Well, you'll probably find this funny but I'm still a student doing mechanical engineering (two semesters left). I did two years with an aerospace firm (one year on an internship, the other year on a contract), part of which was materials development in ceramics). I'm currently working as an EIT (we're allowed to start our professional engineer experience one year before graduation) with Halliburton Canada and have practically nothing to do with materials in my day-to-day work.

I just did a bit of research and pulled out a few books, that's all. I certainly don't have much of that knowledge in my head (some yes, but not as much as you might think).

What's your line of work, specifically? Just curious here...

 

I learned by making many costly mistakes but I hope one day it all pays off.

 

I manufacture and develop a wide range of product for manufacture overseas.

You can see a lot of my product in Canada at Canadian Tire (or Crappy Tire as some like to unfortunately refer to it on this board)

Some of it is automotive related, some not.

 

Ah, I see. Neato. You own the company or "just" work for it? What's your educational background? (I hope you don't mind the personal questions - I'm always interested in this kind of work) You can refuse to answer and I won't be offended, or PM if you don't wish the world to know.

 

Not much secret in what I do - the main goal of looking for this plastic material is because the traditional nylon or fiber reinforced plastic would shear.

My product line involves the use of a lot of plastic gears and solid steel shafts - think transmission but in a MUCH smaller scale (bigger than RC cars though). We are considering changing all the gears to metal because plastic gears are not holding up to the motor power, but it's cost prohibitive so I'm looking for stronger plastic gears that would be stronger (and lighter).

And the steel shaft - if I can find a material that's lighter and easier to make then there's savings to be had in this bad economy.

thanks!

 

Righto. Well, unfortunately I don't think this material exists yet - it's like the fountain of youth in the world of materials. Cheap, super strong, light, moldable, and easily available are not an easy combination to come by. Good luck with it!

You could, perhaps, do a combination of metal and plastic couldn't you? If it's gears, why not do it with metal trim on the edges, or vice versa (whichever part is breaking). You could make a circular disk of either material (with slots or extended "flaps") and join it to the other material (which makes up the "teeth") that way.

 

You can use compressed carbon fiber. Indy car rotors are made out of it. Bad news, It will cost you a couple million in R&D.

 

What material are you currently using mingster? How much torque are you passing through the gears?

For what it's worth, steel gears are probably major overkill. If done properly, plastic gears can transmit a lot of torque (though your power is limited because they don't handle heat as well). And if plastic gears suffice, you can definately do away with the steel shaft.