A novel approach for wear assessment of plastic gears using image processing
Abstract
Plastic gears offer numerous advantages, poised to increasingly supplant metal gears across various applications. Notably, they boast silent operation, resistance to corrosion, and lightweight properties which make them ideal for wind turbine systems. Moreover, the expanding array of plastic materials, including eco-plastics and their natural fibre composites, underscores the imperative for ongoing research into plastic gears and their composites. Addressing existing challenges is pivotal to fully harnessing their potential in sustainable development efforts. The wear of plastic gears is an important factor in plastic gear design and optimization. This paper primarily examines wear assessment in polypropylene (PP) gears by proposing and implementing a novel approach to measure the amount of wear on gear tooth profile using an image processing technique. By subjecting plastic gears to wear experimentation and employing direct image processing methods, the percentage of damage can be accurately evaluated. These percentages were 0.2% and 2.5% for 2 and 5 hours respectively. This underscores the boundless possibilities of integrating image processing techniques into the assessment of plastic gears, paving the way for deeper exploration and optimization of polymer materials for plastic gear manufacturing.
References
[1]Mao K, Langlois P, Hu Z, et al. The wear and thermal mechanical contact behaviour of machine cut polymer gears. Wear. 2015; 332–333: 822–826. doi: 10.1016/j.wear.2015.01.084
[2]Elsiedy M, Hegazi H, Elkassas A, Zayed A. Optimum Design of Metallic and Plastic Cylindrical Gears Using Naturally-Inspired Algorithms: A Review. Journal of Engineering Research. 2023; 7(6).
[3]Ignatijev A, Glodež S, Kramberger J. Computational Model for Analysing the Tooth Deflection of Polymer Gears. Polymers. 2024; 16(5): 677. doi: 10.3390/polym16050677
[4]Jain M, Patil S, Ghosh SS. A review on failure characteristics of polymeric gears. In: Proceedings of the 1st international conference on advances in mechanical engineering and nanotechnology (ICAMEN 2019); 8–9 March 2019; Jaipur, India.
[5]Snyder L. At the PEEK of polymer food chain. Gear Technology. 2010; 26–28.
[6]Zorko D, Tavčar J, Bizjak M, et al. High cycle fatigue behaviour of autoclave-cured woven carbon fibre-reinforced polymer composite gears. Polymer Testing. 2021; 102: 107339. doi: 10.1016/j.polymertesting.2021.107339
[7]Singh PK, Siddhartha, Singh AK. An investigation on the thermal and wear behavior of polymer based spur gears. Tribology International. 2018; 118: 264–272. doi: 10.1016/j.triboint.2017.10.007
[8]Mao K, Greenwood D, Ramakrishnan R, et al. The wear resistance improvement of fibre reinforced polymer composite gears. Wear. 2019; 426–427: 1033–1039. doi: 10.1016/j.wear.2018.12.043
[9]Elsiedy MA, Zayed AA, Hegazi HA, et al. Optimization of polyoxymethylene spur gear pair using meta-heuristic algorithms: A comparative study. Journal of Engineering Tribology. 2024; 238(9): 1153–1174. doi: 10.1177/13506501241250369
[10]Elsiedy MA, Hegazi HA, El-Kassas AM, et al. Multi-objective design optimization of polymer spur gears using a hybrid approach. Journal of Engineering and Applied Science. 2024; 71(1). doi: 10.1186/s44147-024-00443-5
[11]Ghazali WM, Idris DMND, Sofian AH, et al. A review on failure characteristics of polymer gear. EDP Sciences. 2017; 90: 01029. doi: 10.1051/matecconf/20179001029
[12]Tunalioglu MS, Torun T. The investigation of wear on three-dimensional printed spur gears. Journal of Process Mechanical Engineering. 2021; 235(6): 2027–2034. doi: 10.1177/09544089211027732
[13]Tunalioglu MS, Agca BV. Wear and Service Life of 3-D Printed Polymeric Gears. Polymers. 2022; 14(10): 2064. doi: 10.3390/polym14102064
[14]Hriberšek M, Kulovec S, Ikram A, et al. Technological optimization and fatigue evaluation of carbon reinforced polyamide 3D printed gears. Heliyon. 2024; 10(13): e34037. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e34037
