Plastic

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-10-09

Where to Next?

We have devoted this year to going over fundamentals of gear and gearbox design and manufacture. Before we move on to other topics, I would like to...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-10-04

Repairing Gears

Deadlines and budgets do not always allow for “first class” gearbox rebuilds. The challenge for rebuild shops is to find the fastest and most econo...

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2018-09-26

KISSsoft Offers 55 Plastics for Sizing Gears

Nowadays, gear units are increasingly being made out of different types of plastic. In many cases, this class of materials is a good alte...

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2018-08-13

International Gear Conference 2018

Lyon, France. Mechanical transmission components such as gears, rolling element bearings, CVTs, belts, chains, etc. are present in every industrial...

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2018-07-01

Plastic Gear Design Remains a Work in Progress

Despite the development and availability of a number of newly engineered, rugged materials intended for plastic gear applications, some engineers/designers continue to believe metal is better.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-04-03

How Much Helix Angle?

The most obvious difference between a spur gear and a helical gear is the presence of that “helix” angle. Civilians will call them “straight-cut” a...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-03-13

Bevel Buzzwords

Does technical lingo confuse you? If so, welcome to the bevel gear sector and its special kind of hell. The same “system” that benefited from stand...

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2018-02-12

IIoT Spotlight: The Job Shop

As IIoT solutions become more readily available throughout the manufacturing sector, challenges continue when you start looking specifically at the...

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2017-12-06

KISSsoft Adds Plastic Materials Manager Function

It is often the case that plastics manufacturers don't provide any data that is relevant for calculations when they supply their prod...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-11-21

Where Have All the Pumpjacks Gone?

The last stronghold for herringbones was — and remains — the venerable oil field pumpjack gearbox. Although known by a variety of other names, noth...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-10-12

Thinking Big

My local newspaper’s lead story today concerned the explosive demolition of a highway bridge in nearby Tionesta, PA. As luck would have it, our mos...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-09-12

Mini Disasters

My last blog highlighted the need for disaster planning. With three hurricanes churning up the Atlantic Ocean as I write, that advice may be a l...

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2017-09-01

Tooth Contact Analysis - Off Line of Action Contact and Polymer Gears

The aim of the study was to apply such a specialized tooth contact analysis method, well-used within the steel gear community, to a polymer gear application to assess what modifications need be made to these models for them to be applicable to polymer gears.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-07-28

A New Quoting Model?

Anyone actually enjoy quoting? For such an important part of daily business the process of establishing prices to offer a customer seems universall...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-05-18

Summer Jobs

Recent reports indicate that business is picking up in the gear sector so I hope your firm is thinking about bringing on some summer help. The curr...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-01-19

Gears That Time Forgot

My consulting practice covers a very wide range of products — from 4-inch circular pitch mill stands to 180-NDP handheld medical devices — I see th...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-08-25

Gear Toys

My recent blog on educating kids on gears coincided with a birthday party invitation for a great nephew. Not having grandchildren of our own — I da...

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2016-08-17

KISSsoft VDI 2736 Receives New Supplement for Calculating Plastic Crossed Helical Gear Deformation and Wear

The application area of plastic gears has grown significantly in the last decade. The requirements from the industry to design stronger, ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-03-15

The Curse of an Engineering Mind

There have been a few times in my life when I wished I could turn off my internal engineer and just be a regular guy. If you ask my wife she could ...

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2016-03-01

Plastic Gearing Continues Converting the Unconverted

Plastic gears are everywhere today - throughout your car, at the oceans' lowest depths, in deep space. The question, when is a metal gear a candidate for plastic conversion, can be addressed in three words, i.e. what's the application?

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-02-16

Cold Weather Designs

Growing up in Milwaukee I learned about cold weather early and got a refresher course every winter. These lessons served me wel...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-02-09

Discovering Gears

Recently, an attorney told me that his eleven-year-old daughter had “discovered” gears in a science class and was excitedly learning all she could ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-10-22

3-D Printing Follow-Up

My initial skepticism about 3-D printing’s place in the gear industry took a solid hit during a recent visit to a client. I am used to seeing color...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-10-08

Old School Technology Boosts High Technology

A popular cable car customizing show recently featured a segment on using 3-D printing to produce a prototype part. There wasn’t anything original ...

