A test bench to measure the performances of its right angle gearboxes both in terms of mechanical efficiency and reliability. This has been the challenge that Poggi trasmissioni meccaniche s.p.a. has taken up in collaboration with the University of Bologna, with the aim of testing its technology but above all to acquire useful data, capable of suggesting and indicating possible improvements and of raising the performance standards of its right angle gaerboxes.
The project, which started about a year and a half ago, has had, as the main player in all its development stages, the synergic work between the Technical Department of Poggi trasmissioni meccaniche s.p.a. and the university researcher Eng. Luca Paiardini, supported by Professor De Agostinis of the Department of Industrial Engineering of the Bologna University. This is a partnership that has made it possible to combine, through continuous dialogue between the parties, the practical and concrete approach of a leading company in the sector with the innovative and experimental approach of scientific research. Indeed, as Professor De Agostinis says, collaboration between the academic world and the industry today is essential. «On the one hand it allows researchers to direct their action towards problems of real practical interest, on the other hand it allows companies to keep their own know-how and skills up to date. This interaction – the professor concludes – generates significant positive repercussions, both on the academic world and on the business world.»
After the installation and the commissioning of the test bench, Poggi trasmissioni meccaniche s.p.a. will have a cutting-edge tool that will lay the foundations for the design of future generations of right angle gearboxes. Not only will the test bench simulate different work cycles, testing the strength, the operating life and the breaking loads of right angle gearboxes, but at the same time it will allow the Technical Department of Poggi trasmissioni meccaniche s.p.a. to acquire, with a view to Industry 4.0, the data relating to ongoing tests. Once studied and reworked, these data will allow Poggi to define the performance parameters and seek new improvements, with the aim to offering its customers an increasingly qualified service based on the maximum knowledge of its technology.
The role of R&D
In this study and research activity, mention should also be made of the collaboration of Miss Sara Censi, a graduating student in Mechanical Engineering, who is contributing to the project with a dissertation on how to identify a calculation system for sizing the right angle gearboxes. In recent years, in fact, Poggi trasmissioni meccaniche s.p.a. has become increasingly aware of the need to create a bridge between the university and the business world, with the aim of training new generations of professionals in the field and of solving the problem of lack of technical competence and specialist skills. This lack characterizes the marketplace and has historically represented a factor of mismatch between labour supply from younger people and labour demand from companies.
