Failure analysis of performance vehicle mechanical gear

Abstract

Gears are the main machine element in vehicle power transmission trains. In commercial vehicles, power transmission trains design complexity consists of the determination of the loading parameters which depends upon the working environment of the performance vehicle. In the present work a gear failure under dynamic loading is investigated. The failed gear is part of a 2 speed gearbox of a Rotax DD2 2-stroke Open- Wheel performance vehicle (go-cart type). The gearbox was in racing conditions when failure occurred. The vehicle was speeding in 2nd Gear at wide open throttle when instantaneously the driver by fault downshifted to 1st gear. The result was for the first gears break a whole piece and eventually the system to go out of operation. Chemical composition of the examined metallic components was determined via EDAX chemical analysis.