299

Wear characteristics of polyamide

nanocomposite spur gears
C Gurunathan, S Kirupasankar, and R Gnanamoorthy*
Department of Design and Manufacturing (IIITD&M), Indian Institute of Information Technology,
Kancheepuram, IIT Madras Campus, Chennai, India

The manuscript was received on 26 November 2010 and was accepted after revision for publication on 1 February 2011.

DOI: 10.1177/1350650111401282

Abstract: Polymer nanocomposites have received considerable research attention in the past
decade due to its remarkable improvement in tensile, fatigue, and tribological characteristics.
This article reports the wear characteristics of pristine polyamide 6 and polyamide 6 nanocom-
posite (PA6NC) spur gears. The nanocomposite was made by melt intercalation method and
injection moulded into gears. Molecular level interaction of nano-size reinforcement enhances
the mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposite. The performance of gears at different
torque levels were studied using a power absorption type gear test rig. The gear tooth surface
temperature affects the wear rate and service life. The enhanced mechanical properties of PA6NC
results in reduced frictional and hysteresis heat generation associated with less wear and
increased life.

Keywords: gear, polymer nanocomposite, heat generation, wear

1 INTRODUCTION During meshing, gear teeth experience fatigue

Gear is an efficient machine component used for
transferring power and/or motion from one shaft to
another shaft. Over the centuries, several metallic and
non-metallic gear materials were developed and their
performances were extensively studied by many
researchers. Polymers and their composites are
used because of their lightweight, corrosion resis-
tance, less maintenance, quiet operation, economic
fabrication, and less cost. However, the time-depen-
dent response, low strength, low elastic modulus,
thermal degradation, and hygroscopic nature limit
their application. Over the past few decades, research
is active in the area of strengthening the polymer
by organic/inorganic reinforcements. Almost any
desired material property can be achieved in polymer
matrix composite (PMC) by selecting a proper com-
bination of matrix, reinforcement material, size, and
its orientation.
*Corresponding author: Department of Design and Manufacturing
(IIITD&M), Indian Institute of Information Technology, IIT Madras
Campus, Kancheepuram, Chennai 600 036, India.
email: gmoorthy@iitm.ac.in
load and two mating gear teeth rub against each
other at high contact stress. Under this operating
condition, polymer gear generates heat within and
at the surface. The poor thermal conductivity of
polymeric materials causes the generated heat to
accumulate, resulting in temperature rise. Polymer
degrades at elevated temperature and this signifi-
cantly affects the gear performance. Hence, any
method that could reduce the temperature by few
degrees would be more beneficial to improve the
performance of polymer gear. PMC material is
used as a good alternative for pristine polymer.
Earlier research on different matrix and reinforce-
ment materials report that polymer composite gear
has superior performance in comparison with pris-
tine polymer gear [1–4].
Most of the conventional polymer composites use
a large quantity of micron-size reinforcements
(10–40% by weight) to achieve the desired properties.
In polymer gear, wear is the dominant failure mode
[5, 6]. The surface roughness and gear tooth profile
affect the gear wear. Presence of micron-size hard
reinforcement in the polymer matrix in large quantity
affects the gear geometry and surface roughness sig-
nificantly [2]. Hence, conventional composites are

