As an additive manufacturing technology, 3D printing is a new technology that subverts the traditional manufacturing, and has become the technical focus in the manufacturing field. As 3D printing can be used to quickly manufacture any complex curved surface gear and save materials, it is a clean and sustainable manufacturing technology for gear processing, which also attracts the attention of gear research field.
On the basis of face gear transmission, Lin Chao and others developed the face gear transmission technology with variable transmission ratio. In order to make samples quickly, 3D printing is introduced into the manufacturing of variable transmission ratio surface gear. The principle of machining variable transmission ratio surface gear with additive is described in detail. The motion coordinate system of each spindle of the manufacturing equipment is established, and the 3D printing samples of the variable transmission ratio surface gear pair are trial produced. This provides a new perspective for the manufacture of face gear. However, as a functional part to transmit motion and power, gear depends on tooth surface, so it is very important to guarantee its strength and surface quality in machining. Therefore, after 3D printing, Lin Chao and others carried out the secondary processing of gear with variable transmission ratio surface. Although the surface quality of gear teeth has been improved, the problem of strength has not been confirmed. In addition, Dong Hao and others also carried out the exploration of 3D printing face gear [35]. As a traditional additive manufacturing technology, such as stamping, powder metallurgy and other technologies, the surface gear blanks have inherent advantages in strength, which seems to deserve more attention, but there are only a few research ideas at present. For example, Jie Tan and others applied for the patent of face gear stamping in the United States, but their mechanical properties have not been further studied.
