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Plastic Gears

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2024-12-12

An Experimental Study on the NVH Performance of Plastic Gears

The following study presents an experimental methodology, employed to characterize the NVH behavior of plastic gears NVH in application-like operating conditions, presenting guidelines for material selection in terms of optimal gear NVH. 

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2024-05-10

Plastic Gear Testing Methods—Characterization of Crucial Material Data Required for Reliable Design of Plastic Gears

An extremely wide selection of different plastic materials is currently available on the market. A major limitation, however, is a huge gap in gear-specific material data on these materials, which is a problem that has been persisting for decades now. Providing a step towards a solution is the German guideline VDI 2736, which proposes design rating methods (Ref. 2) along with testing procedures (Ref. 3) to be followed to generate reliable data required in the gear rating process. This paper delves into the current state of the art in plastic gear testing, providing a comprehensive overview of employed testing methods, supplemented with case studies.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2023-11-02

TJC Completes Acquisition of Delrin

TJC L.P. (“TJC”) announced the successful close of the acquisition of Delrin, a highly differentiated, global homopolymer business. Today marks the launch of Delrin as an independent company, building on a 60+ year legacy of partnering with customers to help solve their toughest technical challenges. Under TJC’s ownership, Delrin is well positioned for growth by continuing to innovate in partnership with our customers across mobility, healthcare, material handling, industrial automation, and consumer end markets, and invest in our technology and capabilities.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2023-10-02

An Interview with Delrin at the VDI Conference on Gears 2023

While I was attending the 10th International VDI Conference on Gears 2023—held in Garching, Munich at the Gear Research Center (FZG) of the Technical University of Munich from September 13th to 15th, 2023—Delrin, a product family of DuPont, introduced a new high molecular weight nucleated resin specially formulated for use in applications requiring high creep resistance and fatigue durability. I had the good fortune to sit down and speak with Guillaume Doy, Global Marketing Leader from Delrin, to hear more about their acetal homopolymer for high-load mechanical applications.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2023-04-04

Profile: Gleason Plastic Gears (GPG)

In this interview, we learn about Gleason Plastic Gears (GPG), a division of Gleason Corporation that specializes in designing and manufacturing plastic gears using their proprietary no-weldline technology. GPG has diversified its customer base and serves various industries such as automotive, medical, electronics, home and leisure, marine, education, and hobby. The interview covers topics such as the advantages of the no-weldline technology, surprising applications where plastic gears are replacing metal gears, promising materials and methods for the future of plastic gears, challenges faced by plastic gear designers, and recent developments in services, software, and manufacturing technology. 

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2022-04-11

Solvay Specialty Polymers for High-Performance Plastic Gears

Solvay, observing key trends and factors affecting the transportation sector, has developed, tested, and applied materials for a wide variety of automotive uses. Central to those objectives are efficiency and regulatory targets, engine size reduction, increased electrification of the powertrain, low NVH, and higher efficiency through lightweighting. It’s no longer a question of whether high-performance plastics are meeting NVH and other challenges in e-mobility environments, but which polymers are good for high-performance gears?

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2021-03-22

Helios Offers Hobbing Solutions for Plastic Gears

External plastic gears, like their metal counterparts, use the hobbing process for productive manufacturing. However, the difference in m...
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INDUSTRY NEWS | 2021-02-11

KISSsoft Examines Plastic Gears and Tooth Form Aspects

With injection molded plastic gears, the designer has a great degree of freedom in defining the tooth form because it is not the result o...
INDUSTRY NEWS | 2020-05-26

GWJ Technology Offers Detailed Online Calculation of Plastic Gears

GWJ Technology has updated its web-based calculation software eAssistant. The calculation of plastic gears is now available.In addition t...
FEATURE ARTICLES | 2019-07-01

The Measure of a Gear

Plastic gears still have an entire frontier to explore, and how they measure up against their steel cousins is a question still being investigated.
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2019-07-01

Experimental and Numerical Study of a Loaded Cylindrical Glass Fiber-Reinforced PA6 Gear

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
GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-03-21

My Story: Ernie Reiter

In the last semester of my senior year of mechanical engineering, I recall having a discussion with my study group friends about the purpose of our...
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...
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...
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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...
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 | 2017-05-18

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 | 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 | 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...
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.
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 ...
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 | 2010-09-01

The Efficiency Experts

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