3D print spur gears

A revolving device, together with a camera and telescope, has to compensate for the earth's rotation in order to take long-exposure photos of celestial bodies. The gear wheels for the transmission come from the 3D printer. The tribofilament iglidur I150 ensures a precise and stable rotation of the device. In addition, the design freedom offered by 3D printing made producing the parts simple and quick. The whole thing is controlled with a touchscreen on the outside.

For repair of the roof-mounted cannons of airport fire engines, the on-site fire brigade at Fraport AG needed individual gears that could withstand the high loads. As a manufacturing method, 3D printing makes it possible to produce individual and special parts cost-effectively and quickly. Specially developed for demanding applications in machines, iglidur® plastic gears contain solid lubricants that make them more durable and reduce maintenance work/expenditure.

For a special kind of shop window, the customer needed a gear with good tolerances. The idea was to create the illusion of floating objects with the help of two linear movements and a rotation. The original gear had tolerances of 0.2mm, which led to vibrations and jerky "floating". A gear made of iglidur i3, manufactured in selective laser sintering, improved tolerances by 0.1mm. With noticeable changes in the application, the illusion can be maintained.

Finding spare parts for vintage cars and rare models today is difficult, if not impossible. When a shaft with a worm gear and toothed gear in the mileage counter of the speedometer wore, the owner of a Stanley 750B from 1924 could rely on the online 3D printing service from igus. Due to the abrasion-resistant SLS polymer iglidur I6, a fully functioning spare part was made via laser sintering.

The igus cleaning team tractor was defective for a year as a gear was worn out. The gear made of regular plastic was part of the tractor's starter mechanism, and had broken due to the high load when the engine was started. Shortly before the utility vehicle was scrapped, the 3D printing team came into play and was able to trace the gear and print it within a matter of hours. The tractor is now working perfectly. The gear was made of iglidur I3, and combines a high wear resistance with good mechanical properties. The SLS powder can be processed very precisely, allowing for an exact copy of the complex spindle geometry in the gear's interior.

Easelink, a company from Graz, has developed "Matrix Charging", a charging system that automatically connects the underside of parked electric cars with the power supply. To design the system to be both economical and high-quality, the designers have chosen gear prototypes made of iglidur polymers with additive manufacturing. The igus 3D printing service allowed sample components to be quickly ordered, tested and adjusted until the ideal solution was reached. The particularly wear-resistant and self-lubricating SLS powder iglidur I6 is ideal for the construction of gears, pinions and other highly stressed components, which usually have to be regularly lubricated, maintained and frequently replaced.  

The Formula Student Team from Weingarten near Ravensburg needed, amongst other things, customised polymer pinions to construct their racing cars. The pinions were used as chain tensioners in the chain drive, so they had to be especially robust. The igus 3D printing service allowed polymer pinions to be delivered and tested in less than 72 hours. The material used was iglidur I6, which is especially wear-resistant - it was still fully functional after one million cycles in laboratory tests. In this case, the special parts from additive manufacturing were not only available much faster, but were more robust and economical. 

For constructing e-bikes it is especially important that the components used are light and quiet.  Lars Hartmann from the VMA Getzmann GmbH, which produces stirring, dispersing and fine-grinding systems, tested sprockets printed in 3D made of iglidur I3 as replacement for metal sprockets and was enthusiastic: 
 
"The standard metal pinion generates a lot of noise when in use. We drew it and had igus® print it from iglidur® I3. Getting the part was simple and fast. We used the 3D printing service to upload the corresponding data, chose the material and ordered the quantity."

The manufacturer was unable to supply spare parts for the worn gears of a planetary gear in an electric bicycle. The customer eventually contacted igus GmbH's 3D printing department. After receiving the worn parts, the department made a drawing of the gears and printed them from iglidur I3. The tribologically optimised material's abrasion resistance now ensures that the e-bike works again flawlessly, and performance has even been enhanced.