Although gear geometry and the design of asymmetric tooth gears are well known and published, they are not covered by modern national or international gear design and rating standards. This limits their broad implementation for various gear applications, despite substantial performance advantages in comparison to symmetric tooth gears for mostly unidirectional drives. In some industries — like aerospace, that are accustomed to using gears with non-standard tooth shapes — the rating of these gears is established by comprehensive testing. However, such testing programs are not affordable for many other gear drive applications that could also benefit from asymmetric tooth gears.
In several applications like hoisting equipment and cranes, open gears are used to transmit power at rather low speeds (tangential velocity < 1m/s) with lubrication by grease. In consequence those applications have particularities in terms of lubricating conditions and friction involved, pairing of material between pinion and gear wheel, lubricant supply, loading cycles and behavior of materials with significant contact pressure due to lower number of cycles.
A reader wonders about gears where the tops of the teeth are the bearing surface, as used in spur gear differentials. Do they require any special construction or processing?