Field Experimentation for Improvement in Surface Finish by Replacing Cast Iron Gears by Thermoplastic Gears in the Feed Box of Lathe Machine

摘要

Productive, accurate and cheaper machine tool is the need of time. Feed box is one of the major cost machine tool component of the lathe machine. Feed along with cutting speed and depth of cut are the functions of surface finish of the components machined on lathe machine. Inherent damping potential, self lubrication and noiseless operation of engineering thermoplastic gear in the feedbox, not only reduces the vibration significantly, but also they get damped to great extent before transmitting to tool post. This is the basic need for better surface finish of the machined components, apart from cutting tool and other machining parameters. The paper categorically investigates the surface roughness of machined components at various depth of cut by keeping spindle speed constant. The four step spindle pulley provides four spindle speeds, are selected for measurement. The two pairs of output gears of feedbox and five different thermoplastic materials gear replaced used for machining the components and compared with cast iron gear arrangement. The result provides an opportunity for selection of feedbox gear by engineering thermoplastic gear for light to medium duty machine tools.