The Materials Analyst, Part 110: The interaction of design, material selection, and processing in the failure of a gear—Part 3The Materials Analyst, Part 110: The interaction of design, material selection, and processing in the failure of a gear—Part 3

As outlined in the first two parts of this case study, some detailed examination of failed gears as well as a thorough engineering analysis of the stresses in the application and the long-term behavior of the polymer used had produced a reasonable explanation for the root cause of the failures. However, the model used to characterize the material’s long-term properties still predicted a time to failure that was two to three times the actual lifetime of the parts coming back from the field.