Powder Metal Gears
Advantages of Powder Metal gears
Compared to a conventional gear manufacturing process, the powder metallurgy process has the ability to offer several distinct advantages. This is particularly visible, with gears made out of powder metallurgy eliminating the need for machining and there is no scrap losses either. There is easy provision to form internal configurations (splines, keys, keyways). These are formed simultaneously with the gear profile while the molding process is on. Following process advantages are associated with powder metal gear manufacture:
- Considerable economy in mass production
- Uniformity in the features and dimensions of parts
- Manufacturing of multilevel gears
- Close monitoring of density
- Reduction and even elimination of the need for secondary operations
- Improved surface finishes
- Self-lubricating ability
- Noise reduction due to sound-dampening qualities
- Weight reduction
Manufacturing of Powder Metal Gears
There is two methods available for the production of Powder metal gears.
Press and Sinter method
This is a typical process where fine metal powder along with alloying ingredients are molded under very high pressure. Which is then fired to fuse the mass. It is a relatively high-production technology for manufacturing high-strength gears at a comparatively low cost. Metals typically used for the purposes of gears can be iron-based mixtures, bronzes and even brasses. Powder metals though costly, but it offsets this by the advantage of minimal scrap losses.
| Name | Composition(%) | Specification Designation | Ultimate Tensile Strength (psi) | Comments |
| Iron-Copper Alloy | Copper 7-11 Iron-remainder | Copper 7-11 Iron-remainder | 40,000 | Gives a controlled amount of porosity;perfect for lubricant impregnation |
| Copper-Steel Alloy | Iron 94,0 min. Copper 1.0 - 4.0 Other 2.0 max. | ASTM B310-58T Class A Type II | 60,000 | Fair enough for Gear applications subject to high impact |
| Carbon-Steel Alloy | Iron 95.5 min. Silicon 0.3 max. Aluminum 0.2 min Other 3.0 | SAE Type 6 Class C ASTM B310-58T | 50,000 | Excellent wear resistance |
| Alloy Steel AISI 4630 |
Carbon 0.30 Manganese 0.50 Silicon 0.25 Nitrogen 1.7 Molybdenum 2.5 Iron balance |
160,000 | High strength sintered powder material | |
| Phosphor Bronze |
Copper 87.0 Min. Tin 9.5 - 10.5 Phosphor 0.3 - 0.5 Other 1.5 max. |
SAE Type 1 Class A ASTM B202-58T Type 1 Class A Mil B 5687A Type 1 Comp.A |
30,000 | One of the strong sinter bronzes |
Gear Rolling
To do away and improve upon the traditional "press and sinter" method Gear rolling is now increasingly used for making gears in powder metallurgy. This is because gear production have not been able to produce the same level of gears as with that of precision grinding. This process can take the manufacturing standards to AGMA 10 or more.
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