An investigation of the load capacity of nylon gears, when the tooth surface finishing of mating steel gears is different (3rd report, Effect of difference in griding method of steel gear teeth on wear of nylon gear)

Abstract

Intermeshing a steel gear with a plastic gear allows for nonlubricated running. In such a case, differences in the finish of the tooth flanks of the steel gear affect on the wear of plastic gear. For example, finely ground steel gear teeth reduce plastic gear wear by 30 to 40 percent, compared with hobbed teeth. However, it is not preferable to grind steel gear teeth by using the MAAG 0-degree method, because the teeth cause loading by wear powder of nylon gear. Although grinding marks are desirable to lie in a direction of tooth profile, this is difficult to work. Therefore, we grind steel gear teeth by using the MAAG 15-degrees method which produces grinding marks somewhat nearen the desirable ones, perform the wear test with nylon gears, and examine the difference in effect between the 0-degree method and the 15-degrees method.