Worm gears are commonly used in windshield wipers and power windows of automobiles. The goal of this work is to study several material problems, such as production bottlenecks and excessive scrap, resulting from the production of steel worm shafts. A possible solution is explored in this work by characterizing material properties of a promising candidate (glass reinforced acetal copolymer) that can replace steel in worm gears. Finite element analysis of the worm thread under static loading and constant temperature is performed in order to calculate the size of the new composite part. The results obtained in this work support the possibility of manufacturing composite worm shafts that could operate at elevated temperatures without sacrificing part performance, while reducing part weight leading to improved fuel economy, noise reduction, and manufacturing problems associated with the steel part. The finite element analysis shows that compared to a steel gear, the axial pitch of a composite worm gear must be increased by 250% in order for it to operate without failure for 10 years at a constant temperature of 23%C. This increase in the axial pitch would ramp up to 400%, if the composite worm gear is expected to operate for 10 years at a constant temperature of 100 C.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.