Wear and Mechanical Contact Behavior of Polymer Gears

Abstract

Extensive investigations have been carried out in the present paper to understand polymer gear performance, i.e., wear and contact behaviors. The experimental results and possible wear mechanisms for polymer gears run against themselves have been presented, especially the wear rate of the polymer gears under different running speeds and loads. The tested samples were made of three different materials (acetal, nylon, and polycarbonate (PC)) and the effects of two different manufacturing techniques were also investigated (i.e., machine-cut and injection-molded polymer gears). The polymer gear performances (wear and life) were recorded using a uniquely designed and built test rig for this purpose. The testing results have been compared with the existing literature for polymer fatigue and wear theory. Further extensive investigations have been carried out to understand the wear phenomena on tooth flank surface profile of these gears and the data obtained have been discussed.