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300 C Gurunathan, S Kirupasankar, and R Gnanamoorthy
Table 1 Mechanical properties of the gear material [11]
Properties Pristine polyamide 6
Tensile strength (MPa) 53.1 (5%)
Tensile modulus (MPa) 1500 (5%)
Glass transition temperature (K) 310
Hardness (HRB) – –
Hardness over the skin (Shore D) 72
Hardness after removing the skin (Shore D) 68
prone to severe wear. Moreover, the orientation of the
reinforcement governs the degree of enhancement in
mechanical properties of PMC, and it is difficult to
keep the orientation in the most effective direction
throughout the gear tooth geometry. Thus, only a
fraction of micron-size reinforcement is effectively
used to enhance the performance of gear. In gear
application, an ideal reinforcement is one which
can enhance the material property independent of
its orientation and without affecting the surface
roughness and tooth shape.
Recent studies on the polymer composites with
nano-size (109 m) reinforcement, known as polymer
nanocomposite, showed a tremendous improvement
in mechanical properties [7–11]. The improvement in
mechanical properties is observed only if proper
combination and composition of ingredients are
selected [12]. The polymer nanocomposites derive
their superior properties even at the low volume of
reinforcement addition due to their high surface area
to volume ratio and strong adhesion with the polymer
[13, 14]. Uniform dispersion of nano-size clay rein-
forcement in polyamide 6 significantly increases the
strength and elastic modulus [11]. Polyamide 6 nano-
composites (PA6NCs) are also found to exhibit better
fatigue properties [15]. Presence of nano-size clay
reinforcement reduces the coefficient of friction
under dry sliding conditions [10]. PA6NC has higher
glass transition temperature and thermal stability
compared to pristine polyamide and it retains the
material property for a long duration [11]. These
desirable characteristics of PA6NC attract the authors
to investigate its performance as a gear material. In
this investigation, pristine polyamide 6 (PPA6) and
PA6NC gears were developed and their performance
and failure modes are reported.
2 MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
The nanocomposite was produced from commer-
cially available extrusion grade polyamide 6 granules
and organically modified layered silicate hectorite.
The nanocomposite pellets with 5% clay content (by
weight) were produced by dispersing the nano-size
clay into the polymer matrix using melt intercalation
method. The details are reported elsewhere [12].
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Polyamide 6 þ 5% nano-size clay Stainless steel (AISI 304)
63.9 (5%) 589 (1%)
3200 (5%) 1.93  105 (1%)
318 –
88
75 –
70 –
Table 2 Test conditions
Rotation speed (r/min) 800
Applied torque (Nm) 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3
Pitch-line velocity (m/s) 0.974
Lubrication No
Room temperature (K) 300  2
Relative humidity (%) 550  4
The PPA6 and PA6NC pellets were dried at 333 K for
8 h in an oven to remove the moisture. The dried pel-
lets were injection moulded to test gear at a pressure
of 125 MPa and at a temperature of 513 K. Separate
test specimens were made as per ASTM standard to
measure the mechanical properties of the materials,
and the properties are presented in the Table 1. The
hardness of polymer is measured using Shore
Durometer and reported in Shore D scale. The tensile
strength and modulus are obtained from tensile test.
The test gear has 17 teeth, 2-mm module, 20 pres-
sure angle, and 6-mm face width. A stainless steel
(AISI 304) gear with a similar nomenclature was
made by hobbing process and used as mating gear.
The centre-line average surface roughness values
measured using the surface profilometer of the
moulded polymer and stainless steel gears are
nearly the same (2–3 mm). The hardness and rough-
ness of the surface can also be measured using sur-
face force microscopy and atomic force microscopy
[16, 17]. Before conducting the test, the gears were
cleaned using ethanol in an ultrasonic cleaner and
dried for 12 h to eliminate the effect of surface con-
tamination on the gear performance. The tooth thick-
ness was measured over the marked four teeth using
the gear tooth micrometer with an accuracy of 1 mm.
The weight of the gear before and after the test was
measured using an electronic weighing balance with
an accuracy of 0.1 mg. The gears were tested under
dry conditions in a power absorption type gear test rig
[3], wherein the required torque is applied by adjust-
ing the rheostat connected to the generator. In this
investigation, the test gear was used as driver gear and
stainless steel gear as driven gear. To understand the
effect of applied torque on the wear of PPA6 and
PA6NC gears, experiments were conducted at dif-
ferent torque levels and at a constant speed under
laboratory atmosphere (Table 2). The surface
 Wear characteristics of polyamide nanocomposite spur gears
(a)
10 mm
Fig. 1 (a) Photograph of PA6NC gear; (b) close-up view of the gear test rig
temperature of the test gear was measured using a
non-contact type infrared absorption sensor with an
accuracy of 0.01 C. Sound level, torque on shafts, and
vibration were monitored through sound level meter,
torque transducer, and accelerometer, respectively.
Figure 1(b) shows the close view of the gear test
unit. All the data were continuously recorded using
a computerized data acquisition system. The experi-
ment was run till the fracture of the gear tooth or 1
million revolutions of gear, whichever is earlier. The
sound level and accelerometer readings indicate the
condition of the gear tooth. Failure of gear tooth
causes a sudden rise in vibration. Images of the gear
tooth were captured using a video microscope.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Gear temperature
During meshing, polymer gear generates heat, result-
ing in temperature rise. Figures 2(a) and (b) shows the
rise in surface temperature of PPA6 and PA6NC gears
at different torque levels, respectively. In PPA6 and
PA6NC gears, the increase in applied torque raises
the surface temperature and it increases rapidly
during the initial stages at all torque levels tested.
At low torque level (1.5 Nm), the surface temperature
of PPA6 gear reaches around 342–344 K and, after a
large number of cycles, it increases slowly. At 2-Nm
torque level, the rate of increase in surface tempera-
ture is 1.2  103 K/cycle and remains unaltered till
the final fracture. At high torque level (3 Nm), the rate
of increase in surface temperature keeps on increas-
ing from the beginning to final fracture. Other
researchers have also reported a similar temperature
pattern in polymer gears [3, 18]. In PA6NC gear,
the surface temperature initially increases rapidly
and then stabilizes at 319, 324, and 333 K for 1.5, 2,
and 2.5 Nm torque levels, respectively. After the
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301
(b) Infrared absorption
temperature sensor
Accelerometer
Test gear
Sound-level meter
stabilization, the surface temperature is within a
short range till the final fracture. At 3-Nm torque
level, PA6NC gear exhibited no thermal stabilization
and the rate of increase in surface temperature was
high compared to other torque levels. The surface
temperature of PA6NC gear is less than that of PPA6
gear at all torque levels tested.
Thermal softening is a major issue in the compo-
nents made of polymer and polymer composites. The
rise in temperature weakens the hydrogen bonds that
exist between the polymer chains and result in deg-
radation of mechanical properties. During meshing,
polymer gear generates heat at the tooth surface and
within the bulk material due to friction and hysteresis
effect, respectively. At low torque level, frictional
heating dominates the gear tooth temperature and
at high torque level, frictional and hysteresis heating.
Gear undergoes non-conformal contact and expe-
riences high contact pressure. The contact pressure
(P) can be calculated using the Hertizian equation
2Fn
P¼ ð1Þ
bL
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
   
