GSW0330 Tooth root stress analysis of plastic gears combining white light photoviscoelastic and digital correlation techniques

Abstract

Plastic gears have recently been used for power transmission. So, it becomes very important to evaluate time dependent stresses around tooth roots of plastic gears, finally. It should, owever, be pointed out that an effective and reliable technique for the purpose has not yet been proposed. The authors discuss a new technique developed by combination of the elliptically polarized white light photoviscoelastic (EPWLP) technique and the color digital correlation technique to perform tooth root stress analysis on a rotating plastic gear. The experimental results show good qualitative agreement with those by FEM viscoelastic analysis.