Oerlikon Graziano to display full range of truck and LCV drivetrain solutions at IAA Hannover

Oerlikon Graziano, the global solutions provider for drive systems, is to showcase its complete range of truck and light commercial vehicle drivetrain solutions at IAA Hannover from September 19 to 27. The company says it has also developed some “ground-breaking concepts”, which include electric and hybrid transmissions, suitable for a wide range of vehicle types.

“In the EMEA region, 80 percent of the agricultural vehicles in production today are equipped with our Shifting Solutions. We aim to match that market lead in other sectors where performance, smoothness, efficiency and durability are essential, such as sports cars, trucks, commercial vehicles and other off- highway products,” said Andrea Serra, Global Head of Product Design Shifting Solutions.

One of Oerlikon Graziano’s lead products at IAA will be the recently launched Compact Slotless Synchroniser (CSS) which can be applied to passenger cars, trucks, and agricultural, industrial or construction vehicles. This technology improves overall transmission performance and efficiency through improved shiftability, increased power density and the use of innovative friction materials specifically developed for heavy duty usage.

Compared to a standard solution, the new CSS offers wider friction surfaces in the same envelope, can be installed on larger shafts in heavy duty applications, and improves shift quality by using geometries less sensitive to heat treatment deformations.

Another innovation is the new synchroniser TC 102/110/118, with first triple cone design for heavy duty truck transmission. The product has a high power density in a compact radial package, it has been developed in a special friction material for high stress capacity and contains an integrated activation system for long life usage, validated to 1 million shifting. The design is suitable for manual, AMT and DCT transmissions.

To complement all its product innovations, Oerlikon Graziano recently invested more than 30 million euros in advanced new manufacturing systems from leading names in the machine tool industry. Reflecting an ongoing drive to continuously improve technical capability, quality and cost, the investment includes machines for the hard turning, grinding and hobbing of gears and the specialized machining of synchroniser parts.

“In addition to our synchroniser production, we are the world’s largest independent gear manufacturer, supplying 4000 different gears to customers worldwide,” said Serra. “But we also produce bevel sets, shafts and drive assemblies such as axles, differential sets and planetary drives. We even supply complete transmissions and advanced control systems, with a focus on the development of electric or even hybrid vehicles, permitting the best sizing of the electric motor and usage of batteries’ power”.

Depending on customer priorities, Oerlikon Graziano supplies either made-to-print or bespoke solutions developed for particular applications, which include conventional, hybrid and e-mobility transmission and drive solutions. In order to support clients with optimised designs, the company combines advanced virtual validation with in-house physical prototyping and test facilities so as to provide a full engineering service.

“Our OEM customers around the world have ever greater requirements for reliability, efficiency, noise reduction and above all driver vehicle differentiation,” said Serra. “We have an increasing role in helping them to achieve those objectives through innovative product design, advanced manufacturing methods and state-of-the-art quality control.”