Drive

Motion
and

RENK Drive and Motion

Drive
Motion
and

RENK Drive and Motion

When you ask about the factors that account for the success of
a company today, it is primarily the following parameters that are
typically mentioned in most cases: innovative technology, customized
offers, modern production methods, creative management techniques
and effective management of human resources meeting the requirements of our time. It takes a high degree of flexibility for a company
to implement these factors.
The social and economic, but also political, boundary conditions are
changing rapidly at an accelerating pace.
RENK, too, is and has time and again been confronted with the challenge to respond quickly to the needs of the world market, to continually develop new technologies in the field of drive engineering and to
implement these technologies at reasonable cost. Our goal is to further expand our current market position through technological excellence.
The purpose of this brochure is to present all facets of our company
and to introduce you to the way we think and work.
Drive and Motion
This is to be the motto for our future work and achievements to the
benefit of our customers, to the benefit of our company, to the benefit
of society.

Prof. Dr. Manfred Hirt

Ulrich Sauter

RENK Drive and Motion

Renk Aktiengesellschaft.
In 1873, Johann Julius Renk in Augsburg founded his machine shop for
the manufacture of all types of gears.
What started out as a small business
grew very fast. In 1897, the company
was transformed into an Aktiengesellschaft (AG), roughly the equivalent of
a British public limited company.
Since 1923, RENK AG has been a
company of the MAN Group, one of
Europes leading suppliers of capital
goods.

Augsburg Plant

Today, RENK is an universally

acknowledged manufacturer of highvalue gear units and of power transmission engineering components.
RENK is organized into five independent strategic business units:

RENK Drive and Motion

Vehicle transmissions
This sector covers the vehicle transmission division at the Augsburg plant
and the French subsidiary SESM. In
the field of transmissions for tracked
vehicles, RENK has established itself
as the worlds market leader.
Drive elements
This division builds slide bearings at
the companys Hanover plant. It also
includes the bearing-related activities
of our subsidiary in the U.S., the
RENK Corporation. RENK is also
world market leader in the area of
bearings for electric machines.

Broad-use propulsion systems

The Rheine plant specializes in industrial and large marine gear units as
well as clutches of all components.
Test systems
This division of RENK AG develops
and builds turn-key test systems for
the development, production and
quality assurance of products in the
automotive, railway and aerospace
industries.
Intelligent linking of prime mover and
machine a drive engineering sector,
in which we have been working with
our customers for generations.

Special-purpose
propulsion systems
The Augsburg plant focuses on the
construction of large special gear units
for special marine and stationary applications, the performance characteristics of which touch on the limits of
140 MW.

RENK Drive and Motion

The Work of Man.

More than ever before, what matters

in the working environment, but also
in our day-to-day social life, is the
individual his or her initiative and
creativity. Qualified staff have always
enjoyed a secure job with RENK.
This has not changed to this day.
As always, performance, commitment
and personal interest in the success
of the whole company pay off for
every individual employee. The teamwork-based management style at
RENK leaves latitude and leeway for
personal initiative and offers promotional opportunities to those who are
willing to shoulder responsibilities.

RENK Drive and Motion

Never stop Learning.

A key factor that guarantees the success of our company is the training
and further training of our junior staff.
The MAN training centre supports us
in this area with its many technical
capabilities and facilities for the vocational training of our industrial and
technical junior staff.
In our time, nothing is as permanent
as change. New jobs are created,
others are lost or change. The successful completion of vocational
training alone will not be sufficient
to meet the requirements of new job
environments, which in future will
demand an active learning culture of
people at their workplace. Life-long
learning will be the rule. To that end,

RENK employees can benefit from

numerous specialized qualification
and skill-upgrading measures.
Entrepreneurial success is contingent
on how much we succeed in making
full use of new knowledge and new
market opportunities.
Drive and Motion

RENK Drive and Motion

What it Takes is Ideas.

It is only when creative imagination is

combined with experimental resolve
that new ideas come to light.
Research and development is a sinequa-non for growing sales and stable
earnings and thus for a secure future
of RENK. We claim to offer our customers technologically demanding
and attractively priced solutions.
This is why our development activities
are high up on our agenda, as is evidenced by the high, privately funded
R&D investments.

RENK Drive and Motion

Search. Think. Find.

