THE EFFICIENCY OF WORM GEARS LUBRICATED WITH OILS OF MINERAL AND SYNTHETIC BASES
This paper presents the results of an experimental method for determining the efficiency of worm gears. Research into worm gears is primarily aimed at increasing the load carrying capacity, prolongation of life cycle and/or achieving higher efficiency, which can result in a reduction in exploitation costs. A larger share of sliding movement with respect to sliding-rolling movement of gearing contributes to the quiet operation but, on the other hand, causes a significant power loss. Very often, the load limit is not put by the load carrying capacity of gearing but by the ability to carry away the heat caused by friction. In order to design a worm gearbox that would be closer to the optimal solution from the temperature point of view (the heat), it is necessary to determine the operation losses. Besides the geometry of gearing, which influences the efficiency by forming conditions required for the creation of hydrodynamic lubrication, the applied lubricant also plays a significant role. In the research presented in this paper, mineral and synthetic oils were used for the combination of materials CuSn12/16MnCr5 used for gears operating at variable output load and two different rotational speeds.