Transmission manufacturers turn to Timken for the steels used in precision annular components such as the gears and rings that are at the heart of transmissions.

New domestic OEMs continue to localize manufacturing in North America, expecting their domestic supply chain partners to mirror Asian and European standards of cost, quality and delivery.  Investments in steelmaking processes along with precision steel components  supply-chain continue to combine in-house technology along with qualified sub-contractors to support this localization process. 
 

CVTs
Continuously variable transmissions (CVTs), dual clutch transmissions (DCTs) and other technologies continue to evolve for improved economy and performance.  Timken has supported this effort through material supply and collaboration with forging customers, transmission end-users and global OEMs.

Planetary Gears: Ring, Sun and Pinion
Timken is the leading supplier of mechanical tubing for ring gears in North America.  Timken continues to develop enhanced processing methods for hot worked materials and gear cutting.  A result of this work is Timken's family of VacTec™ vacuum carburizing steels. They provide improved heat treat properties, including minimized distortion and uniform microstructure valued by automotive manufacturers who are making the transition to gas quench processing. 

Advancements in steel processing have also extended broach life during gear cutting by manufacturers that rely on Advanced Final Cooling, a process enhancement that continues to show promise.

Shafts
In planetary gear sets, everything literally revolves around shafts that support the gears. Shafts are a relatively simple but vital element in the power transmission system.

Timken continues to search for design innovations in planetary and other shafts that can further extend the life, increase the efficiency and boost the performance of transmissions. Timken's extensive analytical capabilities often reveal improvement opportunities. Timken then applies their materials, manufacturing and lubrication expertise to capitalize on those opportunities with planetary shafts that turn with less friction and wear.