Abstract
Polymer composite gears can provide a performance increase over gears made from a plain polymer. However, the moulding process leaves a complex fibre orientation and distribution (FOD) resulting in large variations in material properties. Accurate estimates of material properties are required for detennining load sharing, Hertzian and bending stresses, and for tooth correction. Computational imaging techniques are providing means to determine the FOD in moulded gears. For the first time, these techniques are providing reliable estimates of the elastic constants throughout the gear and have been applied in detail to a 2D finite element model
This paper compares predicted stiffnesses of gear teeth using this detailed technique with stiffnesses predicted by materials suppliers' data and simple rule of mixtures.
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