A computational model for analysing the tooth deflection of polymer gears is presented in this paper. Because polymer gears have less stiffness compared to metal gears, the proposed approach considers a comprehensive analysis to determine the most suitable numerical model, i.e., the number of teeth that should be modelled for a given gear's geometry and material. The developed computational model has been evaluated using a spur gear pair, where the pinion made of POM was meshed with a support gear made of steel. Material properties were assigned with linear elastic characteristics for the gear, while the pinion was characterised by hyperelastic properties using POM material. Furthermore, a nonlubricated frictional contact between the gear and pinion was considered in the numerical computations. The computational results that were obtained were compared to the empirical results according to VDI 2736 guidelines. Here, the computational approach showed more accurate results due to the hyperelastic material characteristics of POM and the simulation of multiple teeth meshing. However, VDI 2736 calculation showed comparability with the computational results, with a slightly larger deviation at higher loads. In this respect, the proposed computational approach is more suitable for analysing the tooth deflection of polymer gears under higher loads.
Keywords: computational modelling; polymer gears; tooth deflection.