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2015-08-01

Gear Noise Prediction in Automotive Transmissions

Due to increasing requirements regarding the vibrational behavior of automotive transmissions, it is necessary to develop reliable methods for noise evaluation and design optimization. Continuous research led to the development of an elaborate method for gear noise evaluation. The presented methodology enables the gear engineer to optimize the microgeometry with respect to robust manufacturing.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2015-06-30

Gleason Renames its Plastic Gears Division

Gleason Corporation recently announced a new name for its plastic gears division: Gleason Plastic Gears. The division was formerly k...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-06-02

Areas of Expertise

One of the first things you hear upon becoming a parent is that “children keep you young.” Once, I foolishly thought this referred to your physical...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-04-02

Evolving Equipment

[starbox]How long should gear manufacturing equipment last? I posted before about some very “veteran” gear cutting machines that are still earning ...

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2015-03-01

Fundamental Study of Detection of Plastic Gear Failure Signs

This paper proposes a new method — using neural oscillators — for filtering out background vibration noise in meshing plastic gear pairs in the detection of signs of gear failure. In this paper these unnecessary frequency components are eliminated with a feed-forward control system in which the neural oscillator’s synchronization property works. Each neural oscillator is designed to tune the natural frequency to a particular one of the components.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-09-24

Attitude is Important, Too

[starbox] I don’t know many people who enjoy working with crabby co-workers. Attitude is a key element in team chemistry, so my evaluation system ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-07-24

Leadership 101 — Commitment

[starbox] Much of what I believe about leadership I learned from the scouting program. I was a scout as a boy and when my children reached that ...

ASK THE EXPERT | 2014-07-01

Deciding When to Go Plastic

Can my metal gear(s) be replaced with plastic gears?

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2014-07-01

Loaded Behavior of Gears Made of Fiber-Reinforced PA6

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.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-04-08

A Tool Looking for a Task?

[starbox] I have been hearing a lot about 3-D printing and how it will revolutionize manufacturing in the United States. Millions are slated to ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-04-01

An Appreciation of Gray Hair

[starbox] While driving from Dallas Fort Worth Airport to a new client’s factory, I listened to a very troubling story on PRI’s Marketplace. It ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-01-29

Unsung Heroes of the Gear Industry - Metallurgists

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-01-14

Who Taught You About Gears?

[starbox]

"The beginning of wisdom is calling things by their proper name" -- Chinese proverb

Who taught you about gears...

EVENTS | 2013-08-01

EMO 2013 - Intelligence in Production

Preview of some of the exhibits relevant to gear manufacturing at the upcoming EMO 2013.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2013-03-01

Talking Truth to Power: Plastic Gears Taking Back Seat to No One

Automotive industry embraces proven yet evolving technology of plastic gears.

PRODUCT NEWS | 2012-08-01

New Technology for Stronger Plastic Gears

Gleason-K2 Plastics eliminates weld lines with no machining.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2012-06-01

Growing Pains - Renewables Hang on in Turbulent Energy Market

The turbines are still spinning. They’re spinning on large wind farms in the Great Plains, offshore in the Atlantic and even underwater where strong tidal currents offer new energy solutions. These turbines spin regularly while politicians and policy makers— tied up in discussions on tax incentives, economic recovery and a lot of finger pointing—sit idle. Much like the auto and aerospace industries of years past, renewable energy is coping with its own set of growing pains. Analysts still feel confident that clean energy will play a significant role in the future of manufacturing—it’s just not going to play the role envisioned four to five years ago.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2012-03-01

The Plastic Gear Pay-Off

Eliminating noise, weight and wear proves valuable in 2012.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2012-03-01

The Relative Performance of Spur Gears Manufactured from Steel and PEEK

This paper seeks to compare the data generated from test rig shaft encoders and torque transducers when using steel-steel, steel-plastic and plastic-plastic gear combinations in order to understand the differences in performance of steel and plastic gears.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2011-11-01

Load-Sharing Model for Polymer Cylindrical Gears

This paper presents an original method to compute the loaded mechanical behavior of polymer gears. Polymer gears can be used without lubricant, have quieter mesh, are more resistant to corrosion, and are lighter in weight. Therefore their application fields are continually increasing. Nevertheless, the mechanical behavior of polymer materials is very complex because it depends on time, history of displacement and temperature. In addition, for several polymers, humidity is another factor to be taken into account. The particular case of polyamide 6.6 is studied in this paper.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2011-09-01

