is currently being built by Schaeffler and SEW-Eurodrive. For Stephan Evert from Schaeffler, who presented the concept in a keynote speech, this gearbox model is of great importance both for the further development of the workbench and the data exchange between work groups or companies. SEW-Eurodrive and Schaeffler already use the FVA gear model for their internal data exchange. For Evert, the model is even more important: "I think the format that we define here with REXS has what it takes to become the standard."

On the occasion of the FVA's annual conference, the Hans Winter Prize for top research in the field of drive technology was awarded. This year's award winner Dipl.-Ing. Florian Dobler from the Research Center for Gears and Gear Manufacturing at the Technical University of Munich was able to convince the jury with his work on induction hardened gears and received prize money of 3000 euros for this.