Strength, Durability, and Noise Performance of Binder Jetting and LPBF Gears

Additive manufacturing (AM) emerges as a promising alternative for gear production, offering advantages such as design flexibility, reduced material waste, and faster prototyping cycles.However, the fatigue strength of AM gears is unclear in literature.This study presents a comparative analysis of gears produced using two prominent AM technologies, Binder Jetting (BJT) and Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF), against their conventionally manufactured counterparts.For Binder Jetting, 17-4PH BJT gears were evaluated against 17-4PH gears produced through the conventional chain of hobbing and profile grinding.In the case of LPBF, 20MnCr5 LPBF gears were compared with conventionally manufactured 20MnCr5 gears that underwent hobbing, carburizing, and profile grinding.The load-carrying capacity was assessed through tooth bending fatigue tests using the staircase method to determine strength, followed by contact fatigue tests at fixed torque levels to capture Weibull failure probabilities.The experimental results indicate that, while AM gears currently exhibit a performance gap compared to wrought steel gears, their mechanical behavior is promising for a range of applications.These findings provide valuable insights into the potential of AM for efficient and customized gear production.VI. Strength, Durability, and Noise Performance of Binder Jetting and L-PBF Gears -Guilherme Guimares, M.Sc.