Next Stop Cincinnati

What's not to like about a more focused, user-friendly Gear Expo? Booth Previews.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2011-08-01

Gear Material Risks and Rewards

Technology investments lead to product innovation at gear materials suppliers.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2010-09-01

The Efficiency Experts

Bradley University and Winzeler Gear collaborate on the design and development of an urban light vehicle.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2010-06-01

At the PEEK of the Polymer Food Chain

In the hypercompetitive race to increase automobile efficiency, Metaldyne has been developing its balance shaft module line with Victrex PEEK polymer in place of metal gears. The collaborative product development resulted in significant reductions in inertia, weight and power consumption, as well as improvement in noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) performance.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2010-03-01

High-Temperature Testing of Stanyl Plastic Gears: A Comparison with Tensile Fatigue Data

This paper shows an experimental study on the fatigue lifetime of high-heat polyamide (Stanyl) gears running in oil at 140°C. Based on previous works (Refs. 1–2), an analysis is made correcting for tooth bending and calculating actual root stresses. A comparison with tensile bar fatigue data for the same materials at 140°C shows that a good correlation exists between gear fatigue data and tensile bar fatigue data. This insight provides a solid basis for gear designers to design plastic gears using actual material data.

PRODUCT NEWS | 2009-09-01

Custom Gear Cycle Times Plummet with Help from Reishauer, Siemens

Custom Gear and Machine, Inc., of Roscoe, IL, recently purchased a Reishauer RZ400 gear grinder and, on one job, has seen the cycle time drop from 40 minutes to six minutes, according to Tim Rose, vice president of manufacturing, who runs the business with co-owners Dave Patterson and Mike Rasmann.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2008-06-01

Study of the Correlation Between Theoretical and Actual Gear Fatigue Test Data on a Polyamide

In the past two years DSM has been conducting fatigue tests on actual molded gears in order to provide design data.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2008-06-01

Material Integrity in Molded Plastic Gears and its Dependence on Molding Practices

The quality of molded plastic gears is typically judged by dimensional feature measurements only. This practice overlooks potential deficiencies in the molding process.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2008-06-01

Injection Molded Innovation

Alternative business strategies from some alternative gear manufacturers.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2007-09-01

Tooth-Bending Effects in Plastic Spur Gears

This paper describes the investigation of a steel-and-plastic gear transmission and presents a new hypothesis on the governing mechanism in the wear of plastic gears.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2007-07-05

GW Plastics and ABA-PGT Form Strategic Alliance

GW Plastics and ABA-PGT announced the formation of a global strategic alliance for plastic gear systems and integrated motion transfer sy...

ADDENDUM | 2007-07-01

Were Your Childhood Memories in HIGH GEAR

Loyal Gear Technology reader and Interstate Castings vice president Greg Bierck came across “High Gear” at a vintage toy store in Indianapolis, IN.

VOICES | 2007-06-01

Pushing the Envelope with Plastic

We were delighted to see the plastic gear set pictured on the cover of your March/April issue. UFE played the lead role in its design and manufacture.

VOICES | 2007-03-01

Plastic Gear Standards: A Balancing Act

Creating standards for plastic gears calls for a deft touch. The challenge is to set uniform guidelines, yet avoid limiting the creative solutions plastic offers gear designers.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2007-03-01

Plastic Gears--A Growing Industry Still Seeking Respect

Forty years ago, the plastics industry was practically in its embryonic phase...

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2007-01-01

What Do You Think

Publisher Michael Goldstein wants to know what you think about the 2007 redesign of Gear Technology magazine

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2006-11-01

Gear Design: Multipoint Properties are Key to Selecting Thermoplastic Materials

The palette of thermoplastic materials for gears has grown rapidly, as have the applications themselves. Designers need to be aware of key properties and attributes in selecting the right material.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2006-07-01

How to Achieve a Successful Molded Gear Transmission

Molded plastic gears have very little in common with machined gears other than the fact that both use the involute for conjugate action.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2006-04-07

Asahi America Introduces Plastic Gear Operator

Plasgear from Asahi America is a thermoplastic gear operator from Asahi America. According to the company’s press release, the P...

