Improvement of mechanical properties and accuracy of plastic gears enables their applicable fields to have been widespread even for power transmission. They are desired to be used in more severe conditions. One of advantages of plastic gears is the capability of driving without lubricants. For plastic gears being used under the severe conditions, however, lubricants could be used for enhancing their load capacities. In the present study, fatigue tests of POM gears were performed in order to determine effects of lubricants on their service lives. As a result, it was confirmed that lubricants reduced temperature rise of tooth flank, and brought longer service lives of plastic gears independently on temperature. And fatigue tests of POM gears, in which various mating gear materials such as steel, POM, PA46, and PA66 were used, were also performed in order to investigate effects of mating gear materials on service lives of POM gears. It was found that POM gears showed longer service lives when mating gears were not POM gears. Furthermore, using these fatigue test results, the lubricant factor and mating gear factor for the load capacity calculation of plastic gears were calculated according to the JIS entitled draft “Estimation of tooth bending strength of cylindrical plastic gears”.
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