A Review of Additive Technologies Applied to Gear Transmission

Additive manufacturing technologies have made a leap forward in the past decades with practical applications being more and more visible in today’s engineering world. This is possible due to the introduction of new materials, the advances in computer science as well as processing power and low cost of consumer grade electronics. Since these technologies allow for rapid prototyping of small batches of non-standard parts, it is now possible to improve on the performance of mechanism by allowing for certain dimensions to be customized to the specific needs of a system. Such an example would be using additive technology to customize the sizes, shapes, and tooth profiles of gears to allow for specific gear ratios to be obtained. This paper studies some of the techniques and technologies that may be employed to manufacture such geared wheels, geared transmissions, alongside their respective advantages and disadvantages.