2Fn 1  21 =E1 þ 1  22 =E2
b¼ ð2Þ
L ð1=d1 Þ þ ð1=d2 Þ
Equation (1) can be written in terms of gear speci-
fications as below [19]
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 
Fn uþ1 2
P¼    
Ld1 sin  u 1  1 =E1 þ 1  22 =E2
2
ð3Þ
where Fn is the normal load,  the pressure angle, 
the Poisson’s ratio, E the modulus of elasticity of the
material, d the pitch circle diameter, u the gear ratio,
L the tooth width of the gear, b the half contact width,
and the subscripts 1 and 2 the pinion and gear,
respectively. The contact pressure between the
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302 C Gurunathan, S Kirupasankar, and R Gnanamoorthy
Fig. 2 Surface temperature measured in: (a) PPA6;
(b) PA6NC gears at different torque levels
polymer gear and stainless steel gear under the test
conditions (1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3 Nm) are calculated using
equation (3). For PPA6 gear, the contact stress values
are 53, 61, 68, and 75 MPa and for the PA6NC gear, the
values are 77, 89, 99, and 109 MPa.
Modulus of elasticity of the material affects the area
of contact. Higher the modulus, lower the area of con-
tact and vice versa. The increase in contact area
causes more asperity contact and, thereby, increases
the real area of contact. The surface morphology of
contacting surface and the real area of contact signif-
icantly influences the dry sliding and wear [20, 21].
The PPA6 has low modulus of elasticity compared
with PA6NC and hence, the PPA6 gear has a large
real area of contact. The low strength of PPA6
causes severe asperity deformation and adhesion.
The increased strength of PA6NC due to the addition
of nano-size reinforcement reduces the asperity
deformation and adhesion. Thus, for a given normal
force, PPA6 requires more tangential force to break
the adhesion, resulting in higher coefficient of friction
compared with PA6NC.
During gear meshing, sliding and rolling motions
coexist due to the difference in flank and face length
of the driver and driven gear. The direction of rolling
is unaltered throughout the process but the direction
of sliding is reversed at the pitch point. Hence, in a
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380
PPA6
PA6NC
360
Surface temperature (K)
340
320
300
1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Applied torque (Nm)
Fig. 3 Surface temperature of PPA6 and PA6NC gears
under different torque levels at 9  103 cycles
gear, the direction of sliding is opposite to that of roll-
ing in flank side and they are co-directional in face
side [5]. In polymer gear, the sliding and rolling
actions cause frictional heat generation. The coeffi-
cient of friction in rolling is very small compared to
sliding and, hence, the sliding action dominates the
frictional heat generation. The frictional heat gener-
ation in sliding is equal to mFnVs [22, 23]. Here, m is the
sliding coefficient of friction, Fn the normal force, and
Vs the sliding velocity. During gear meshing, all these
three parameters vary. Under dry sliding condition,
the PPA6 and PA6NC have the coefficients of friction
in the range 0.5–0.55 and 0.2–0.25, respectively [21].
Figure 3 shows the measured surface temperature of
PPA6 and PA6NC gears under different torque levels
at 9  103 cycles (PPA6 and PA6NC gears do not sur-
vive till 9  103 cycles at 30 MPa stress level). The fric-
tional heat generation in PPA6 and PA6NC gears
increase with the increase in applied torque and
this is due to the increase in real area of contact.
PPA6 gear generates 61, 82, 102, and 122 W of fric-
tional heat under the test conditions. Compared to
PPA6, the PA6NC has a lower coefficient of friction
and, hence, generates lower frictional heat (32, 843,
53, and 64 W) under similar operation conditions.
There exists a similar trend between the gear tooth
surface temperature and applied torque. The surface
temperature increases with the increase in applied
torque and PA6NC gear has less surface temperature
compared to PPA6 gear at all torque levels.
Polymer has different loading and unloading path
in the tensile stress–strain diagram and the energy
lost in a loading–unloading cycle is dissipated as
heat. During meshing, each gear tooth is subjected to
fatigue load, resulting in hysteresis heat generation.
 Wear characteristics of polyamide nanocomposite spur gears
The stress concentration at the root fillet region
results in excessive hysteresis heat generation and
thermal softening. Since the gear tooth is analogous
to cantilever beam, the reduction in elastic modulus
leads to large deflection. The tooth deflection affects
