This paper proposes a series of experimental determinations carried out with the aim of generating new conclusions regarding the ability of 3D-printed gears to be integrated into mechanisms without lubrication. The main factors that influence the appearance of wear in non-lubricated contact are sliding speed, material hardness, surface finish, surface geometry, and material microstructure. The tests considered the type of material from which they were made and the 3D printing technology type. For testing the gear wheels, a mechatronic experimental setup was made consisting of two shafts with adjustable axial distances, a wheel loading system gears, an electric motor, and a command-and-control system. In terms of materials, four types of materials were monitored: PA (polyamide), PLA (polylactic acid), ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) and PP (photopolymer). The evaluation of the gear wear was carried out by checking the gearing on two flanks (Frenco ZWP 06) and by scanning with the ATOS CORE 135 3D scanner. The PA and PP gears failed to meet the structural integrity standards after the tests. The PLA gears exhibited superior resistance to abrasive wear compared to the ABS gears, whereas the ABS gears generally demonstrated stronger structural integrity.

This paper presents an analysis of the abrasive wear influence on the tooth flank geometry of plastic gear wheels, emphasizing the contribution of tooth stiffness to the observed changes. The study examined gear wheels made from polylactic acid (PLA) with wall thicknesses of 0.6 mm, 1.0 mm and 2.4 mm, manufactured using FDM technology. A standard layer height of 0.2 mm was chosen as it offers a balance between good precision and reasonable printing times. The PLA gear wheels were tested for wear in a meshing configuration with a metallic reference gear. The results indicate that wear intensity increases as tooth stiffness decreases, suggesting an inverse proportionality between abrasive wear and tooth stiffness. In all tested cases, the tooth tip was more affected by abrasive wear compared to the rest of the profile. The analysis establishes that sliding velocity has the greatest influence on the abrasive wear characteristics of the evaluated gears. Based on experimental findings, a mathematical model was developed for simulating abrasive wear in plastic gears, with scalability across various manufacturing technologies. For PLA gears, both experimental and simulated data confirm that full tooth infill is essential for functional durability.

The authors developed a research for studying the behaviour of 3D printed machine elements such as: clutches, springs, bellows, screws, nuts, gears, differential and planetary mechanisms. There are different applications where metallic springs cannot be used: corrosive, explosive, magnetic field, electromagnetic radiation, nuclear techniques and other applications or environments that require light spring masses.

This work describes detailed an automatic vision system for quality control of small conveyed mechatronic components. The vision measurement has the advantages of non-contact measurement, high precision and high automation degree, thus it has become one of the important trends of development in modern measurement technique. The system highlighted in this paper sorts automatically the components inspected depending on the fabrication fault type detected by means of an electro mechanic system controlled through a serial port. The proposed system has been tested for a series of 608ZZ bearings which have been evaluated through a completely automated process. The proposed system can improve the control efficiency and can be integrated in to an existing fabrication line.