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Plastic Gears

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Introduction

This article will give an in-depth discussion on plastic gears.

The article will bring more detail on topics such as:

  • What are Plastic Gears
  • Plastic Gears Design
  • Types of Materials Used for Gears
  • Types of Plastic Gears
  • Advantages and Disadvantages of Plastic Gears
  • And Much More…

Chapter 1: Plastic Gears Manufacturing

This chapter will discuss what plastic gears are, their manufacturing process, and how they function.

What are Plastic Gears?

A plastic gear is a toothed wheel made up of engineering plastic materials that work with others to alter the relation between the speed of an engine and the speed of the driven parts. The engineering plastic materials used in manufacturing plastic gears can be nylon, which is essentially polyamide resin, and polyacetal.

Plastic Gears

Manufacturing Plastic Gears

Various methods can be used in the manufacturing of plastic gears. The most common methods will be discussed below.

Plastic Gear Manufacturing Process

Plastic gears are manufactured by different machining processes, usually milling or hobbing. The machining process is about taking away material from a plastic block that is machined layer by layer in a manner that is precise to fabricate the desired part. These processes mentioned prior are the same machining processes used in manufacturing metal gears.

 Machining Process of Plastic Gears

The manufacturing cost of a plastic gear is reduced by the very low cutting forces that permit high infeed rates. If high infeed rates are used during milling, this may result in a wavy and rough surface. This kind of surface may be seemingly detrimental to long performance. However, during a dry run-in period, the surfaces of the plastic teeth that bear the load are smoothened. Lubricant pockets may even be offered by the waviness, but the waviness does not lower the quality of the gear. Plastic gears have a load bearing surface that is somewhat pliable. This allows wider tolerances due to the elasticity of the plastic. The quality of the plastic gears can be reduced to two AGMA grades compared to steel gears. Compared to gears made of steel material, plastic gears have an increased backlash by one to two quality grades. This helps to allow for the effect of moisture and temperature on the plastic.

Characteristics of Machined Plastic Gears

  • Machined plastic gears have a lower density, hence reduced weight and lower inertia.
  • They require low maintenance.
  • They have the ability to absorb shock and vibration due to the pliable property of their material.
  • They produce less noise.
  • They have a low coefficient of fiction.
  • They are self-lubricating and they are wear resistant when running dry.
  • They have a longer part life.
  • They can be used in food preparation areas and wet environments.
  • They are corrosion resistant.

The Injection Molding Process

 Injection Molded Plastic Gears

This is an alternative way of manufacturing plastic gears. This type of process is about the addition of material. It involves melting stock material such as thermoplastics, and through a high pressure nozzle, the materials are injected into runners. The material is then allowed to cool in the molds and then ejected, and the process starts afresh. The injection molding process produces plastic gears that have good precision. There are several factors to consider in a successful production, such as material used, the type of equipment used, and the process conditions. The amount of post processing is always needed to be reduced. This reduces the time that is spent on each product and this has a direct impact on revenue. These factors also affect the quality of the product.

Characteristics of Injection Molded Plastic Gears

  • They can achieve high precision as it is in metal.
  • Manufacturing standards can be maintained because injection molding allows good replication.
  • Injection molded plastic gears are low cost processing. Most plastics are processed at lower temperatures that are below those needed for stainless steel. Energy and time spent in heating and cooling are then reduced.
  • Injection molded plastic gears do better at resisting abrasion and wear than metal gears. In high performance plastics, it is even more so. This produces parts that are more durable.
  • These types of gears do not rust.
  • Due to the inherent properties of the plastic materials, injection molded plastic gears offer improved performance.

Machining vs. Injection Molding Manufacturing Parameters

When contrasting between machined plastic gears and injection molded plastic gears, the following parameters provide the differences or contrasts:

Speed of Machining

The machining process is faster when there are low volume parts to work with. It can be considered as a solution for smaller goals. However, on the other hand, if there are high volumes of plastic parts to be consistently manufactured for a longer duration, injection molding is a viable solution as the manufacturing process can be scaled once the mold is ready. The injection molding process has faster manufacturing capabilities that offset the delay of creating a mold and the upfront cost.

Cost of Production

For the machining process, the cost appears to be cheaper when there are only a few hundred parts to work with. Expenses are only incurred in the setup. However, when the volume increases the cost also increases. In contrast, the price is significantly low for each part with injection molding. Cost is accrued in the initial stages of injection molding. But once large volume production of parts begins, this cost distributes with time.