[15]Muratovic E, Muminovic A, Pervan N, et al. Assessing Wear Coefficient and Predicting Surface Wear of Polymer Gears: A Practical Approach. Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research. 2024; 14(4): 15923–15930. doi: 10.48084/etasr.7421
[16]Hlebanja G, Hriberšek M, Erjavec M, et al. Durability Investigation of plastic gears. MATEC Web of Conferences. 2019; 287: 02003. doi: 10.1051/matecconf/201928702003
[17]İmrek H. Performance improvement method for Nylon 6 spur gears. Tribology International. 2009; 42(3): 503–510. doi: 10.1016/j.triboint.2008.08.011
[18]Mao K. A new approach for polymer composite gear design. Wear. 2007; 262(3–4): 432–441. doi: 10.1016/j.wear.2006.06.005
[19]Mao K, Chetwynd DG, Millson M. A new method for testing polymer gear wear rate and performance. Polymer Testing. 2020; 82: 106323. doi: 10.1016/j.polymertesting.2019.106323
[20]Mao K, Hooke CJ, Walton D. Acetal gear wear and performance prediction under unlubricated running condition. Journal of Synthetic Lubrication. 2006; 23(3): 137–152. doi: 10.1002/jsl.17
[21]Mao K, Li W, Hooke CJ, et al. Polymer gear surface thermal wear and its performance prediction. Tribology International. 2010; 43(1–2): 433–439. doi: 10.1016/j.triboint.2009.07.006
[22]Mao K, Langlois P, Madhav N, et al. A comparative study of polymer gears made of five materials. Gear Technology. 2019.
[23]Mao K, Li W, Hooke CJ, et al. Friction and wear behaviour of acetal and nylon gears. Wear. 2009; 267(1–4): 639–645. doi: 10.1016/j.wear.2008.10.005
[24]Breedsa AR, Kukureka SN, Maob K, et al. Wear behaviour of acetal gear pairs. Wear. 1993; 166: 85–91. doi: 10.1016/0043-1648(93)90282-Q
[25]Kukureka SN, Chen YK, Hooke CJ, Liao P. The wear mechanisms of acetal in unlubricated rolling-sliding contact. Wear. 1995; 185: 1–8. doi: 10.1016/0043-1648(94)06575-6
[26]Li W, Wood A, Weidig R, et al. An investigation on the wear behaviour of dissimilar polymer gear engagements. Wear. 2011; 271(9–10): 2176–2183. doi: 10.1016/j.wear.2010.11.019
[27]Xu X, Gao F, Lopera Valle A, et al. Wear Performance of Commercial Polyoxymethylene Copolymer and Homopolymer Injection Moulded Gears. Tribology in Industry. 2021; 43(4): 561–573. doi: 10.24874/ti.1039.01.21.04
[28]Zorko D, Demšar I, Tavčar J. An investigation on the potential of bio-based polymers for use in polymer gear transmissions. Polymer Testing. 2021; 93: 106994. doi: 10.1016/j.polymertesting.2020.106994
[29]Johnney MA, Kumar P, Senthilvelan S. The effect of the mating gear surface over the durability of injection-molded polypropylene spur gears. Journal of Engineering Tribology. 2016; 230(12): 1401–1414. doi: 10.1177/1350650116635423
[30]Černe B, Petkovšek M. High-speed camera-based optical measurement methods for in-mesh tooth deflection analysis of thermoplastic spur gears. Materials & Design. 2022; 223: 111184. doi: 10.1016/j.matdes.2022.111184
[31]Soudmand BH, Shelesh-Nezhad K. Study on the gear performance of polymer-clay nanocomposites by applying step and constant loading schemes and image analysis. Wear. 2020; 458–459: 203412. doi: 10.1016/j.wear.2020.203412
[32]Bravo A, Koffi D, Toubal L, et al. Life and damage mode modeling applied to plastic gears. Engineering Failure Analysis. 2015; 58: 113–133. doi: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2015.08.040
[33]Zaamout M. The Wear Behaviour of Nylon 66 and its Composites under Impact Loading. Journal of King Abdulaziz University-Engineering Sciences. 2005; 16(1): 79–95. doi: 10.4197/eng.16-1.6
[34]Mertens AJ, Senthilvelan S. Mechanical and tribological properties of carbon nanotube reinforced polypropylene composites. Journal of Materials: Design and Applications. 2016; 232(8): 669–680. doi: 10.1177/1464420716642620
Copyright (c) 2024 Mahmoud G. Elkasrawi, Marah A. Elsiedy, Hesham A. Hegazi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.