Author:

Keywords:

Precision milling, Lead time reduction, gear manufacturing, prototyping, Science & Technology, Technology, Engineering, Industrial, Engineering, Mechanical, Engineering, lead time reduction, 4014 Manufacturing engineering

Abstract:

Gearbox development is significantly delayed due to the long lead times associated with the manufacturing of functional prototype gears by means of classical methods such as hobbing and grinding. This paper presents a novel method to machine a prototype gear using high precision 5-axis milling with the same geometrical and surface properties associated with aforementioned technologies, only reducing lead times from 10 weeks to less than 24 hours. Different milling strategies and tools are shown to have an influence on the achieved geometrical properties such as roundness, pitch error and flank quality. A ground quality gear has been manufactured using an alternating milling strategy combined with tool wear compensation.