Experimental Investigation of the Wear of Some Polymer Gear Wheels Produced by Three-Dimensional Printer on the Variation of Fill Percentage and Shell Thickness

Abstract

FDM additive manufacturing method has recently been widely used because it is very attractive in terms of cost and material loss compared to traditional manufacturing methods such as molding and milling. In previous studies, many researches have been carried out on the engineering strength of plastic gears produced by conventional methods, but with the discovery of new plastic forms by material science and the practical application of new production methods, researchers continue the researches on additive manufacturing gears. So far, many studies have investigated the wear variation, rotational speed and torque variation with variations in gear wheels produced with three-dimensional printers. In this study, using the ability of FDM technology to produce in layers, gear wheels with several variations in outer shell thicknesses and internal filling ratios were produced. The wear behaviors of these gear wheels produced with different variations were investigated. On the other hand, PETG and ABS polymers were also produced under the same conditions in order to provide material diversity in addition to PLA polymer, which has been used so far in many studies due to its low melting temperature and good printability. Then wear behaviors were observed under the same conditions using the FZG (Forschungsstelle fur Zahnrader und Getriebebebau) test setup. Thanks to additive manufacturing technology, polymer gear types were produced with fill ratios of 100% and 50% and outer shell thicknesses of 0.4 mm and 0.8 mm. The test specimens were operated against the steel gear at a torque of 1.5 Nm and a rotational speed of 900 rpm and the mass losses as a result of wear were compared. Thus, a comparison was made about the strength of polymer types with the variation of outer shell thickness and filling percentage.