Raw Material Choice

With the machining process, there are a lot of options for raw materials to choose from, for the creation of parts. The structural strength and durability of the final product is imparted by the core material, therefore machining is the way to go if you are working with harder materials such as high performance plastic material or specific plastics. With injection molding, there is a limit on the type of material selected. Only softer plastics like thermoplastics and thermoset resins can be worked with because they can be melted and molded without compromising material strength. This process is used to fabricate the most flexible and pliable materials.

High Tolerance

The machining process delivers products that can meet expectations of precision and accuracy with high tolerances. Only fewer variables are involved in the level of control exercised by a computer. To add on, the primary focus of the manufacturing process is on the product specifications. But with injection molding, a greater scope and room for defects exist. The defects are flow lines, vacuum voids, warping, burn marks, etc. This is so because injection molding does not consider the tolerances of the part, but of the mold.

Design Flexibility

With injection molding, a high degree of repeatability is offered, but this is an advantage if you are fabricating parts with the same design. If the design specifications are changed, there will be an upfront cost of making the mold. This, in turn, would make the injection molding totally cost-inefficient as you would start from scratch once again. With machining, the CAD program can be tweaked to incorporate the design changes.

Chapter 2: Plastic Gears Design and Materials

This chapter will discuss the design details of plastic gears and the types of materials that can be used in plastic gears.

Plastic Gears Design Details

The design details of plastic gears include:

Gear Face Width

The face width of a plastic gear tooth can be as wide as the diameter of the gear. The axial stability of the gear wheels is the one that limits the minimum width. From experience, the face width should be at least six to eight times the gear module. When mating plastic and steel, the face of the plastic gear should be slightly narrower than the steel gear face. The plastic gear then touches the load with its whole width, and no groove can be worn into the face of the plastic.

Module, Pressure Angle, and Number of Teeth

The choice of module and pressure angle directly affects the load bearing capacity of plastic gears. If the module or pressure angle is increased, the root strength of the teeth also increases but the transmitted force stays the same. With plastic gears, it is impossible to engage several teeth simultaneously due to the decreased contact ratio. This, in turn, makes the increase in root strength smaller with plastic gears. If the contact ratio is high, this can be better for increasing the load bearing capacity rather than increasing the root strength of the individual tooth.

Plastic Gear Module 0.5

A small module is preferred (several teeth engage simultaneously and contact ratio increased) for tough elastic thermoplastics. A large module is preferred (a higher contact ratio is impossible with the hard material; therefore root strength of the teeth is increased). At 20f, the pressure angle for the involute plastic teeth is defined. Pressure angles less than 20f produce thinner teeth of less load capacity, with steep tooth profiles but with a running, low noise. Pressure angles that are greater than 20f result in more pointed, thicker teeth that have greater root strength. An integer multiple is not allowed as a number for the ratio of the number of teeth in high speed gears. Different teeth must engage in order to reduce accelerated wear.

Backlash and Clearances

Plastic materials have high thermal expansion rates, therefore the material-specific designing of backlash and clearance is important. A guarantee of a minimum backslash must be made. A minimum face clearance of 0.04 x module is recommended and an initial clearance of 0.3 x module is recommended.

Estimated Tooth Temperature in Continuous Operation

Temperature plays a key role in establishing the load capacity of a plastic gear. The tooth body temperature sets the allowable loading and deformation of the tooth base. An approximation of the rate of wear is allowed by the tooth face temperature. Determining both temperatures accurately is difficult. Only an approximate estimation of the heat transmission coefficient can be made. Thus, the tooth face temperature value calculated may sometimes be a very high number, higher even than the plastic’s melting temperature.

Tooth Temperature in Intermittent Operation

Intermittent operation of plastic gears increases the load capacity because of the generation of less friction heat. In the following equation, the relative duty cycle ED is considered by a correction factor f. This relative duty is defined as a percentage of the load time t and the overall cycle time T.

\begin{equation} \ED = t/T * 100% \end{equation}

Where: t = total operating time under load within cycle time T in min; T = cycle time in min.

Gear Life for Plastic Gears vs Metal Gears

The root, flank, and wear strength are parameters of large importance in the estimation of gear life. The number of load cycles determines the specific parameters (root pulsating strength and flank strength) for both metal and plastic gears. For plastic gears, these parameters are strongly dependent on temperature and the type of lubrication (oil, grease, or dry running) used. Whereas for steel, only one value for the tooth strength calculation is sufficient.

