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Planetary gearboxes place the highest demands on their bearing systems: high load-carrying capacity, minimal installation space and maximum durability. For the bearing arrangement of planetary gears, plain bearing solutions with EMPT-crimped shafts offer a particularly compact, robust, and highly efficient alternative to conventional bearing designs. This allows for targeted increases in power density and service life of modern planetary gearboxes, while simultaneously reducing weight and installation space starting from a quantity of 1.
The bearing support for gears in planetary gearboxes is structurally demanding: high circumferential speeds and varying loads must be accommodated within a confined space. At the same time, friction losses must be minimized and uniform load distribution within the planetary carrier must be ensured. Here, the bearing design and material selection play a decisive role in determining the efficiency, noise behavior and service life of the entire drivetrain.
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Hydrodynamic bearings offer decisive advantages over roller bearings in planetary gear trains: They are more compact (no rolling elements), quieter (no rolling noise) and more robust under varying load conditions due to better run-out performance.
At the same time, they achieve higher load-carrying capacity with less installation space and reduce the overall weight of the gearbox. They are therefore ideal for high-load planetary stages with limited space.
Crimped shafts can be used for the hydrodynamic bearing support of planetary gear trains. In this process, a hydrodynamic bearing bushing is connected to the shaft via a form-fit using EMP technology. The function of the hydrodynamic bearing is thus directly integrated into the component.
The electromagnetic pulse precisely shapes the bushing to match a contour or groove on the shaft, creating a high-load-capacity, backlash-free bearing that integrates perfectly into the limited installation space of a planetary gearbox. Combined with optimized bearing materials, this concept enables high load-carrying capacity, excellent sliding properties and significantly improved power density.
Die elektromagnetische Puls-Technologie (EMPT) erzeugt durch einen kurzen, hochenergetischen Magnetpuls eine kaltverformte, formschlüssige Verbindung zwischen Gleitlagerbuchse und Planetenbolzen.
Technischer Vorteil: Der Puls bewirkt eine lokale plastische Verformung der Buchse in definierte Wellennuten – ohne Wärmeeinfluss, ohne Spannungsrissgefahr und mit reproduzierbarer Prozessgenauigkeit. Die resultierende spielfreie Verankerung optimiert die Kraftübertragung bei minimalem Bauraum und maximiert die Tragfähigkeit von Planetenlagerstellen unter realen Betriebsbedingungen.
Bei der Produktion einer gecrimpten Welle mittels elektromagnetischem Pulsumformen (EMPT) für die Lagerung in Planetengetrieben wird eine Gleitlagerbuchse zunächst auf der Welle positioniert. Durch gezielte EMPT-Umformung verankert sich die Buchse formschlüssig in der Trägerkontur des Planetengetriebes. Dieser Prozess gewährleistet eine sichere, montagefreie Lagerung mit hoher Präzision.
If you have been using roller bearings for the support of your planetary gear train and are considering switching to hydrodynamic bearings, we will guide you from the initial concept through to a production-ready solution. Through rapid technological and tribological validation, we will demonstrate whether your system will operate reliably with hydrodynamic bearings and what performance and service life benefits are possible. Upon request, we can also directly assess whether EMPT-crimped shafts are already the next logical step for your gearbox.
If hydrodynamic bearings are already established in your gearbox, we can help you exploit their full potential with EMPT-crimped pins. Together, we will analyze your current design for the support of bearings in gear trains, identify reserves in terms of installation space, weight, and power density and examine how EMPT technology can further optimize your existing hydrodynamic bearing solution - from concept study to series application.
Our experts will work with you to determine whether EMPT is the right solution for your system and identify potential areas for optimization.
In collaboration with renowned university partners, we have developed a robustly validated simulation model that allows us to make statements about adhesive strength, material interlocking in the carrier and long-term tribological behavior even before sample production.
In addition, EMPT crimp connections are intensively tested on test benches – including axial and torsional load tests and endurance tests under realistic conditions. On this basis, we accompany customers through the entire development cycle: from the concept phase to prototypes and series approval.
A good example of a successfully implemented EMPT application in a crimped shaft for the bearing support in a wind turbine planetary gear train. Here, EMPT-crimped pins with different bearing materials were first tested on an internal bearing test bench under realistic load conditions of a planetary gear train and subsequently evaluated in a large-scale demonstrator gearbox during field testing. Tribological investigations show that the crimped bearing support reliably meets the required performance limits and that high-performance Miba alloys - such as an AlSn bearing material or the new lead-free bronze “InnoAlloy” - significantly outperform the standard reference material CuSn12Ni2. This demonstrates, both on the test bench and under real operating conditions, that EMPT-crimped bearing assemblies represent a robust and durable alternative to conventionally joined solutions for demanding wind turbine gearboxes.
