Power transmission is one of the important functions in an off-highway equipment. Whether it is hydraulic, electric, or mechanical, efficient power transmission system is quite important for making the whole equipment deliver the desired output at minimum consumption of energy. The critical thing would be the transmission systems interacting with the engine so that one optimises the power consumption. The future of transmission systems is that how can it reduce the wastage of power in a transmission system.

In the off-highway equipment segment, transmissions provide reliability in extreme temperatures and under severe vibration conditions which aid vehicles to attain their finest performance, fuel economy, and engine emissions. In simple terms, the main job of transmissions is to let the engine function in its narrow range of speeds while providing a wide range of output speeds. Typically, lay shaft and gear wheel form parts of the transmission. It uses gears to effectively use engine?s torque and to keep it running at a suitable speed. Hydro static, hydro dynamic, CVT, hybrid, differential lock management etc. are the different technologies used in driveline of off highway equipments. Leading players like ZF provide competitive solutions to off-highway equipment segment. Suresh KV, President for ZF in India, says,?ZF?s transmissions play very important role in well-functioning of off-highway equipment at different working conditions by providing Automatic transmission for smooth shifting of gears, this gives the high level of comfort to the vehicle operators.?

Volvo CE in its range construction and mining equipment, use own transmission solutions. Dimitrov Krishnan, Vice President, Volvo CE elaborates on the importance of transmission systems, ?Depending on what the equipment is doing, it needs to sense the demand of the power and give that demand back through the transmission system to the engine so that the engine power is reduced or increased based on the demand. If the demand is low and one is supplying more power then there is a lot of wastage of power. This is where the transmission systems including the transmission control systems are critical in efficiency and productivity of a machine.? He cites the example of Volvo excavators saying, ?In our D series of excavator, we have come out with a transmission system which has resulted in reduction of fuel consumption by 10 per cent.?

Transmission helps in the smooth operation of hydraulically driven accessories in an equipment. According to Suresh, ZF transmission has the provision for mounting of the hydraulic pumps which are used to power most of the hydraulically driven accessories. ?ZF?s electrically controlled transmission has an option for advanced inching feature which lets the hydraulic pump use the engine power for operation of equipment hydraulics and then remaining power gets transferred to the driveline,? he adds.

Challenges & opportunities
The demand for mining and construction equipment - to a large extent - reflects macro-economic indicators; consequently, the high interest rate regime, slowdown in infrastructure investments, liquidity crunch and numerous regulatory roadblocks have led to a sharp decline in demand for mining and construction equipment (MCE) during the past few years. According to Suresh, delay in private projects and slow pace of infrastructural investments were among the key reasons hurting construction equipment volumes while curb on mining in several geographies has impacted the demand for mining equipment.

However, there are also opportunities foresee in the near future. ?Make in India concept, huge investment in infrastructure projects, clearance of coal mining and actions being taken by government on reducing interest rates enables opportunities for ZF products in market,? Suresh observes.

With the OEMs getting more focused on fuel efficiency and productivity solutions, transmission solution providers see a bright future in the years to come. Revival on the industry growth trends and infrastructure and mining segments are showing positive signs of recovery, construction and mining equipment segment is expected to come out of its stagnation which will directly and indirectly help new transmission products find more demand.