Comparing plastic to steel, it is clearly seen that Young's Modulus for plastic is about two magnitudes smaller than for steel e.g. about 2800N/mm2 for POM compared to 206,000 Nmm2 for steel. The permissible bending stress of plastic is also about one magnitude smaller than steel: 25 Nmm2 compared to 250-450 Nmm2 for steel. Since many gears are sized from their strength requirements, the relative deformation of metal gear teeth is lower than that of plastic gears.

However, Plastic gears can absorb shock better than metal gears, and most plastic gears have a mechanical stop design to avoid extra wear and tear on the gear teeth and the motor itself. Plastic gears have a longer wear period and a longer life expectancy than many metal gears. Metal gears grind down faster than plastic gears.

Plastic gears do not require backlash adjustment as is the case with metal gears. Most steel gears require frequent backlash adjustment in order to avoid backlash issues from the shock of operating the gear and motor vibrations. Since plastic gears can absorb these vibrations, the gears can often last for a much longer period.

Gear Calculation

For gears like PowerCore, the size of the injection-molded gears is usually limited by the size of the press, to about 5” to 6”. In the US, about 80% of the gears, metal or plastic, are selected from a catalog. In contrast, in cooperation with customers’ engineers, the designed gears solve specific problems or address specific design challenges, such as inertia or product contamination with grease. (This is particularly the case with open gearing in e.g. paper, food, or semiconductor processing equipment).

To engineer a solution for an application, all the operational parameters, including torque, RPM, shock load, backlash requirements, inertia, chemical exposure (semiconductors), operating temperature, etc are considered. Alternative solutions, such as tooth modification or increased gear width can be proposed to make sure the plastic gear will work in a given application.

An integral part of the gear engineering process is the use of our proprietary gear life calculation. The calculation will give the number of hours in which the gear will last for the specified conditions. Conversely, we can design a gear to last a certain number of hours. So, for example, medical equipment manufacturers require 5 years of component life. Over the last 20 plus years, the calculation has proven to be a reliable predictive tool, and it allows us to quickly assess if a plastic gear will work in a given application or not, especially when replacing a metal

Sample Gear Calculation
Input Data

Operational Data Output

Operational Data Output


Types of Materials Used in Plastic Gears

The various types of materials used in plastic gears include:

Power-Core (PA12GC)

Power-core is a type of material with a unique, tension-free, homogeneously crystalline structure, which is achieved through a unique casting process. Power-Core (PA12GC) shapes are made from laurolactam resin. Power-Core exhibits a unique combination of the physical properties of plastics, metals together with ceramics. This secures Power-Core’s domain among polyamides. Power-Core non-metallic gears allow transmission of the full torque found on the keyway, machined into the metal core. Power-Core outperforms all other polyamide and acetal based plastics (e.g. nylon and delrin).

PA 6 (Polyamide 6)

This type of material exhibits several characteristics such as being wear resistant and absorbing impact even though it’s under rough conditions. However, this material is not much suitable for small precision gears.

PA 66 (Polyamide 66)

This extruded polyamide has better wear resistance than the PA 6, except against mating surfaces that are of high quality. It absorbs less moisture and is dimensionally more stable, but like the PA 6, it is not much suitable for small precision gears.

Calumid 612/612-FeAE (cast PA 6/12)

These polyamides exhibit wear resistance that is similar to PA 6 G, and is engineered toward toughness.

PA 6G & Oil (Cast Polyamide 6 & Oil)

This type of material exhibits very good dry running and wear resistant properties due to the addition of lubricating oil into the PA 6 G.

POM-C (Polyacetal-C)

This acetal is more suitable for precision gears due to its little absorbance of moisture, but it must be continually lubricated under high loads.

UHMW-PE (Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene)

PE is dimensionally stable and does not absorb any moisture. It is also resistant to chemicals and dampens vibrations. However, this material is only suitable for low loads. There are speed limitations and load limitations for plastic gears. Metal gears have an operating temperature range in which they operate well, which is the temperature limit of the material. Plastic gears are, however, designed in such a way to take into consideration the increase in temperature, which is a result of friction, pressure, and speed.

