Experimental analysis of failure modes depending on different loading conditions applied on cylindrical polyamide 66 gears

Engineering plastics are increasingly used for gearing systems, such as in the automotive sector, e-mobility sector, and household appliances. The basic task of the gearing system is to efficiently transfer power from the source to the application user. The use of engineering plastics for gearing applications is conditioned by the lack of tribological characteristics of material pairs which influence on fatigue and wear behaviour of the whole gearing system. The paper presents testing of the steel/Polyamide 66-gear by determining fatigue life in an infinite area, considering high precision optical measurements in the range of micro-meter accuracy of abrasion flank wear together with surface temperature in contact, providing an important database for engineers about material suitability for appropriate mechanical systems. Observing the results, gear flank wear of PA66 HT is directly proportional to the meshing temperature and torque. Thermal melting is a characteristic failure mode of the polymer gears which are exposed to higher load levels. In the middle torques, the dominant failure mode is flank fracture known as pitch point fracture. The greater impact of the gear wear mechanism occurs at lower torques where initial crack propagation starts at the pitch point and ends in the tooth root area.