Company Announcement - Hansen Transmissions South Africa (Pty) Ltd. recently installed a modern regenerative load test bay with a capacity to conduct testing on a wide range of industrial gearboxes with up to 300kNm ratings.

According to Willem Sullivan, Engineering Manager at Hansen Transmissions South Africa, there are two main driving forces behind the requirement for a load test bay at the company’s Jet Park facility east of Johannesburg. “On the one hand, there are customers who insist on load testing of their gearboxes before they accept delivery to ensure that the units will function correctly under at least a portion of the load that they will be exposed to on site. On the other hand, running load testing on various design features of the industrial gearboxes under real-life conditions instead of unloaded running conditions yields a great deal of knowledge about the operation of the machines at various loads.”

“The installation of the load test bay is also in perfect alignment with HTSA’s strategy to extend its market responsibilities on the African continent. “Our scope of supply has been extended beyond the southern African region which we have been supplying for close on 35 years to now also encompass west, east and central Africa,” states HTSA’s Sales and Marketing Manager, David Main. “Reducing the risk of equipment failure and resultant unexpected downtime is critical due to remote plant and mine locations, long distances and poor road infrastructure typically found across the continent. Upfront testing of industrial gearboxes to ensure correct and reliable functioning will go a long way towards containing costs for customers. We provide our customers with confidence up front for ultimate peace of mind.”

The load test bay consists of two 200kW induction motors that can operate at speeds from 200 to 3000rpm allowing a large range of operating speeds to be simulated on the test bay. “With the exception of Hoist and Sag Mill units which are dimensionally very large, we can test about 90% of our gearboxes,” affirms Sullivan. The test bay’s motors are adjustable in all three axis and allow the back-to-back testing of both right-angled- and parallel gearboxes up to 300kNm ratings.

Sullivan explains that due to the advanced control system, the test bay can accommodate ratio variations of up to 10:1 in the gearboxes being tested with precise control of the power and torque being transmitted. “The modularity of the bed also allows different gearbox sizes to be run back-to-back even with different ratios to allow us to test primary single order gearboxes with a large variety of secondary gearboxes,” adds Sullivan. The test bay also monitors vibration levels, temperatures, speeds, torque, input power and load power during the duration of the test and results are displayed on a user friendly touch screen graphical interface.

“Furthermore, the start-up of the test bay is also VSD controlled, giving both a smooth start and power variations when the test bay is in operation. The VSD control system interface allows almost infinite adjustment to the power and speed settings at which the testing can be done within the test bay’s performance envelope.” While there are other test facilities available, Sullivan points out that “the size and technology behind our system makes it one of the best available in the market. The regenerative capacity of the unit also reduces the running costs by an astounding 80-90% in some of the test cases! This makes the test itself a lot more economically viable to end users.”

The operation of the test bay has been designed to be operator friendly and very little training is required to ensure effective use of the system. The control system, designed by Exigo Motion Control Laboratory, is extremely easy to use and to set up, making the use of the test bay as easy as conveyor drive selections. “We do however run the tests under supervision to ensure that the tests adhere to Hansen Transmission’s strict quality procedures,” stresses Sullivan.

With the capacity to load test industrial gearboxes on an industry leading test bay, Hansen Transmissions aims to provide an even better service to existing and new customers. “We have a fantastic tool that can be used to ensure the customer receives a product that will deliver what is promised: Reliable excellence! This is a game changer not only for HTSA but also for our customers and I hope more customers will recognise the benefits of this tool and request load testing on their gearboxes,” concludes Sullivan.