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Chapter 3: Types of Plastic Gears

There are various types of plastic gears which include:

Injection Molded Bevel Gears

The injection molded bevel come with characteristics such as:

  • Module: 0.5-1
  • Speed ratio: 2
  • Material: duracon (R)(M90-44)
  • Hardening: none
  • Tooth Finish: injection molded
  • Grade: JIS 6
  • They are low priced gears made through the process of injection molding.
  • They are suitable for light loads.
Injection Molded Bevel Gears

Injection Molded Plastic Spur Gears

Injection molded spur gears can be applied in the same industries as other plastic spur gears.

Characteristics of injection molded plastic spur gears include:

  • Module: 0.5-1
  • Material: Duracon (R)(M90-44)
  • Hardening: none
  • Tooth Finish: injection molded
  • Grade: Equiv.to JIS N12
  • These are low priced gears that are made through the injection molding process.
  • They are suitable for light loads.
 Injection Molded Plastic Spur Gears

Molded Flexible Racks

Molded flexible racks come with characteristics such as:

  • Module: 0.8-2
  • Length: 2000mm
  • Material: duracon (R)(M25-44)
  • Hardening: none
  • Tooth Finish: injection molded
  • Grade: KHK R0018
  • Thin plastic racks can be bent.
Molded Flexible Racks

Plastic Bevel Gears

This type of gear has a conical shape with straight or spiral cut teeth. Plastic Bevel Gears transfer motion between two axles that are intersecting, changing the rotation axis. These types of gears are mostly utilized in power tools and automotive applications. On all designs, the spiral cut version can be smoother and less noisy than other designs.

Plastic Bevel Gears

Plastic bevel gears come with characteristics such as:

  • Module: 1-3
  • Speed ratio: 1.5-3
  • Material: MC901
  • Hardening: none
  • Tooth Finish: cut (non-ground)
  • Grade: JIS 4 equivalent
  • These gears can be used with no lubrication.

The plastic bevel gears can be applied in industries such as:

  • Cement industry
  • Food industry
  • Beverage industry
  • Mining industry
  • Energy industry
  • Bulk material handling

The plastic bevel gears can have specific applications. Examples include:

  • They are used in medium to large conveyors.
  • They are applied in mixers.
  • They are used in crushers.
  • They are utilized in water treatment applications.

Plastic Double Helical Gear

In these types of gears, two helical faces are positioned next to each other having a gap separating them. They are a variation of helical gears. The faces of the gears have identical helix angles, but opposite to each other. Double helical gears eliminate thrust loads and they allow greater tooth overlap and a smoother operation. Double helical gears are also used in enclosed gear drives, just like the helical gear.

Plastic double helical gears are used in the following industries:

  • Mining
  • Marine
  • Heavy industry
Plastic Double Helical Gear

The plastic double helical gears can have specific applications. Examples include:

  • They are used in milling.
  • They are applied in steam turbines.
  • They are used in ship propulsion.

Plastic Helical Gears

These types of gears have teeth that are oriented at a certain angle to the shaft, which is a different case in spur gears. This increases the number of teeth in contact during operation to more than one. Plastic helical gears can carry more load than plastic spur gears. Plastic helical gears can share load between the teeth. This arrangement in turn allows plastic helical gears to operate smoother and quieter than spur gears. A thrust load which needs to be considered when they are used is produced by plastic helical gears during operation. Plastic helical gears are mostly used in enclosed gear drives.

Plastic helical gears can be used in different industries such as:

  • Used in cement industries
  • Used in food industries
  • Used in beverage industries
  • Used in mining industries
  • Used in marine industries
  • Used in energy industries
  • Used in forest industries
  • Used in bulk material handling industries
Plastic Helical Gears

The plastic helical gears can have specific applications. Examples include:

  • They are used in medium to large conveyors.
  • They are applied in mixers.
  • They are used in large pumps.
  • They are utilized in water treatments.
  • They are applied in crushers.

Plastic Herringbone Gears

These types of gears are similar to double helical gears, but their helical faces do not have a gap separating them. Compared to the double helical gears, herringbone gears are typically smaller. This makes them ideally suited for high shock and vibration applications. These types of gears have manufacturing difficulties and high costs, so they are not often used.

Plastic herringbone gears are used in the following industries which are:

  • Mining
  • Marine
  • Heavy industry
Plastic Herringbone Gear

The plastic herringbone gears can have specific applications. Examples include:

  • They are used in milling.
  • They are applied in steam turbines.
  • They are used in ship propulsion.