the gear action and causes flank–face interaction in
the succeeding tooth. This results in increased heat
generation by friction at the face side (near pitch
point) of current mating tooth and at the flank side
of succeeding tooth (near root fillet). The hysteresis
and frictional heating at the critical region cause the
succeeding tooth to deflect even more when it comes
to single-tooth contact. Since this process affects the
elastic modulus of succeeding teeth, each tooth
deflects larger than the preceding tooth and loses its
load-carrying capacity in a short duration. The
increase in applied torque increases the tooth deflec-
tion and the afore-mentioned phenomena takes
place more vigorously, resulting in significant heat
generation. In PA6NC gear, the tooth deflection and
associated frictional heat generation are considerably
reduced due to its high elastic modulus. In addition,
the PA6NC has higher storage modulus and reduced
damping coefficient [11] and these result in reduced
hysteresis heating. Thus, the reduced frictional and
hysteresis heating and enhanced thermal property
retard the thermal softening in PA6NC gear.
3.2 Gear wear
Earlier studies on polymer gear performance reveal
that the wear is the dominant mode of failure at low
torque levels and it is severe at the flank side com-
pared to face side [5, 6, 24]. The tooth deflection and
the opposite direction of sliding and rolling cause
severe wear at the flank side. To understand the
effect of applied torque in wear, the specific wear
rate of PPA6 and PA6NC gears under different
torque levels were calculated and are shown in
Fig. 4. The specific wear rate (Ws) is calculated using
the difference in weight of the gear before and after
the experiment [19]
Wv
Ws ¼
2zmLNT
where Wv is the wear volume (mm3), z the number of
pinion teeth, m the module (mm), L the tooth width
(mm), and NT the total number of revolution. The
specific wear rate of PA6NC gear is less compared to
PPA6 gear at all test conditions investigated. In PPA6
and PA6NC gears, the specific wear rate increases
with the increase in applied torque and the rate of
increase is less in PA6NC gear compared to PPA6.
Wear under low-modulus polymer-to-steel contact
condition is mainly due to adhesion and/or abrasion.
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303
20.0E-06
PPA6
Specific wear rate (mm/rev)
16.0E-06 PA6NC
12.0E-06
8.0E-06
4.0E-06
00.0E+00
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
Applied torque (Nm)
Fig. 4 Specific wear rate for PPA6 and PA6NC gears at
different torque levels
The formation of transfer layer on the counter surface
determines the dominant mode of wear. Adhesive
wear is predominant in smooth surface [25]. The sur-
face of steel gear is relatively rough (2.5 mm) and,
hence, the wear debris in the form of thin sheets are
formed due to abrasion, forming a transfer layer on
the stainless steel gear surface. The formation of
transfer layer changes the wear mode from abrasion
to adhesive. In adhesive wear, the asperities adhere
with counter surface and the sliding action causes the
joint to rupture and subsequent transfer or removal of
material. As discussed, the modulus of elasticity sig-
nificantly affects the real area of contact. The low
strength and elastic modulus of PPA6 gear result in
severe asperity deformation. The degree of crystallin-
ity of polymer and polymer composites affects the
wear rate [1]. The nano-size clay in PA6NC acts as a
nucleating agent and increases the degree of crystal-
linity [11]. The increased crystallinity reduces the
wear rate in PA6NC gear. The surface temperature
and the thermal stability of the material significantly
affect the wear phenomena in polymeric materials.
At high temperature, the polymer material surface
softens, resulting in severe wear. The rise in surface
temperature is mainly due to frictional heat genera-
tion. The PPA6 gear generates more frictional heat
ð4Þ due to its high coefficient of friction. The low thermal
stability of PPA6 results in high wear rate. The low
coefficient of friction of PA6NC gear reduces the fric-
tional heat generation and the higher thermal stabil-
ity the wear rate. In PPA6 gear, at high torque levels,
gear tooth deflection is severe due to its low elastic
modulus and the flank–face interaction at the suc-
ceeding tooth takes place more vigorously. This
alters the gear action and the extended contact dura-
tion at the flank, causing severe wear. The high elastic
modulus of PA6NC gear reduces the tooth deflection
and wear.
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304 C Gurunathan, S Kirupasankar, and R Gnanamoorthy

