Strength Evaluation of Polymer Composite Spur Gear by Finite Element Analysis
Modern advanced polymer composite materials have opened a new level of noiseless, lubricant free, high resilience and precision gearing in power and motion transmission. The proper understanding and evaluation of gear strength and performance is an important prerequisite for any reliable application. In this paper, a 20% short glass fiber reinforced nylon66 spur gear fabricated by injection molding has been carefully investigated. A three-dimensional finite element model was used to simulate the multi-axial stress-strain behaviors of a gear tooth under the dynamic load for a complete working cycle with a special geometry, operating condition, fiber orientation and volume fraction. The strength of composite gears has been compared with isotropic un-reinforced nylon66 and steel gears. The tooth root region of a gear which usually experiences high stress and potential to failure has been carefully investigated. This computer simulation method can be used as a useful tool for evaluating strength and predicting failure of the polymer composite gears.