Characterising the wear behaviour of DMLS-manufactured gears under certain operating conditions

Abstract

Additive manufacturing is a method that provides design flexibility when compared to traditional machining technologies. In addition, it enables manufacturing without requiring traditional methods such as casting, forging, and machining. There is very limited knowledge about the use of the recently widespread additive manufacturing technologies for moving parts such as gears. DMLS is one of the widely used additive manufacturing methods and it works as layer-by-layer sintering of the powder laid on the table.This study features gears manufactured from 316L steel, AlSi10Mg, and Ti6Al4V. The manufacturing of the gears was performed using direct metal sintering (DMLS) and hobbing machines, and additional casting and thermal treatment procedures were performed for AlSi10Mg. The density, specific wear rate, performance, and tooth surface damages in identical gears were examined both under operating conditions and under several tests. At the end of the mechanical characterization, the use of gears manufactured by machining instead of additive manufacturing methods was considered. We concluded that low-density alloy gears produced with additive manufacturing could replace the ones produced using the traditional method, especially at low speeds and low torques. In addition, when the tooth surfaces were examined with optical and scanning electron microscopes, different surface damages were found in identical gears under the same operating conditions with regard to the manufacturing methods.