Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

ScienceDirect
Materials Today: Proceedings 16 (2019) 524–531 www.materialstoday.com/proceedings

ICAMMAS 17

Study on Mechanical and Metallurgical properties of Glass fibre

Reinforced PMC Gear Materials
R.SriMurugan a, B.Vijaya Ramnathb,N.Ramananc, C. Elanchezhianb
a Research Scholar Department of Mechanical Engineering, Academy of Maritime Education and Training,India
bProfessor Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri Sairam Engineering College -600044,India
cSenior Engineer, Department of R&d, Synce Engineering service India

Abstract

In this work, Nylon 6 and E-glass fibre are pooled together to get a polymer matrix composite for the purpose of
wear reduction in spur gear material. Nylon 6 and the E-glass fibre were combined by this process in this ratio of
(80:20) & (70:30). This paper aimed to investigate the mechanical properties such as tensile, compression and
impact test as per ASTM standard. Finite Element model were then developed to simulate the impact and tensile
characteristics of PMC. The result shows that there is increase in the property of the composite by adding nylon.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of International Conference on Advances in Materials, Manufacturing and Applied Sciences.

Keywords: Nylon 6, E-glass fiber; Injection molding; mechanical properties; SEM

1. Introduction
Modern aircraft engines have to be light, reliable, and efficient in order to meet global environmental problem.
Surface treatments are broadly used in many industries to enhance the fatigue life of critical structural components
by drastically delaying the micro-crack nucleation and proliferation under variable loads[1] . Gears are measured to
be one of the most widely used mechanical components in various applications, including automotive, aerospace
and mining. Nevertheless, noise and vibration, reliability and early detection of gear damage remain major
apprehension in their applications. As a result, gearbox vibration condition monitoring is an important aspect of
engineering maintenance[2]. Polymer and polymer composite gears find increasing application because of the low
material and manufacturing costs, minimum part weight and quiet increased presentation compared with the metal
gears. However polymeric materials suffer from meager mechanical power and thermal resistance compared with
metals. Reinforced polymers offer high mechanical strength and thermal resistance and are low appropriate for
structural/load bearing applications. Short fiber reinforced polymers permit fabrication of complex shaped products
economically using injection-molding process[3].

*Correspondingauthor.Tel.:+91-9841446655
E-mailaddress:[email protected]

2214-7853 © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of International Conference on Advances in Materials, Manufacturing and Applied Sciences.
 R. SriMurugan et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 16 (2019) 524–531 525