Time and again, RENK has succeeded
in setting milestones in power transmission engineering development
activities.
In our engineering design departments, we use integrated CAD
systems and complex computer
programs. We use our highly
advanced development test stands
and dynamometers to test prototypes
and pre-production products.
We are an active and creative member
of the research association power
transmission engineering (FVA
Forschungsvereinigung Antriebstechnik) and collaborate with
university and research institutes.

RENK Drive and Motion

Where Ideas are Set in Motion.

RENK has always played a pioneering
role also on the production front.
In 1877, Johann Julius Renk designed
a machine tool which enabled him to
make complete conical gears. Two
years later, he received a patent for
this process that astonished the
experts everywhere. It was as early
as 1916 that we drew international
attention to a new gear shaping
machine that we built with a machining diameter of 7 metres.
Today, it is common practice at
RENK to use CNC machine tools
for the form grinding of tooth flanks
up to 3,500 mm workpiece diameter,

gear hardening processes for diameters up to 3,200 mm, machining centres for automatic manufacturing of
slide bearings, vehicle transmission
housings and many other techniques.
At our production facilities, we use the
newest manufacturing equipment. It is
subject to preventive inspection and
thus assures a consistent level of high
quality of our products.

There is Always Room

for Improvement.
Companies that want to be successful
when it comes to customer loyalty and
attracting new customers must first
and foremost think of the quality of the
products and services they offer. The
objective of all quality assurance
measures is to avoid faults.
Inspections and instructions help
achieve only a moderate level of quality. And those who do not make quality
demands until the end of the manufacturing process will not achieve top
quality either.
RENK has made quality a prime
necessity. RENKs quality philosophy
is the uncompromising thread running
through all activities and services of
our company from the very beginning: from the project planning and
development phase to production,
quality assurance, assembly and

commissioning all the way to training

and after-sales service. This quality
claim is reflected in continuous learning processes and consistent work on
product improvement systems.
In conducting the Failure Mode and
Effects Analysis (FMEA), a failure early
warning system, we identify potential
failure sources from the very beginning
so that we are able to take countermeasures immediately.
The original NATO quality standard
AQAP-1 has been updated with the
DIN ISO 9001/EN 29001 standard
and more recently with DIN ISO 9002.
RENK Drive and Motion

11

Competence and Presence.

We not only sell high-tech capital
goods to our customers but also
make sure that such equipment can
be operated without any problem and
profitably. And that must be ensured
over many years and under the most
severe day-to-day operating conditions. Reliability counts among the
most important characteristics of a
RENK product. Should it ever become

necessary, our own field service network sees to it that a service technician with the required spare part will
be available on site anywhere in the
world.
There are different service packages
depending on the customers requirements. They range from basic support
to maintenance and repair services,
spare part support or technical advice
for system optimization all the way to
full service. This is how we ensure that
the equipment we deliver operates
smoothly and without any problem.
Application-specific briefings and
training courses as well as user seminars conducted at our training and
demonstration centres or at the customers facilities round off our range
of services.

Asembly of a twin-screw
extruder gear unit.

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RENK Drive and Motion

Tracks

in Motion

Together with its French subsidiary

SESM, RENK AG is the worlds leading supplier of transmissions for
tracked vehicles.
Tracked armoured vehicles require an
especially highly developed transmission technology. It was as early as
1943 that RENK invented the principle
of hydrostatic cross-drive steering
for armoured vehicles which was
followed in 1965 by the invention
of the hydrostatic-hydromechanical
steering drive a concept universally
acknowledged as second to none.

Automatic transmission HSWL 354 for main battle

tank LEOPARD 2 and armoured recovery vehicle
BFFEL.

Automatic transmission HSWL 106

used in armoured personnel
ULAN and PIZARRO.

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RENK Drive and Motion

RENKs automatic powershift transmissions are suited for all modern

front- or rear-mounted diesel engines.
The transmissions are electronically
controlled and managed. The land
forces of many nations rely on RENK.
For instance in the case of the APCs
PIZARRO and ULAN, the LEOPARD 2
and LECLERC main battle tanks, the
tank destroyer KANONE, the APC
MARDER, the ROLAND anti aircraft
tank, the KEILER mine clearing tank,
the ARV BFFEL and the PzH 2000
self-propelled howitzer.
RENKs ILS system (Integrated
Logistic Support) is gaining increasing
importance also in the vehicle transmission sector.

