Researchers at Bradley University have been collaborating with engineers at Winzeler Gear to develop tools
for the prediction of plastic gear tooth failure for any given set of operating conditions and to classify failure
modes of these gears. The goal of the project is to characterize and predict the failure of plastic gears over a
range of given parameters. The experiments to characterize the performance have been conducted on a gear
dynamometer. The dynamometer uses two polymer spur gears in mesh; one gear attached to the drive shaft
which is driven by a digitally controlled DC motor and the other attached to a parallel driven shaft which is
coupled to a digitally controlled hysteresis brake. The dynamometer is equipped with a set of optical encoders
which are attached to each of the shafts. Since temperature of the gear is a primary concern, the
dynamometer is also equipped with an infrared temperature sensor. The sensor allows for measurement of
the tooth flank temperature as it traverses into and out of the mesh zone for either the drive or driven gear. To
help control the temperature of the gears, a fan was mounted above the mesh and blows cooling air on the test
gears. .