The standards were developed from metal gear practice in which the rating of a gear tooth is determined by either
bending strength or surface durability, often referred to as wear[4]. Since precise molded gears are now available, it
is essential to learn more about the presentation of these gears under different operating conditions. The study of
molded gear performance is significant for economic reasons because these can be mass produced at a fraction of
the cost compared to machined gears. In general, the existing information on polymer composite gear wear is still
inadequate and the existing gear surface temperature forecasts need further study to be used for realistic
applications[5].
However, applications of polymer gears remain incomplete due to a lack of performance information and design
customaries. It is well acknowledged that polymer gears are very susceptible to temperature variations however a
thorough understanding of this sensitivity and of how their mechanical properties debase with increasing
temperature is lacking in the literature. Understanding their thermo-mechanical behavior relics very challenging
because of the severe non- linearity and high factual-life sensitivity to tiny changes in polymer gear
temperature[6].Symmetric gears (same pressure angle at both the drive and coast sides of the tooth profile) are
used in bi-directional load/motion diffusions. Asymmetric gears (different pressure angles at the drive and coast
sides) are more appropriate than conventional symmetric gears for uni-directional load transmission purposes.
However, the consumption of asymmetric gears for the engineering application is incomplete due to the difficulty
in manufacturing asymmetric gears through predictable techniques such as milling, shaping and hobbing. Since
powder metallurgy and the injection molding manufacturing process demand only a single/ few die(s) for mass
production, asymmetric gears can be contrived economically as symmetric gears[6].Modified asymmetric gear
geometry to diminish localized loading and to steady the bearing contact for the significant reduction in
transmission error optimized the asymmetric gear teeth design to reduce dynamic loads[7].Now a days most of
manufacturing industries are using composite material to reinstate their traditional materials. in recent times in
automobile industries composite material has been used for many reasons. The gears used in automobile
transmission system which is prepared by cast iron can be replaced by using the composite material with the
combination of Nylon 6[5] and E-glass. The noise will be condensed by using the composite material [2].The
fatigue life can be improved by replacing the cast iron material and also the wear rate can be reduced by using the
composite material[3].Thus Gear performance is significantly prejudiced by the interacting surface conditions. on
the other hand, very few attempts have been made to recognize the effect of mating surface condition[8].
Mechanical behavior of various natural fibers composites has been done and results shows that there in increase in
mechanical properties for hybrid composites. [10-15]
2. Material Selection
The nylon 6 [5] have superior mechanical properties such as high tensile strength , good impact strength
and high wear resistance characteristics. The glass fibers have tensile strength of 2050mpa and young’s modulus of
85 Mpa.The glass fibers withstand upto 8500 C. In this project the glass fiber and nylon6 were taken for the
production as it has high wear resistance[3].
3. Experimental details
3.1Compression Test
Material strength can be found by testing the material in tension or compression. Test specimens are
prepared according to ASTM D315 standard, each specimen having 30 mm width and 280 mm gauge length. The
specimen is loaded in computer controlled Universal Testing Machine (ASE – UTN 10) until the failure of the
specimen occurs. Tests are conducted on composites of different combinations of reinforcing materials and ultimate
tensile strength and ductility are measured. Simultaneous readings of load and elongation are taken at uniform
intervals of load. Tensile test is carried out at room temperature. Uni-axial tensile test is conducted on the fabricated
specimen to obtain information regarding the behavior of a given material under gradually increasing stress strain
conditions.Compression results are shown in Table1. The figure 1 shows that compression tested specimen
526 R. SriMurugan et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 16 (2019) 524–531

Figure 1.Compression tested specimen

3.2. Tensile Test
Material strength can be found by testing the material in tension or compression. Test specimens are
prepared according to ASTM D638 standard, each specimen having 30 mm width and 280 mm gauge length, as
shown in Figure. The specimen is loaded in computer controlled Universal Testing Machine (ASE – UTN 10) until
the failure of the specimen occurs. Tests are conducted on composites of different combinations of reinforcing
materials and ultimate tensile strength and ductility are measured. Simultaneous readings of load and elongation are
taken at uniform intervals of load. Tensile test is carried out at room temperature.
Uni-axial tensile test is conducted on the constructed the specimen to obtain information regarding the
behavior of a given material under gradually increasing stress strain conditions. Figure 2 show that the tensile test
specimen as per ASTM D638 and the figure 3 shows the tensile tested specimen.

Figure 2.Tensile test specimen(ASTM D638)

Figure 3. Tensile testedspecimen

3.3.Flexural Test
The flexural specimen prepared as per the ASTM D790 standard as shown in figure 4. The 3-point flexure
test is the most common flexural test for composite materials. Specimen deflection is considered by the crosshead
position. Test results take account of flexural strength and displacement. The testing process involves placing the
test specimen in the universal testing machine and applying force to it until it fractures and breaks. The specimen
used for carry out the flexural test. The tests are regulating at a condition of an average relative humidity of 50%. A
graph is drawn for each sample between the force and the displacement in flexural test. It shows that sample C has
higher flexural strength[9] than other samples.

All dimensions are in mm

Figure 4. Flexural Test Specimen (ASTM D790)
 R. SriMurugan et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 16 (2019) 524–531 527

3.4. Impact test:

The Izod impact test is a standardized high strain- rate test which determines the amount of energy takes up
by a material during fracture. This test is carried out on the samples are made as per the ASTM D256 standard as
shown in figure 5 and the tested specimen is shown in figure 6. The absorbed energy by the specimen is noted until
fracture take place during testing.

Figure 5.Impact test specimen (ASTM D256)

Figure 6.Impact tested specimen

4. Morphological Analysis using SEM

In general, SEM is used to observe the topography and morphology of a specimen. A scanning electron
microscope (SEM) is a type of electron microscope that produces images of a sample by scanning it with a focused
beam of electrons. The electrons cooperate with atoms in the sample, creating various signals that can be detected
and that contain information about the sample's surface topography and composition. The fractured surfaces of
impact test specimens are analyzed using SEM. The samples were taken for the SEM Analysis as they have the large
variations in the mechanical test results as well variation in the composition and melting temperature.