Plastic Hypoid Gears

Plastic hypoid gears are similar to spiral bevel gears, but their operating shafts do not intersect, as is the case in spiral bevel gears. In plastic hypoid gears, the bearings support the shafts on either end of the shaft because the arrangement has the pinion set on a different plane than the gear.

Plastic hypoid gears are used in the following industries:

  • Cement
  • Food
  • Beverage
  • Mining
  • Energy
  • Bulk material handling
Plastic Hypoid Gears

The plastic hypoid gears have applications such as:

  • They are used in small to medium conveyors.
  • They are used in small mixers.
  • They are used in crushers.
  • They are utilized in water treatment.

Plastic Internal or Planetary Gears

Planetary gears have teeth that are cut around the internal diameter of one gear and a spur gear (or several) meshes with these center teeth. This, in turn, allows it to run around internal diameter. Teeth can also be designed in such a way that they are on the outer of the larger gear, so additional gears can run around its outer diameter. These types of gears are commonly used in automotive gearboxes.

Plastic Internal Gears

Plastic Miter Gears

Plastic miter gears come with characteristics such as:

  • Module: 0.5-1.5
  • Material: duracon (R)(M90-44)
  • Hardening: none
  • Tooth finish: injection molded
  • Grade: JIS 6
  • These gears are made through injection molding.
  • They are low priced gears and suitable for light loads
Plastic Miter Gears

Plastic Rack or Rack & Pinion Gears

The rotational motion is converted into linear motion by these types of gears. The arrangement of the teeth is along a straight bar, which has a cylindrical mating gear. One gear axis is fixed. These gears offer short oscillating strokes and are used in steering systems, conveyors, and machinery used for lifting.

 Plastic Racks

Plastic racks come with characteristics such as:

  • Module: 1-3
  • Length: 500, 1000mm
  • Material: polyacetal
  • Hardening: none
  • Tooth finish: cut (non-ground)
  • Grade: KHK R001 5

Plastic Screw Gears

Plastic screw gears come with characteristics such as:

  • Module: 1-3
  • Material: MC901
  • Hardening: none
  • Tooth Finish: cut (non-ground)
  • Grade: JIS N10 equivalent
  • These gears can be used with no lubrication.
Plastic Screw Gears

Plastic Spur Gears

These types of gears are the most used and they are easy to recognize because of their teeth that protrude out from the perimeter. Their teeth and the shaft axis are parallel to each other.

Plastic Spur Gears

Plastic spur gears do not generate thrust force in the axial direction. They are mounted on axes that are parallel to transfer movement between two shafts that are also parallel.

Characteristics of spur gears include:

  • Module: 1-3
  • Material: MC901
  • Hardening: none
  • Tooth Finish: Cut (non-ground)
  • Grade: JIS N9 equivalent

The plastic spur gears can be applied in industries such as:

  • Food Industries
  • Beverage
  • Automotive
  • Forest
  • Energy
  • Unit Handling

The plastic spur gears can have specific applications. Examples include:

  • They are used in small conveyors.
  • They are used in package handling equipment.
  • They are utilized in farm machinery.
  • They are utilized in planetary gear sets.
  • They are used in automotive.

Plastic Spur Gears With Steel Core

Their applications are generally the same as the plastic spur gears without a steel core.

However, characteristics of spur gears with steel core include:

  • Module: 1-2
  • Material: MC901/SUS303
  • Hardening: none
  • Tooth finish: cut (non-ground)
  • Grade: JIS N9
Plastic Spur Gears With Steel Core

Plastic Worm Wheels

These types of gears transmit power through right angles on shafts that are non-intersecting. Worm gears produce thrust load and are mostly suitable for high shock load applications. However worm gears offer very low efficiency compared to other gears. Worm gears are often used in lower horsepower applications due to their low efficiency.

Plastic worm wheels come with characteristics such as:

  • Module: 0.5-0.8
  • Speed ratio: 10-60
  • Material: polyacetal
  • Hardening: none
  • Tooth Finish: cut (non-ground)
  • Grade: KHK W0025
Plastic Worm Wheel

Plastic worm gears are used in the following industries:

  • Food
  • Beverage
  • Automotive
  • Forest
  • Energy
  • Unit handling

The plastic worm gears can have specific applications. Examples include:

  • They are used in small conveyors.
  • They are used in package handling equipment.
  • They are applied in farm machinery.

