"The current AGMA standards provide a lot of information about the calculations of loose gears and gearbox components - shafts@ splines@ keys@ etc. These recommendations are based mostly on the ""traditional"" methods of mechanical engineering@ found in many classical textbooks and research papers. Their accuracy and reliability have been proven in many years of gearbox design and field tests. They are clear@ concise@ in most cases easy to program and apply even by a small gear company with limited resources. However new methods for calculations of mechanical engineering components like FEA (finite element analysis) are becoming wide spread. Once these techniques were used only by big companies because of their complexity and price but with the development of the computer technology they become more and more accessible to small gear companies which are the majority of participants in the market. Nowadays@ in the gear business@ even a small gear company is usually in possession of a modern CAD system which always includes a basic or advanced FEA package. Such CAD systems are most often run by one gear engineer who makes 3D models@ engineering calculations and production drawings. The level of the FEA packages is such that it allows the gear engineer to be able to do components calculations without deep knowledge in the FEA itself. So the question about the effectiveness of the traditional AGMA calculations and the new FEA methods becomes of vital importance particularly for small firms."