Figure 7. SEM image (a)

The SEM images shown in figure 7 are taken from ZEISS testing machine having 100X resolution and
0.6.In the SEM image, the fiber direction is uniformly distributed. The void of the image is under control limit. The
morphology of the image is clearly distributed. The fiber orientation is clearly shown in the image A.In the SEM
image B , the fiber in some places are delaminated due to loading pressure and the properties of mixture is evenly
distributed and in the SEM image C also the fiber are delaminated in some places due to loading pressure and the
properties of mixture is evenly distributed.
528 R. SriMurugan et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 16 (2019) 524–531

Figure 7. SEM image (b)

Figure 7. SEM image (C)

5.0. Results and discussion
The results of various tests performed on the composites were discussed below.

5.1 Result of Compression test

The table 1 shows the result of compression test.
Table 1.Compression test result

Ultimate Max displacement Ultimate stress in

Compression Test
Breaking load –KN In mm KN/mm2

1 18.33 8.66 0.116

2 19.21 6.66 0.121
3 17.64 8 0.116
4 19.21 6.66 0.121
5 15.07 10.02 0.097
6 16.62 9.6 0.106
7 14.5 7.9 0.092

Figure 8.Compression Test result

 R. SriMurugan et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 16 (2019) 524–531 529

The Compression test result shown in figure 9 shows the nylon 6 with E-glass fiber 70% and the nylon 6 with E-
glass fiber 90%.In the graph, nylon 6 with E-glass fiber 90% is better than the nylon 6 with E-glass fiber 90%.

5.2Tensile Test chart

The Tensile test result shown in fig.9, have the comparative results of both the Nylon 6 with E-glass fiber 70% and
the Nylon 6 with E-glass fiber 80%. In the graph, the Nylon 6 with E-glass fiber 70% is having better tensile
strength than the Nylon 6 with E-glass fiber 80. The table 2 shows the result of tensile tests.

Table 2.Tensile tests results

Ultimate Ultimate Yield stress

Tensile Test
Breaking load -KN stress(KN/mm2) Elongation in % (KN/mm2)

1 5.5 0.137 7.667 0.121

2 5.48 0.138 8 0.1336
3 5.145 0.128 6.667 0.099
4 2.645 0.062 18.5 0.058
5 2.55 0.062 9.5 0.025
6 12.67 0.054 6.55 0.044

Figure 9.Tensile Test Result

5.3. Flexural test chart

Ultimate Ultimate stress(KN/mm2) Maximum displacement
Flexural Test
Breaking load -KN in mm

1 0.145 3.88 0.004

2 0.165 4.55 0.004
3 0.13 3.306 0.003
4 0.175 6 0.004
5 0.185 7.5 0.004
530 R. SriMurugan et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 16 (2019) 524–531

Figure 10.Flexural test result

The Flexural test result shown in fig. 10 shows both the Nylon 6 with E-glass fiber 70% and the Nylon 6 with
E-glass fiber 80%. In the graph, the Nylon 6 with E-glass fiber 70% is having better flexural strength than the Nylon
6 with E-glass fiber 80%.

5.4.Impact test

The Izod impact test is a standardized high strain- rate test which determines the amount of energy takes up by a
material during fracture. This test is carried out on the samples are made as per the ASTM D256 standard. The
absorbed energy by the specimen is noted until fracture takes placeduring testing. Table 3 shows the results of
impact test.

Table 3. Result of impact test

80:20 ratio 70:30 ratio

S. No
(in Joules) (in Joules)
1 0.3 1.4
2 1.2 1
3 1.2 1

6. CONCLUSION

Advances in engineering technology in modern years have brought demands for gear teeth. Which can function at
always-increasing load capacities and speedsthe gears generally fail when tooth stress exceeds the safe limit
Therefore, it inessential to explore alternate Gear material the project has focused the alternate gear material. The
material has taken from Nylon 6 with E-Glass fibers. The Tensile test properties, as well as the Flexural strength,
increased considerably. The Compression properties also increased. The SEM Result has concluded that the
morphology properties are evenly distributed in fiber and matrix. The fiber in some places is delaminated due to
loading pressure.

