Performance of Gears Manufactured by 5-Axis Milling

Free form milling of gears becomes more and more important as a flexible machining process for gears. Reasons for that are high degrees of freedom as the usage of universal tool geometry and machine tools is possible. This allows flexible machining of various gear types and sizes with one manufacturing system. This paper deals with manufacturing, quality and performance of gears made by free form milling. The focus is set on specific process properties of the parts. The potential of free form milling is investigated in cutting tests of a common standard gear. The component properties are analyzed and flank load-carrying capacity of the gears is derived by running trials on back-to-back test benches. Hereby the characteristics of gears made by free form milling and capability in comparison with conventionally manufactured gears will be shown.