ESM 500 transmission for tracked vehicles with gear

selector and transmission control system for the french
main battle tank LECLERC.

Automatic transmission HSWL 295TM,

for installation in all modern main battle tanks.

RENK Drive and Motion

15

It is specifically for the German Army

that RENK has taken new approaches
in respect of the warranty it offers for
the transmission of the self-propelled
howitzer. We warrant that the system
delivered by us will have unrestricted
operational availability over a period of
six years.
In founding RENK E-TECH GmbH,
we have created the organizational
basis for the development of control
systems of a new, modern drive concept for 21st century tracked vehicles,
the electromechanical drive, so that
we shall be able to play a key role in
innovative drive technologies of the
future.

Automatic transmission HSWL 284M

for mine sweeper KEILER.

Automatic transmission
HSWL 284C for PzH 2000
self-propelled howitzer.

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RENK Drive and Motion

Large

Industrial

Gear Units

In 1910, RENK in Augsburg starts

manufacturing industrial gear units
so that this sector is among the
companys business units with the
longest tradition.
Today, industry has the choice of an
extensive range of industrial gear
units, most of which are designed
to suit the customers specific needs.
This, for instance, includes our patented compact bevel-gear planetary gear
units for raw meal, cement and coal
mills, planetary gear units for roller
presses in cement mills, large gear
units for twin-screw plastic extruders
or gear units for wind power plants.
AEROGEAR WPS 1500 for REPower MD 70 prior to
delivery into the wind power station area Riepsdorf.

Drive and Motion

The following are among the latest
product improvements we have presented, e.a. a new bevel gear planetary gear unit series (KPBV) for the
next generation of vertical rolling mills
in the cement industry. The threestage layout has made it possible to
significantly reduce size and number
of planetary gear kits compared to
the predecessor version, which has
allowed reasonable stock levels and

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RENK Drive and Motion

consequently considerably shorter

delivery periods, while at the same
time enhancing quality and service
level.
In the area of wind-driven gear units,
the AEROGEAR technology was presented as a further development of
existing drive concepts. The first gear
units of this type, with power ratings
of 1,500 and 2,000 kW, are in service
to the customers complete satisfaction and contribute towards improving
the competitiveness of wind-driven
gear units through improved operational safety, low noise level and
greater efficiency. The largest currently
available AEROGEAR unit has a power
output of 5 MW.

Twin-screw extruder gear unit

SUPREX for the plastic processing industry.

The new bevel-planetary gear

unit (KPBV 190) for the next
generation of cement mills.

Bevel-planetary
gear unit (KPAV)
for coal mills in a
chinese power
station.

RENK Drive and Motion

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Gear units for high-speed plant and

machinery, so-called turbo gear units,
are special gear units within our
gear units for industrial plant and
equipment product group. They are
designed to transmit extremely high
power and speeds while keeping
dimensions to a minimum.

High-speed gear unit TAX series

transmitting a power of 140 MW.

Gear units of this type are used in

power generating systems, such as
between generator and gas turbine,
in compressor systems, pumps and
test systems. Special manufacturing

Profitability, cost savings, minimization

of power losses. Those were the criteria underlying the newly developed
RENK etaX technology to reduce
power losses when operating a gear
unit. The RENK etaX gear is designed
to halve the power loss. Energy
savings of close to 800 kW are thus
possible for a 90 MW power output.
To the plant operator, this will yield
energy cost advantages in the order

EtaX high-speed
gear unit with
energy profit.

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RENK Drive and Motion

and test methods are therefore

required for their highly stressed
power-transmitting components.
In the space of 20 years, RENK
has succeeded in almost doubling
the transmitted power of turbo gears
from 70 to 140 MW. This is the highest power ever transmitted by meshing gears anywhere in the world. The
trend is for even greater power levels.
We are intensively engaged in its
implementation.

of more than a quarter of a million

euros per year. Moreover, there are
additional benefits, such as increased
operational safety, reduced stress on
the lubricating oil and power generation without exhaust gas.
In other words: Less pollution.

Marine

Gear Units

for Large and Fast Ships

Twin marine gear for

ROPAX fast ferries
during back-to-back
test.

