The accuracy and surface roughness of spur gears processed by fused deposition modeling additive manufacturing

The objective of this article is to study and develop an understanding of accuracy and roughness of spur gears created by additive manufacturing (AM or 3D printing) techniques. A number of ABS gears were printed and their corresponding steel gears were purchased. Geometries of these gears were measured and compared with those calculated with theoretical formulas. In order to observe the roughness of these gears, surfaces of these parts are photographed and the peak-to-valley heights of surface profile were measured.