Top Gear

Abstract

The Journal of Mechanical Design has long been established as one of the favorite venues for designers and researchers in gearing keen to disseminate their findings to a large international audience. Considering the various sections or research areas covered by JMD as defined in the scope of the Journal, “Power Transmission and Gearing” explicitly refers to a technological component which, beyond the words themselves, certainly illustrates the historical significance and symbolic weight of gearing and gears in Mechanical Engineering. Gear is indeed “old” since, according to etymological dictionaries, this word was already in use in the XIVth century in England after being very likely imported from Scandinavia (Old Norse). The sense at that time was that of generic equipment with no reference to power transmission between rotating parts. Its present multiplicity of meanings is indicative of widespread usage; of very solid roots in everyday life. Search engines on the Internet, for instance, produce a surprisingly varied list of results when it comes to the term “gear.” In 2009, the ASME Mechanical Engineering Magazine conducted a survey to determine the icon that was perceived as being most representative of Mechanical Engineering. Interestingly, the winner by a substantial margin was the humble gear followed by engines, robots, etc.! Gears constantly show up in newspapers, television, logos, etc., in a more or less symbolic form with, at times, no obvious link to actual gears (and rather strange tooth shapes). One obvious drawback of this long standing presence and iconic quality is a definite sense of déjà vu and the temptation to construe that, from a research perspective, gear behavior is perfectly understood and no longer worthy of research work and funding.