Finite element analysis of gears manufactured using additive manufacturing

With the increasing complexity of industrial products, the requirements for environmental protection, and resource conservation, new manufacturing technologies have become necessary. 3D printing or additive manufacturing (AM) can be used to create parts by adding material layer by layer. The analysis of the data obtained by applying finite element method (FEM) on gears produced from polylactic acid (PLA), thermic treated PLA and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) shows the equivalent stress values obtained numerically in comparison with those obtained experimentally through tensile testing. Thus, there is a positive percentage difference between tensile strength σeq,max for PLA material of 18.32%, for ABS material of 15.98%, and for treated PLA material of 18.39%. Thus, the contact stresses identified by the numerical method in the contact area of the gear teeth flanks were compared with the average compressive stresses obtained experimentally for specimens made from PLA, ABS, and treated PLA materials, printed with a 100% infill percentage. There is a percentage difference between these values of 64.4% for PLA material, 63.18% for ABS material, and 48.21% for treated PLA material. This indicates that the gears made from the considered materials can operate without issues if no other loads are applied. The integration of numerical simulation results with experimental data validates the accuracy of the analysis methods, providing a solid basis for decision-making in the design and improvement of gear wheels.