The product range in this sector

includes reversing gear units from
150 kW to gear units for naval vessels
of 30,000 kW transmitting power,
including all necessary control and
monitoring systems.

RENK gear units are used wherever

reliable power transmission is required.
We built the first marine reversing gear
unit as early as 1934.
Marine gear units of all types and sizes
are a major pillar in RENKs product
range. They are used on commercial
vessels and cruise liners, high-speed
ferries and naval vessels, such as
frigates, corvettes and fast patrol
boats.
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RENK Drive and Motion

Today, increasing demands placed on

passenger comfort for cruise liners
and ferries as well as strategic reasons
in the case of naval ships make lownoise gear units a must. They reflect
the latest state of the art.
RENK has decades of experience with
the construction of whisper marine
gear units. The first requirements in
this area were defined by the Navy
back in the 1950s. As regards noise
development, the type of gearing
as well as the manufacturing quality
and workmanship play a key role.
Double helical toothing combined
with a precision-machined and

load-corrected tooth shape guarantee

extremely low-noise meshing action
under load and partial load. Resonant
vibrations may make the gear unit
housing itself a source of noise, especially when it is of lightweight construction. RENK gear unit housings
are dual-walled and ribbed.
Particularly critical areas of the housing are examined by means of the
finite element method and the results
are then incorporated into the design.
The noise level can be additionally
and significantly reduced, if the gear
unit is optimally shock-mounted on
the hull structure of the ship.

CODOG gear system for frigates of the MEKO class.

Passengers of todays de-luxe ferries

also expect the luxury of five-star
hotels. The drive components must
therefore operate at the lowest noise
level possible and the shipping company wants to be able to operate the
ship in an economical and flexible way.
The gear system must therefore ensure variable propulsion by several
diesel engines and electric motors so
that the drive motors can at all times
be operated within a fuel-efficient

Marine gear unit in

light-weight design
installed in a mega
yacht.

RENK Drive and Motion

23

range at different speeds of the ship.

And finally, the power not required for
propulsion is to be used for the onboard generating system. We have
equipped a whole range of luxury liners with such gear systems.
RENK marine gear units have set a
record of a very special kind. Equipped with our marine gears, the Italian
Monohull Mega Yacht DESTRIERO
in 1992 won the Blue Ribbon.

In 1998, it was the Danish catamaran

ferry CAT LINK V and in 2000, the
motor vehicle/passenger catamaran
ferry VILLUM CLAUSEN fitted with
two RENK dual reduction gear units
that won the coveted award. The latter, which was also a Danish ferry,
covered the distance of 1,063 nautical
miles in 24 hours at speeds of up to
47.8 knots (89 kph).
More than 270 ships of 25 navies
worldwide have so far been equipped
with RENK systems.
An obsolete fleet throughout the
world, new environmental regulations
and an increasing demand for fast
ferries hold out prospect for good
business opportunities also in the
future.

Planetary gear unit

for patrol boats.

Marine gear unit for

a fast luxury yacht.

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RENK Drive and Motion

Safe

Connections

RENK clutches /couplings are used in

all sectors of industry. It was as early
as in the late 1930s that Tacke took
out a patent for the manufacturing
process for curved-tooth couplings.
Curved-tooth couplings are frictionlocked, universally movable, double
gimbal-mounted shaft-connecting
elements with curved gears. This
makes them mechanically very movable and able to easily compensate
for axial, parallel and angular shaft
misalignments of connected
machines. They are appreciated as a
proven shaft connection in industry,
ship building and marine technology.

Curved-tooth coupling type SB.

Vertical curved-tooth coupling

with brake disk for use in rudder propeller systems.

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RENK Drive and Motion

More than a million curved-tooth

couplings are currently in service.
RAFLEX flexible disk and turbo diaphragm couplings have many applications in high-speed machines,
such as turbines and compressors.
They are torsionally stiff, require no
lubrication and are maintenance-free.
They are also capable of compensating for axial and angular shaft
misalignment.
The all-steel clutches are exclusively
produced at RENKs Rheine plant.

RAFLEX flexible disk coupling

of the MTR turbo range.

Assembly of a curved-tooth
coupling for steel works.

RENK Drive and Motion

27

Mounting of curvedtooth coupling.

