A comparative study of fatigue behavior between S-shaped and involute POM gears
Ruo Wu, Peitang Wei, Zehua Lu, Huaiju Liu, Damijan Zorko, Huaijie Xie
Abstract
Abstract Applications of polymer gears have been gradually expanding from motion transmission to power transmission fields. Design of new gear teeth profiles plays a crucial role in meeting the requirement of replacing metallic gears with polymer ones. This work develops a computational framework consisting of tooth profile generation and fatigue life prediction of S-shaped and involute POM gears. The contact and bending fatigue performances of S-shaped and involute POM gears under oil lubrication are comparatively studied. It is found that the S-shaped profile reduces the tooth root stress by 25% and significantly improves the bending fatigue life by 10 times compared with the involute profile, especially under medium or high loading levels. Furthermore, the S-shaped gear with a single circular-filleted root curve benefits a 20% reduction of tooth root stress and a 30% increase in bending fatigue life compared to a double circular-filleted root curve S-shaped gear.