REFERENCES

[1] V. Savaria, F. Bridier, and P. Bocher, “Predicting the effects of material properties gradient and residual stresses on the bending fatigue
strength of induction hardened aeronautical gears,” Int. J. Fatigue, pp. 1–39, 2015.
[2] S. Xue and I. Howard, “Dynamic modelling of flexibly supported gears using iterative convergence of tooth mesh stiffness,” Mech. Syst.
Signal Process., pp. 1–22, 2016.
[3] S. Senthilvelan and R. Gnanamoorthy, “Effect of rotational speed on the performance of unreinforced and glass fiber reinforced Nylon 6
spur gears,” Mater. Des., vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 765–772, 2007.
 R. SriMurugan et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 16 (2019) 524–531 531

[4] K. Mao, W. Li, C. J. Hooke, and D. Walton, “Polymer gear surface thermal wear and its performance prediction,” Tribol. Int., vol. 43, no.
1–2, pp. 433–439, 2009.
[5] K. Mao, W. Li, C. J. Hooke, and D. Walton, “Friction and wear behaviour of acetal and nylon gears,” Wear, vol. 267, no. 1–4, pp. 639–645,
2009.
[6] K. Mao, P. Langlois, Z. Hu, K. Alharbi, X. Xu, M. Milson, W. Li, C. J. Hooke, and D. Chetwynd, “The wear and thermal mechanical
contact behaviour of machine cut polymer gears,” Wear, vol. 332–333, pp. 822–826, 2015.
[7] I. Plastic, “An accelerated multilevel test and design procedure for polymer gears,” Mater. Des., pp. 961–973, 2014.
[8] A. J. Mertens and S. Senthilvelan, “Effect of Mating Metal Gear Surface Texture on the Polymer Gear Surface Temperature,” Mater. Today
Proc., vol. 2, no. 4–5, pp. 1763–1769, 2015.
[9] M. C. S. Ribeiro, S. P. B. Sousa, and P. R. O. Nóvoa, “An investigation on fire and flexural mechanical behaviors of nano and micro
polyester composites filled with SiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 particles,” Mater. Today Proc., vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 8–19, 2015.
[10]. B.Vijaya Ramnath, V.Santhosh Kumar, P.V.Nirmal, S.Karthick, G.Prem Kumar, C. Elanchezhian , S.Rajesh , K.Suresh , Experimental
Investigation of Mechanical behavior of Jute-Flax based Glass Fiber reinforced composite”, Fibers and polymers, Volume 15, Pages 1251-
1262,2014
[11]. B.Vijaya Ramnath, R. Niranjan Raja, S. Junaid Kokan, R. Sathya Narayanan, A.R.Rajendra Prasad, C.Elanchezhian and
V.M.Manickavasagam, “Evaluation of mechanical properties of abaca–jute–glass fibre reinforced epoxy composite”, Materials and design,
Volume 51, October 2013, Pages 357-366
[12] B Vijaya Ramnath, V.M.Manickavasagam, C Elanchezhian, C Vinodh Krishna, S Karthik, K Saravanan “Determination of mechanical
properties of intra-layer abaca–jute–glass fiber reinforced composite ”, Materials and Design, Volume 60, August 2014, Pages 643-652
[13] B.Vijaya Ramnath, R. Sharavanan, M. Chandrasekaran, C. Elanchezhian, R. Sathyanarayanan, R. Niranjan Raja, and S. Junaid Kokan,
“Experimental Determination of Mechanical Properties of Banana Jute Hybrid Composite”, Fibers and polymers, Volume 16, Pages 164-172,
2015
[14] B.Vijaya Ramnath , S.Rajesh “Investigation on Mechanical Behaviour of Twisted Natural Fiber Hybrid Composite Fabricated by Vacuum
Assisted Compression Molding Technique”, Fibers and Polymers , Vol.17, No.1, 2016, 80-87
[15]. P. Sathish, R. Kesavan, B. Vijaya Ramnath and C. Vishal “Effect of Fiber Orientation and Stacking Sequence on Mechanical and
Thermal Characteristics of Banana-Kenaf Hybrid Epoxy Composite”, Silicon, 2015, 1-9.