The gear is made of VESTAKEEP® PEEK and tested on Evonik's gear test stand.
Whether in AdBlue or in oil pumps, mass balance differentials, electric motors or automotive interior sensing systems, the performance of gears made of polymer materials is expected to increase.
This requires the development of gear systems that can work under dry and lubricated conditions. These gear systems are used not only in automobiles but also in mechanical equipment.
Studies have shown that up to 20% of the car's energy consumption is caused by friction under the hood, for which the gears installed in the engine and transmission play a particularly important role!
They must be highly sophisticated and subject to large tolerances caused by external influences such as humidity, lubrication and temperature fluctuations.
Compared to conventional metal gears, high-tech plastic gears have lower friction losses, which reduces fuel consumption and costs associated with frequent metal rework.
Another big advantage is that the plastic gears are still quieter.
For many years, Evonik has been offering a wide range of molding compounds for high performance gear applications, including the enhanced and unreinforced PEEK molding compound VESTAKEEP®, some with special additives to meet various custom requirements. .
Other products are based on P84® NT polyimide, VESTAMID® modified polyamide 12 and VESTAMID® HTplus polyphthalamide.
To further promote this progress, in September 2018, Evonik built a plastic gear test rig at its Center for Friction and Sport Capacity in Darmstadt, Germany, working closely with customers to develop special applications.
This new gear test stand can be tested at -20~ 260 °C depending on lubrication or under dry running conditions.
'The test results provide us with important gear characteristics such as root and flank strength and wear data. We can even set different process conditions and simulate lubrication conditions. ' Evonik's high performance polymer business product line business developer David Schmitz and Volker Strohm talk about 'developing new options for custom compounding for future applications'.
They will give a speech on 'Reducing friction and wear with high performance polymers' at the FAKUMA Forum on October 18, 2018.