Why is worm wheel made of soft material?

In addition, the use of a softer material for the gear means that it can absorb shock loads, like those experienced in heavy equipment or crushing machines. The primary benefit of worm gears is their ability to provide high reduction ratios and correspondingly high torque multiplication.

What does a worm do in a worm gear?

Basically, a worm gear is a screw butted up against what looks like a standard spur gear with slightly angled and curved teeth. It changes the rotational movement by 90 degrees, and the plane of movement also changes due to the position of the worm on the worm wheel (or simply “the wheel”).

Can a worm gear drive a worm?

Worm gears are often used for their ability to provide large speed reduction and high torque multiplication. But their self-locking properties can also be beneficial in many applications. Cutaway of a gear motor with worm gearing. Self-locking means that the gear cannot drive the worm.

What is the material for worm Why?

MATERIALS for worm and worm gears are generally confined to steel for worms and bronze or cast iron for gears. When steel worms are run with bronze gears at high speeds, the worm is usually hardened with ground threads. There is often some confusion as to the self-locking ability of a worm and gear set.

Can worm gears slip?

Because the friction angle is larger than the lead angle, a worm gear with a 5-deg lead angle is considered statically self-locking. If, however, this self-locking reducer is subjected to shock and vibration, the friction coefficient between worm and gear may suddenly drop.

Can you reverse a worm gear?

Unlike with ordinary gear trains, the direction of transmission (input shaft vs output shaft) is not reversible when using large reduction ratios. This is due to the greater friction involved between the worm and worm wheel, and is especially prevalent when a single-start (one spiral) worm is used.