Alexander Pabst, an engineering student at Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG, received the 2012 Best Paper Award for Young Engineers during the 12th international VDI congress "Drivetrain for Vehicles". His outstanding presentation entitled "Increasing the Performance of Planetary Bearings for Modern Automatic Transmissions" not only delighted the audience but also won over the committee from the VDI (Association of German Engineers).
The young engineer received the award, which is held in high regard by experts and carries a cash prize of 1,000 euros, for the best performance and for the high quality of the content of the manuscript he submitted. Pabst's presentation addressed the topic of sustainable and modern automatic transmission concepts - with particular focus on increasing the performance of planetary bearings in terms of cage strength, resistance to wear, and efficiency - in the context of current market and development trends. Results that significantly allowed the cage strength to be verified under centrifugal force load were validated by carrying out centrifugal force and load tests on planetary gear sets, for example. The optimized cages also made it possible to reduce wear and friction by up to 30 percent compared to standard designs.
"We are naturally delighted that Alexander Pabst has received this prestigious award. These new findings mean that completely new strategies can be implemented in the field of automatic transmissions. At the same time, this award highlights the enormous importance of the targeted trainee programs that are so deeply rooted in Schaeffler's genes", explains Frank Schönstein, Head of Application Engineering at Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG.
The young engineer received the award, which is held in high regard by experts and carries a cash prize of 1,000 euros, for the best performance and for the high quality of the content of the manuscript he submitted. Pabst's presentation addressed the topic of sustainable and modern automatic transmission concepts - with particular focus on increasing the performance of planetary bearings in terms of cage strength, resistance to wear, and efficiency - in the context of current market and development trends. Results that significantly allowed the cage strength to be verified under centrifugal force load were validated by carrying out centrifugal force and load tests on planetary gear sets, for example. The optimized cages also made it possible to reduce wear and friction by up to 30 percent compared to standard designs.
"We are naturally delighted that Alexander Pabst has received this prestigious award. These new findings mean that completely new strategies can be implemented in the field of automatic transmissions. At the same time, this award highlights the enormous importance of the targeted trainee programs that are so deeply rooted in Schaeffler's genes", explains Frank Schönstein, Head of Application Engineering at Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG.