3.5 thickness occurs in PPA6 gear between 5  104 and

PPA6 7.5  104 cycles. In PA6NC gear, it occurs between
Gear tooth thickness (mm)

3.4 PA6NC 7.5  104 and 10  104 cycles. In addition, the surface
3.3 temperature directly influences the wear rate [5, 6,
11]. The increase in surface temperature at the later
3.2
stages is also a reason for the increased rate of reduc-
3.1 tion in tooth thickness.
3
3.3 Gear life and failure mode
2.9
0 25000 50000 75000 100000 Figure 6 shows the lives of PPA6 and PA6NC gears at
Number of cycles different test conditions. The enhanced mechanical
Fig. 5 Tooth thickness of PPA6 and PA6NC gears at property results in a higher life in PA6NC gear com-
specific cycles tested at 1.5 Nm torque level and pared to pristine polymer gear at all test conditions.
at 800 r/min At low stress level (15 MPa), the life of PA6NC gear is
about 3.8 times higher and at high stress level
(30 MPa), it is about 2.6 times higher than that of
PPA6 gear. In polymer gear, the mode of use (driver
35
PPA6
or driven) also affects the life [26]. As discussed ear-
30 PA6NC
lier, gear tooth slides during meshing and the direc-
tion is reversed at the pitch point. The driver gear
Bending stress (MPa)

