The wear behavior of polymer gears made of five different materials has been investigated using an existing polymer gear test rig. Step loading tests at a constant speed of 1,000 rpm were performed. Significant differences in failure modes and performance have been observed for the five polymer gear materials for gear engagements of gears, with the same material as each other.
Polymer gears find increasing applications in the automotive industry, office machines, food machinery, and home appliances. The main reason for this success is their low cost. Their low weight, quietness of operation, and meshing without lubricant are also interesting. However, they have poor
heat resistance and are limited to rotational transmission. In order to improve the gears' behavior, glass fiber is added
This paper presents an original method for computing the loaded mechanical behavior of fiber reinforced polymer gears. Although thermoplastic gears are unsuitable for application transmitting
high torque, adding fibers can significantly increase their performance. The particular case of
polyamide 6 + 30% glass fibers is studied in this paper.
