Poggi Collaborates with University of Bologna on Right Angle Gearbox Test Bench

In collaboration with the University of Bologna, Poggi trasmissioni meccaniche s.p.a. has designed an innovative test bench that will allow the company to test its right angle gearboxes with the aim of optimizing their performances and offering its customers an increasingly qualified service. 

The project, which started about a year and a half ago, has had, as the main player in all its development stages, the synergic work between the Technical Department of Poggi trasmissioni meccaniche s.p.a. and the university researcher Eng. Luca Paiardini, supported by Professor De Agostinis of the Department of Industrial Engineering of the Bologna University. This is a partnership that has made it possible to combine, through continuous dialogue between the parties, the practical and concrete approach of a leading company in the sector with the innovative and experimental approach of scientific research. 

“On the one hand it allows researchers to direct their action towards problems of real practical interest, on the other hand it allows companies to keep their own know-how and skills up to date. This interaction generates significant positive repercussions, both on the academic world and on the business world,” said Professor De Agostinis.

After the installation and the commissioning of the test bench, Poggi will have a tool that will lay the foundations for the design of future generations of right angle gearboxes. Not only will the test bench simulate different work cycles, testing the strength, the operating life and the breaking loads of right angle gearboxes, but at the same time it will allow the Technical Department of Poggi to acquire the data relating to ongoing tests (Industry 4.0). Once studied and reworked, these data will allow Poggi to define the performance parameters and seek new improvements, with the aim to offering its customers an increasingly qualified service based on the maximum knowledge of its technology.

Sara Censi, a graduating student in mechanical engineering, is also contributing to the project with a dissertation on how to identify a calculation system for sizing the right angle gearboxes. In recent years, Poggi has become increasingly aware of the need to create a bridge between the university and the business world. This lack characterizes the marketplace and has historically represented a factor of mismatch between labor supply from younger people and labor demand from companies.