Chapter 4: Plastic Gear Advantages and Disadvantages

This chapter will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of plastic gears.

Advantages of Plastic Gears

Larger and Stronger Parts

One major advantage of plastic gears is their ability to handle more load due to their tooth bending and load sharing properties. Bending stress can try to bend the teeth of the gear and shear the teeth from the bulk material of the gear. These forces cause fatigue and static loading, leading to failures by tooth breakage. Contact stress can cause failure in the surface of the gear teeth and wear. In other words, plastic gear teeth spread the load over more teeth by deflecting more under load. The load sharing capacity increases the load bearing capacity of the plastic gears.

Lower Cost

Generally, the production of plastic gears is less expensive than that of metal gears. Plastic gears do not require secondary finishing; they typically represent a 50% to 90% saving relative to metal gears.

Molding Design Freedom

Molding plastic offers a greater diversity of efficient gear geometries than metal. Molding is an ideal process for producing shapes such as internal gears, worm gears and cluster gears, where cost of production in metal can be prohibitive.

Plastic Gear Accuracy

Plastic gears can achieve high levels of precision. This can be done using consistent material quality and accurate molding process control.

Corrosion-Resistant Benefit

Plastic gears are immune to corrosion, unlike metal gears. They can be used in water meters, chemical plant control because of their relative inertness. They can also be used in any other applications in which metal gears can corrode or degrade.

Light-Weight Advantage

Plastic gears are lighter in weight than gears of the same size but made out of metal. The specific gravities of nylon and acetal are closer to 1.4, while the specific gravity of steel is 7.85.

Good Shock Absorption

Plastic gears can deflect to absorb impact loads than metal gears. Plastic gears also distribute localized loads that result in misalignment and tooth errors.

Reduced Noise

Plastic gears reduce noise levels because of the plastics’ noise-dampening properties, resulting in a quiet running gear. This is the reason why plastics are essential for tooth shapes with high precision and flexible materials required for quieter drives

Inherent Lubrication

Plastic gears have inherent lubricity, making them ideal for printers, toys, and other applications that require low load and dry gears.

However, more specifically, plastic gears offered by companies like PowerCore have advantages such as:

Metal-core

  • It allows for a precise and safe attachment to a shaft
  • Reduces up to 50% thermal expansion of the plastic portion of the gear. This allows us to machine gears with up to 11 AGMA quality.
  • Available in stainless steel for corrosive applications and Aluminum where low inertia is required.
  • Dissipates heat from plastic gear teeth

Polymer Material

  • Does not absorb moisture i.e., the gears retain their precise dimensions in humid or washdown environments
  • Resistant to chemicals/corrosion
  • Stress-free, highly crystalline structure
  • Absorbs shock and vibrations
  • Noise reduction in gears up to 6 dBa
  • Can operate in sub-zero temperatures

Gear Sizes and Gear Types

  • We are making gears from OD=1/2” to OD=28”
  • Spur, helical, bevel, worm gears and shafts, internal gears, rack and pinion
  • Improved transmission efficiency, e.g., 7 to 8% in worm gears, energy savings
  • PowerCore gears can be mated with metal gears
  • No lubrication required

Engineering and Gear Design

  • Proprietary gear life calculation
  • Gear design and gear sizing
  • Backlash free tooth modification
  • Low friction, temperature reducing tooth modification

Disadvantages of Plastic Gears

  • When they are under strain, plastic gears can warp. This can be detrimental if the plastic must operate in high temperatures or if the levels of humidity change.
  • Greater dimensional instabilities resulting from a larger coefficient of thermal expansion and absorption of moisture
  • Plastic gears can be negatively affected by certain chemicals
  • The initial mold to develop tooth form and dimensions require high costs

However, the disadvantages of plastic gears are far outweighed by their advantages.

Conclusion

Plastic gears are manufactured from two main methods: the injection molding process and the machining process. The type of process for manufacturing depends on the volume of the parts needed to be produced and other factors like the required strength of the parts, etc. As already mentioned, plastic gears offer many advantages over metal gears. Each type of plastic gear has a unique characteristic that makes it suitable for a particular application. Therefore, caution must be taken when selecting a plastic gear for a particular application, for successful and efficient performance.

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Table of Contents

Plastic Gears; their Manufacture and Functioning

Plastic Gears Design and Materials

Types of Plastic Gears

Plastic Gear Advantages and Disadvantages

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