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Technical University of Munich

Comparability of experimentally determined load carrying capacity values for polymer gears II

Research Topic

Short TitleComparability polymer gears II
Start of ProjectQ2/2025
FundingFVA-Nr. 997/II
Research Association for Drive Technology e.V., FVA
Project PartnersChair of Machine Elements, Gears and Tribology MEGT, RTPU Kaiserslautern-Landau
Institute of Polymer Technology LKT, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
ContactDr.-Ing. T. Tobie

Project Description

Nowadays, a wide range of test specimens and test rigs are used to determine strength values of polymer gears. However, there are currently no qualified conclusions regarding the comparability of these values determined on different test rigs. The research project aims to enable a direct comparison of experimentally determined characteristics. Therefore, experimental tests are conducted under comparable test conditions at various test rigs of the participating research institutes and other PA members.

The main focus of the tests is on fatigue damage under oil-lubricated conditions as well as wear behavior under dry-running conditions. Two widely used polymer materials for gears are used: POM-Delrin® (DuPont) and the high-performance polymer Vestakeep® 4000G (Evonik). The research project serves as a basis for obtaining fundamental information on the comparability of experimentally determined characteristic values for polymer gears. Furthermore, the test results provide the possibility of identifying influencing factors of the test rig setup on the determination of the characteristic values, which can serve as a foundation for a larger research project building on this.

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