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2005-11-01

Latest Generation of Quieter Plastic Gears Can Take the Heat

Ten years ago, most mainstream gear manufacturers didn't even consider plastics as an option, especially in higher power applications.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2004-11-01

Non-Standard Cylindrical Gears

Curved face width (CFW) spur gears are not popular in the gear industry. But these non-metallic gears have advantages over standard spur gears: higher contact ratio, higher tooth stiffness, and lower contact and bending stresses.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2004-07-01

Load Carrying Capacity of Screw Helical Gears with Steel Pinions and Plastic Wheels

There is an increasing significance of screw helical and worm gears that combine use of steel and plastics. This is shown by diverse and continuously rising use in the automotive and household appliance industries. The increasing requirements for such gears can be explained by the advantageous qualities of such a material combination in comparison with that of the traditional steel/bronze pairing.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2002-05-01

Optimizing Plastic Gear Geometry: An Inroduction to Gear Optimization

There are numerous engineering evaluations required to design gear sets for optimum performance with regard to torque capacity, noise, size and cost. How much cost savings and added gear performance is available through optimization? Cost savings of 10% to 30% and 100% added capacity are not unusual. The contrast is more pronounced if the original design was prone to failure and not fit for function.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2002-01-01

Failure Mechanisms in Plastic Gears

Plastics as gear materials represent an interesting development for gearing because they offer high strength-to-weight ratios, ease of manufacture and excellent tribological properties (Refs. 1-7). In particular, there is a sound prospect that plastic gears can be applied for power transmission of up to 10 kW (Ref. 6).

EVENTS | 2000-09-01

Technical Calendar

Complete Technical Calendar for September/October 2000.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2000-05-01

A Practical Guide for Molding Better Plastic Geared Transmissions

Plastic gears and transmissions require a different design approach than metal transmissions. Different tools are available to the plastic transmission designer for optimizing his geared product, and different requirements exist for inspection and testing. This paper will present some of the new technology available to the plastic gear user, including design, mold construction, inspection, and testing of plastic gears and transmissions.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 1998-07-01

Plastic: The Not-So-Alternative Technology

"We're taking over," says Art Milano. It's a bold statement from the engineering manager of Seitz Corporation, one of the largest manufacturers of injection molded plastic gears, but Milano has reason for his optimism. Plastic gears are big business-probably bigger than most gear industry "insiders" realize.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 1997-07-01

Hoechst Technical Polymers to Gather Plastic Gear Materials Data

Hoechst Technical Polymers has expanded its interests in plastic gears with the introduction of the new Plastic Gear Evaluation and Research machine P-Gear. The machine is the centerpiece of the company's continuing efforts to promote and develop the use of plastic gears in higher-powered applications.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1996-09-01

Alternative Lubrication Methods for Large Open Gear Drives

The type of lubricant and the method of applying it to the tooth flanks of large open gears is very important from the point of view of lubrication technology and maintenance. When selecting the type of lubricant and the application method, it is important to check whether it is possible to feed the required lubricant quantity to the load-carrying tooth flanks, This is necessary to avoid deficient lubrication, damage to the gear and operational malfunctions. It is important to determine the type of lubricant, which may be fluid or grease-like. The consistency of the lubricant will have a direct impact on the ability of the lubrication system to feed adequately the lubricant to the gear. The interactions between the common types of lubricant and the lubrication application methods for open gear drives are shown in Fig. 1.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1996-07-01

Noise Reduction in Plastic & Powder Metal Gear Sets

The data discussed in this article was taken from an upright vacuum cleaner. This was a prototype cleaner that was self-propelled by a geared transmission. It was the first time that the manufacturer had used a geared transmission in this application.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1996-07-01

Plastic Gear Design Basics

Plastic gears are serious alternatives to traditional metal gears in a wide variety of applications. The use of plastic gears has expanded from low-power, precision motion transmission into more demanding power transmission applications. As designers push the limits of acceptable plastic gear applications, more is learned about the behavior of plastics in gearing and how to take advantage of their unique characteristics.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1995-11-01