Curved-tooth coupling highspeed series with hardened

and ground inner and outer
toothing and tooth-by-tooth
injection lubrication.

28

RENK Drive and Motion

The Right

Bearing
for all Applications

Large Diesel generator equipped

with RENK slide bearing.
.

Rotrix bearing for mills,

cement and ore
processing industry.

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RENK Drive and Motion

RENK Hanover plant supplies standard and special hydrodynamically

lubricated slide bearings for almost
any application.
Slide bearings for rolling mill drives
with welded housings to absorb
maximum loads, for motors, generators and pumps in horizontal and
vertical construction, for fans, water
turbines and conveyors.
For the marine market, the Hanover
plant also offers an extensive range
of standard bearing series, such as
thrust bearings to take the propeller
thrust as well as for the support of
the shaft lines.

End flange mounted slide bearing

type EF for universal application.

Customized and application-specific

maritime solutions, in particular
for naval ships, are also
developed and supplied.

Thrust bearing type DG

for marine application.

RENK Drive and Motion

31

Advanced computer programs, partially Renk developed, are used for

checking the operating parameters
and the rating of the bearing design.
Efficient 3D CAD programs guarantee
fast and precise adaptation of the
design to local conditions.
Extensive test stand equipment is
available for testing under real operating conditions and acceptance
testing of the complete bearings.
Centre flange mounted bearing type
EM 53S for British destroyer Type 45.

A further product group at the

Hanover plant includes the highly
elastic ELCO couplings also available
in standard and special versions.
They are preferably used in drive units
exposed to vibration and shock loads.

Pedestal bearing series H.

Thrust bearing
type LAR 425
for marine application.

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RENK Drive and Motion

Test Systems
for Optimum Quality

The necessity to develop and build

company-owned test rigs for the
development and testing of RENK
transmissions and major components
in 1986 led to the creation of the
RENK Test Systems product division.
Decades of experience in the areas
of drive technology, measuring technology, electronics, hydraulics as well
as plant and equipment were consistently introduced into this range of
products and further developed to
suit the needs of the market.
Today, RENK designs and builds
turn-key test systems for development, production and quality assurance in the following fields:
Motor vehicles
Aircraft
Rail vehicles
Vehicle roller test rig for a new production line.

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RENK Drive and Motion

Moreover, RENK offers its own hardand software concept, expedient

complementary components and
assemblies as well as extensive
engineering and after-sales services.
The activities initially focused on the
European market were expanded also
in the United States. The test stand
activities of LABECO Corporation in
Mooresville/Indiana, which had been
active on the U.S. market for more
than 50 years, are now integrated as
the LABECO Division into the U.S.
subsidiary, the RENK Corporation,
Duncan.

During the past several years, RENK

has supplied such equipment to all
known car and commercial vehicle
manufacturers in Europe.
In the transparent factory, the new
Volkswagen factory in Dresden, RENK
is represented with three end-of-line
roller test rigs featuring specially
designed glass cabins.

Transmission /axle test rig.

For the automotive industry, RENK

builds and supplies component test
rigs, such as for transmissions,
engines, propeller shafts and brakes,
but also complete vehicle test rigs.

End-of-line test rig for

measuring of interior noise.

RENK Drive and Motion

35

Increasing speed, passenger comfort

but also safety in rail traffic require
ever more efficient components
reflecting the highest state of the art.
It is also for this application that RENK
offers test rigs to test such components as wheel sets, wheel set bearings or brake systems.
The new RENK transmission test rig
with IGBT converter technology allows
the German railways to do very efficient testing of their locomotive gearboxes through energy recovery.

Flexible main transmission test rig, electrical closed loop.

In the area of the aerospace industry,

RENK develops and builds turn-key
test systems for main, intermediate,
tail rotor and auxiliary gearboxes of
helicopters. Extreme engine speed
and torque profiles with requirements
for extraordinary precision make this
a particularly demanding challenge.

Wheel set test rig for

high-speed trains.

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RENK Drive and Motion

The RDDS test rig automation specially developed by RENK to control

highly dynamic processes is a universal, modular, real-time system based
on MS Windows NT.
Apart from complete turn-key
systems, RENK also offers add-on
components of high technical
value for existing test facilities.

Electronics
for the Future.

