The performance improvement for polymer composite gears and theri application in EV lighweight gearbox design - 1=Energy 2=Polymer Materials

工程中对轻质和低碳应用的需求不断增加，导致聚合物的使用迅速增加。特别是，聚合物复合材料齿轮为高科技应用提供了巨大的潜力，并具有与金属齿轮相比的独特优势：低成本、低重量、高效率、运行安静、无需外部润滑等。目前，它们被考虑用于从低功率、精密运动到大功率传动的各种应用，甚至在医疗保健和汽车工程等具有挑战性的环境中也是如此。例如，在汽车工程中，有报道称，在传动系统中使用聚合物齿轮代替金属齿轮，质量减少了70%，惯性减少了80%，油耗降低了9%。然而，尽管聚合物复合材料齿轮的初步研究取得了一些进展，但还需要进行广泛的研究来了解齿轮的热机械接触行为、注射成型过程及其性能预测，这最终将开辟新的应用范围。本研究旨在通过注塑成型工艺控制、齿轮错位啮合、发动机试验和新的设计方法，全面了解聚合物复合材料齿轮的热机械性能，提高动力传动系统的齿轮承载能力。个人目标是：了解加工和性能关系，以最大限度地优化聚合物复合材料齿轮注射成型工艺的制造影响。使用新设计的试验台和现有的两个试验台，广泛研究聚合物复合材料齿轮的性能，特别是偏心和热效应。设计、试验摩托车轻型变速箱，设计电动汽车变速箱。

The ever increasing demands for light weight and low carbon applications in engineering have resulted in a rapid increase in the use of polymers. In particular, polymer composite gears offer a huge potential for high-technology applications and have unique advantages over metal gears: low cost and weight, high efficiency, quietness of operation, functioning without external lubrication, etc. They are now considered for applications ranging from low-power, precision motion to high power transmission, even in such challenging environments as healthcare and automotive engineering. For example, there are reports in automotive engineering of 70% reduction in mass, 80% reduction in inertia and up to 9% lower fuel consumption by using polymer gears instead of metal ones in the power train. However, despite some initial research progress on polymer composite gears, extensive research needs to be carried out to understand the gears' thermal mechanical contact behaviour, their injection moulding process and their performance prediction which will ultimately open up a new range of applications. The proposed research aims to fully understand polymer composite gear thermal mechanical performance and enhance the gear loading capacities in power transmission systems through injection moulding process control, misaligned gear engagement, engine tests and new design methods. The individual objectives are; to understand the processing and property relationships to best optimise the manufacturing impacts of the injection moulding process for polymer composite gears. To extensively investigate polymer composite gear performance using the newly designed rig and the two existing test rigs, especially the misalignment and thermal effects. To design, test motorcycle lightweight gearbox and design gearbox for electric vehicles.