Effect of Web & Flange Thickness on Nonmetallic Gear Performance

Gears are manufactured with thin rims for several reasons. Steel gears are manufactured with thin rims and webs where low weight is important. Nonmetallic gears, manufactured by injection molding, are designed with thin rims as part of the general design rule to maintain uniform thickness to ensure even post-mold cooling. When a thin-rimmed gear fails, the fracture is thought the root of the gear, as shown in Fig. 1a, rather than the usual fillet failure shown in Fig. 1b.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1993-09-01

Lubricants and Lubrication of Plastic Gears

Surface measurement of any metal gear tooth contact surface will indicate some degree of peaks and valleys. When gears are placed in mesh, irregular contact surfaces are brought together in the typical combination of rolling and sliding motion. The surface peaks, or asperities, of one tooth randomly contact the asperities of the mating tooth. Under the right conditions, the asperities form momentary welds that are broken off as the gear tooth action continues. Increased friction and higher temperatures, plus wear debris introduced into the system are the result of this action.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1993-05-01

Practical Optimization of Helical Gears Using Computer Software

The aim of this article is to show a practical procedure for designing optimum helical gears. The optimization procedure is adapted to technical limitations, and it is focused on real-world cases. To emphasize the applicability of the procedure presented here, the most common optimization techniques are described. Afterwards, a description of some of the functions to be optimized is given, limiting parameters and restrictions are defined, and, finally, a graphic method is described.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1992-07-01

Gear Inspection and Measurement

The purpose of gear inspection is to: Assure required accuracy and quality, Lower overall cost of manufacture by controlling rejects and scrap, Control machines and machining practices and maintain produced accuracy as machines and tools wear, Determine hear treat distortions to make necessary corrections.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1992-07-01

Comparing Surface Failure Modes in Bearings and Gears: Appearances vs. Mechanisms

In the 1960's and early 1970's, considerable work was done to identify the various modes of damage that ended the lives of rolling element bearings. A simple summary of all the damage modes that could lead to failure is given in Table 1. In bearing applications that have insufficient or improper lubricant, or have contaminants (water, solid particles) or poor sealing, failure, such as excessive wear or vibration or corrosion, may occur, rather than contact fatigue. Usually other components in the overall system besides bearings also suffer. Over the years, builders of transmissions, axles, and gear boxes that comprise such systems have understood the need to improve the operating environment within such units, so that some system life improvements have taken place.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1989-11-01

Systematic Approach to Designing Plastic Spur and Helical Gears

Plastic gears are being used increasingly in applications, such as printers, cameras, small household appliances, small power tools, instruments, timers, counters and various other products. Because of the many variables involved, an engineer who designs gear trains on an occasional basis may find the design process to be somewhat overwhelming. This article outlines a systematic design approach for developing injection molded plastic spur and helical gears. The use of a computer program for designing plastic gears is introduced as an invaluable design tool for solving complex gearing equations.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1985-07-01

The Design and Manufacture of Plastic Gears Part II

Advancements in machining and assembly techniques of thermoplastic gearing along with new design data has lead to increased useage of polymeric materials. information on state of the art methods in fabrication of plastic gearing is presented and the importance of a proper backlash allowance at installation is discussed. Under controlled conditions, cast nylon gears show 8-14 dBA. lower noise level than three other gear materials tested.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1985-05-01

The Design and Manufacture of Machined Plastic Gears

The use of plastic gearing is increasing steadily in new products. This is due in part to the availability of recent design data. Fatigue stress of plastic gears as a function of diametral pitch, pressure angle, pitch line velocity, lubrication and life cycles are described based on test information. Design procedures for plastic gears are presented.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1984-08-01

Maximum Surface Temperature of the Thermoplastic Gear in a Non-Lubricated Plastic-Steel Gear Pair

One of the major problems of plastic gear design is the knowledge of their running temperature. Of special interest is the bulk temperature of the tooth to predict the fatigue life, and the peak temperature on the surface of the tooth to avert surface failure. This paper presents the results of an experimental method that uses an infrared radiometer to measure the temperature variation along the profile of a plastic gear tooth in operation. Measurements are made on 5.08, 3.17, 2.54, 2.12 mm module hob cut gears made from nylon 6-6, acetal and UHMWPE (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene). All the tests are made on a four square testing rig with thermoplastic/steel gear pairs where the plastic gear is the driver. Maximum temperature prediction curves obtained through statistical analysis of the results are presented and compared to data available from literature.