RENK Image

37

Customer needs change to an ever

increasing extent. New markets develop and the competitive environment
becomes more intensive.
Our company, too, faces this challenge to quickly respond to the needs
of international markets and to implement new technologies at reasonable
cost.
Electronics, micro-electronics and
software development are becoming
more and more important in the concept development of new products.
It is for this reason that RENK E-TECH
GmbH, with a controlling interest of
RENK Aktiengesellschaft, was founded in Augsburg in 1999.
The activities of RENK E-TECH include mechanical engineering, electrics and information technology for
drive systems. It develops electronic
controls for our tracked vehicle transmissions, electric drives for motor
vehicles, control software, electrohydraulic and electromechanical drive

38

RENK Drive and Motion

components and has been conceived

as a centre of excellence of mechatronics for drive engineering applications.
One of RENK E-TECHs research projects is the drive by wire system. In
the drive by wire system, the drivers
intentions are not directly translated
mechanically into steering or braking
movements but measured by sensors
and transformed into electronic actuating signals by a computer system
and it is only then that wheels and
brakes are moved by actuators. This
additionally offers the advantage that
brakes and steering can be matched
to individual driving habits even more
optimally. The experts are still working
on the safety of these systems. The
lawmakers, too, still have to learn to
deal with this new variant. Electronic
systems with integrated controls may
in future replace the purely mechanical
or hydraulic links.

RENK History and Engineering Milestones.

1873

Foundation of the Augsburg plant by Johann

Renk.

1897

Conversion into a joint stock company trading

as Zahnrderfabrik Augsburg, vorm. Joh. Renk
(Act. Ges.).

1916

Production of the largest gear cutting machine

till then (7m diameter).

1923

Integration of the company into the GHH group

of companies (now MAN group).

1926

Production of the first wheels with

ground tooth profile.

1939

Production of the worlds fastet (36,000 r.p.m.)

gear transmission for the aircraft industry.

1943

Invention of the hydrostatic superimposition

steering systems for armoured vehicles.

1956

Production of the first turbine gear unit with the

highest pitch circle velocity till then (185 m/s).

1961

Development of the worlds first electronic control

system for an automatic vehicle transmission.

1965

Invention of the hydrostatic-hydromechanical

steering drive for tracklaying vehicles.

1971

First vehicle braking system with friction brake

and retarder (also functioning for the first time
as an operating brake) integrated into a vehicle
gear transmission.

1975

Acquisition of the slide bearings and couplings

division of Eisenwerke Wlfel, Hannover.

1976

RENK becomes the worlds first drive systems

manufacturer to harden and grind gear wheels
measuring over 3,000 mm in diameter.

1982

Construction of the most powerful marine gear

unit till then (40,000 kW).

1986

The companys Augsburg based industrial and

marine gear division is spun off and integrated
into RENK TACKE GmbH. Creation of the companys Control and Test System division.

1987

Change of the companys name into RENK

Aktiengesellschaft. The companys product
division now include automatic vehicle transmissions, drive elements and test systems.

1989

RENK supplies a high-speed gear unit with the

highest power rating (75,000 kW) ever transmitted by gears in mesh.

1992

Construction of the worlds most powerful

epicyclic gear unit (20,600 kW) for a marine propulsion system with counter-rotating propellers.

1995

Merger of RENK TACKE GmbH into RENK AG.

1997

First type of the most powerful turbo gear unit

worldwide; gas turbine output 100 MW.

1998

Bevel-planetary KPAV 280 gear unit for one

of the largest vertical cement/raw-flour mills
developing 4,800 kW at a speed of 21rpm.
In Rheine the 1 000 000th curved-tooth
coupling is manufactured and delivered.

1999

First type of the most powerful turbo gear unit

worldwide; gas turbine output 140 MW.
Delivery of a bevel planetary gear unit with a
weight of 110 tons for the largest and most
powerful vertical roller mill in a cement plant in
Argentina; transmission power 5,400 kW.

2000

Presentation of the newly developed etaX gear

unit with energy profit.
RENK acquire for the test system division the
activities of the US American company LABECO.
Acquisition of the slide bearing activities from
A. Friedr. Flender AG for the RENK Hanover plant.

2002

Development of a 5 MW AEROGEAR for a

windpower plant.

RENK Drive and Motion

39

RENK Image

40