25 always slides towards the pitch point and the driven

20
15
10
1.0E+03 1.0E+04 1.0E+05
Number of cycles
Fig. 6 Bending stress versus number of cycles run by
PPA6 and PA6NC gears
In this investigation, gears were run continuously
till the final fracture, although a limited number of
experiments were conducted with intermittent stops
at definite cycles to investigate the worn surface.
Experiments were stopped at every 25 000 cycles
and the gear tooth thickness was measured at pitch
point using a gear tooth micrometer. Figure 5 shows
the gear tooth thickness of PPA6 and PA6NC gears at
the specific cycles tested at 1.5 Nm torque level. The
high hardness of PA6NC gear cause less change in
tooth thickness compared with PPA6 gear. The test
gears were made using injection moulding process
and there exists a hard skin at the tooth surface. The
skin effect cause reduced wear rate during the initial
stages and, hence, the change in tooth thickness is
low at initial stages. After the removal of hard skin,
the soft material is exposed to contact and, hence,
wear takes place at higher rate. The thickness and
hardness of the skin differ in PPA6 and PA6NC gears
and, hence, the time taken to remove the skin also
differs. Due to this, a sudden change in tooth
gear always slides away from the pitch point. The rel-
ative direction of sliding and rolling actions signifi-
cantly affects the wear rate [5, 6]. Under similar test
condition, the polymer driver gear undergoes severe
wear compared to polymer driving gear and this
1.0E+06 reduces the life of the driver gear. In this investiga-
tion, PPA6 and PA6NC gears were used as driving
gears and, hence, the reported lives of both the
gears are in lower side of their actual capacity.
If they are used as driven gears, then they may survive
for more number of cycles. The increased elastic
modulus and thermal stability of PA6NC gear
reduce the wear and tooth deflection and results in
increased life compared with PA6NC gear. Figure 7
shows the images of failed gear tooth at different
test conditions.
The change in sliding direction causes the change
in direction of frictional force. In driving gear, the
friction force always acts away from the pitch point
and in driven gear, it acts towards the pitch point.
Thus, in driving gear, the frictional force tends to
open the surface or subsurface defect as crack. In
PPA6 gear, at low torque level (1.5 Nm), wear is the
dominant mode of failure. Severe wear takes place at
the single-tooth contact region due to excessive fric-
tional heat generation. The frictional force opens a
crack at the wear groove and in subsequent cycles,
it grows through the thickness and causes final frac-
ture (Fig. 7(a)). Other researchers have also reported a
similar failure pattern in polymer gear [3, 4, 18].
At moderate torque level (2.5 Nm), wear and
tooth deflection occur. The frictional heat generation
softens the surface and rapid wear occurs at the

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 Wear characteristics of polyamide nanocomposite spur gears 305

(a) 1 mm (b) 1 mm (c) 1 mm

PPA6 1.5 Nm PPA6 2.5Nm PPA6 3 Nm

1 mm 1 mm (f) 1 mm
(d) (e)

PA6NC 1.5 Nm PA6NC 2.5 Nm PA6NC

3 Nm

Fig. 7 Images of damaged gear tooth after test: (a) PPA6 gear at 1.5 Nm; (b) PPA6 gear at 2.5 Nm;
(c) PPA6 gear at 3 Nm; (d) PA6NC gear at 1.5 Nm; (e) PA6NC gear at 2.5 Nm; and (f) PA6NC
gear at 3 Nm

single-tooth contact region. The reduction in tooth
thickness causes a stress concentration at the severe
wear region and the tooth deflects about that region
instead of root fillet. This causes an excessive hyster-
esis heat generation at the wear region and acceler-
ates the wear. A crack is generated at the severe wear
region and grows at a rapid rate due to tooth bending
(Fig. 7(b)). At high torque level (3 Nm), severe tooth
deformation occurs due to large deflection of tooth
(Fig. 7(c)). In PA6NC gear, root cracking is observed in
all test conditions and no tooth fails by the crack at
the pitch point. The high elastic modulus significantly
reduces the tooth deflection; hence, the crack is not
generated at the pitch point and it is formed at the
high stressed root fillet region (Figs 7(d) and (e)).
At high torque level (3 Nm), no tooth undergoes
severe deformation. However, a crack is formed at
the severe wear region and grows to final fracture
(Fig. 7(f)).
4 CONCLUSIONS
Based on the investigations carried out on the PPA6
and PA6NC gears, following conclusions are drawn.
1. PA6NC gears exhibit superior performance com-
pared to PPA6 gears due to its high strength, stor-
age modulus, and low damping factor;
2. reduced tooth deflection in PA6NC gear reduces
the abnormal wear at the flank side;
3. the increased hardness and crystallinity reduce the
wear rate in PA6NC gear; and
4. the enhanced thermal property allows the PA6NC
to retain the strength for a long duration and result
in higher gear life.
ß Authors 2011
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