Improving Wear Resistance: Investigating Factors Affecting PLA Gear Wear Produced by FDM 3D Printing.

Abstract

Spur gears play a crucial role in engineering applications by enabling high gear ratios and promoting energy efficiency, especially in high-power and high-speed scenarios. A focus on optimizing additive manufacturing methods, such as fused deposition modeling (FDM), for gear production is key to improving competitiveness over traditional manufacturing techniques. This study examines the impact of key manufacturing parameters, namely infill density, infill pattern, layer thickness, and number of shells, on the wear behavior of PLA gears manufactured by FDM. Through systematic experimentation, different infill densities and patterns, layer thicknesses, and shell numbers were tested while keeping other printing parameters such as platform temperature and extruder temperature constant, along with print speed and orientation. Understanding how these parameters influence gear wear is critical for improving the reliability and performance of additively manufactured gears in real-world applications.