NON-LINEAR DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF A SPUR GEAR PAIR: MODELLING AND EXPERIMENTAL COMPARISONS

Gear wear is a progressive material removal process that gradually changes the tooth profile shape and dynamic mesh force, where the dynamic mesh force affects the tooth surface wear. To describe this process, a spur gear dynamic model that includes the mesh stiffness and unloaded static transmission error (STE) of the worn tooth profile is proposed for calculating the dynamic mesh force. Then, based on the finite element method (FEM), a dynamic contact analysis model that considers the dynamic mesh force is proposed for calculating the time-varying contact stress and relative sliding distance of the tooth surface mesh point. Finally, combined with the Archard wear model, a tooth wear depth calculation method that considers the worn tooth profile and the dynamic mesh force is proposed. In addition, the wear depth and dynamic characteristics under different wear times are studied.

Time-varying mesh stiffness is one of the main excitation sources of a gear system, and it is also considered as an important factor for the vibration and noise of gears. Thus, this excitation is usually taken as an input into the gear dynamic model to obtain the system dynamic responses. However, the mesh stiffness of a gear pair is actually nonlinear with respect to the dynamic mesh force (DMF) that fluctuates during the operation of gears. Therefore, the dynamic model of gears with the quasi-static mesh stiffness calculated under a constant load is not accurate sufficiently. In this paper, a dynamic model of spur gear is established with considering the effect of the force-dependent time-varying mesh stiffness, backlash and profile deviation. Due to the nonlinear relationship between the mesh stiffness and the load for each tooth pair, it needs first to determine the load sharing among tooth pairs and then calculate the overall mesh stiffness of the gear pair. As the mesh stiffness and DMF are related, the mesh stiffness is no longer directly taken into the gear dynamic model as an input, but is jointly solved with the numerical integration process using the gear dynamic model. Finally, the dynamic responses predicted from the established gear dynamic model are compared with the experimental results for validation and compared with the traditional models to reveal their differences. The results indicate that the established dynamic model of spur gear transmission has a wider application range than the traditional models.

Nonlinear dynamic modeling and analysis of spur gears considering dynamic contact state under misalignment errors

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">A new capability to analyze the dynamic interaction of nonlinear hypoid gear mesh characteristics and time-varying bearing stiffness is proposed. Both backlash nonlinearity and time-varying mesh parameters, such as mesh stiffness, mesh point and line-of-action, are included in the nonlinear hypoid gear mesh model. The time-varying bearing stiffness behavior due to the changing orbital position of rolling elements is also modeled. A practical application is studied to reveal the dynamic characteristics of the complex interactions. Dynamic simulation results show that dynamic mesh force is relatively insensitive to the temporal variation in the bearing stiffness. On the other hand, the dynamic bearing loads are affected significantly by the time-varying bearing stiffness, especially in the case of heavy drive torque load without the occurrence of jump response phenomenon. However, for the case of light load condition assuming time-invariant mesh parameters, the dynamic bearing loads are insensitive to time-varying bearing stiffness. The analysis also reveals that the presence of appropriate backlash nonlinearity can stabilize the parametric resonance caused by the time-varying bearing stiffness for the case of light load condition assuming the mesh parameters are time-invariant.</div></div>

Gear tooth spalling is a typical tooth surface defects in gear transmission. The accurate calculation of the time-varying mesh stiffness of the gear pair with spalling defect under mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) plays an important role in tooth damage prediction and fault feature analysis. In this work, an improved time-varying mesh stiffness (TVMS) model of spalling faulty gear in mixed EHL line contact considering the coupled effect of rough surface topography is established. The proposed model considers the combined effect of spalling defect, surface roughness topography, and lubrication on the contact characteristics of the meshing interface to obtain a revised contact stiffness, which is further used to determine the comprehensive TVMS. The cylindrical contact coefficient for curved meshing interface with spalling fault is derived and incorporated into the statistical micro-contact Greenwood and Williamson model (GW model) to obtain the asperity contact stiffness. The revised contact stiffness at the rough faulty gear interface is obtained from the parallel action of the asperity contact stiffness and oil film stiffness under load-sharing concept. The dynamic responses of the gear system are analyzed using the established mesh stiffness model through the six degrees of freedom translational-torsional dynamic model, in which the dynamic meshing force is calculated iteratively using the transit surface topography and geometrical parameters along the line of contact instead of a quasi-static meshing force. Effects of multi-parameters as surface roughness, spalling fault size, and lubricant on the mesh characteristics and dynamic responses of the gear system are further investigated and discussed.

Dynamic analysis of high speed gears by using loaded static transmission error

The measurement of the meshing stiffness in gear pairs is a technological problem. Many studies have been conducted, but a few results are available. A tailored test bench was designed and realized to measure the Static Transmission Error in two mating gears to address this issue. The bench is capable of testing several kinds of gears, e.g., spur, helical, conical, and internal, and it measures the transmission error concerning the applied torque. The Static Transmission Error is due to the variable stiffness of the gear teeth during a mesh cycle. In this paper, a dynamical method for measuring gear mesh stiffness is presented. The tooth stiffness is estimated from the torsional modal behavior of the rotating parts of the test bench. The dynamics of the system are acquired using accelerometers and very precise encoders to measure the angular accelerations and displacements of rotating parts. The torsional mode shapes are identified; those that show a vibrational behavior of the gears that do not follow the transmission ratio’s sign of the mating kinematic condition are selected because they depend on the flexibility of the teeth. In such a way, the engagement stiffness is estimated from the natural frequencies of the selected mode-shapes and the known inertia of gears and shafts. The experimentally identified results are also compared with numerical values computed with a commercial software for mutual validation.

In order to accurately describe the complex transmission systems and clarify the effects of internal and external excitation on the vibration characteristics for large complex transmission systems, a dynamics model considering gear meshing error and time-varying meshing stiffness is established at two-stage planetary gears systems. The coupling model is established by matrix set method for two-stage planetary gears and multistage spur gears transmission systems. The random load excitation verified by experiments is the external excitation in the system, and the excitation caused by the time-varying meshing stiffness and meshing error is the internal excitation. The research on the response of the vibration systems shows that the internal excitation caused by gear meshing stiffness and gear meshing error has important influence on the dynamic load behavior of spur gears transmission in complex systems. For the planetary system with heavy external load, the dynamic behavior mainly depends on the external load, and the influence of internal excitation on the dynamic meshing force is less than that of the external excitation for the planetary system. The external excitation mainly affects the low-frequency region of the dynamic meshing force for the system, and the internal excitation affects the high-frequency region of the dynamic force for the system. The frequency influence interval of the internal excitation is much larger than that of the external excitation.

The determination of meshing force and the load sharing ratio of gear teeth is critical to predict the dynamic behavior or the load capacity of gear transmissions. In the previous literature, the dynamic meshing force is usually calculated based on the traditional dynamic model, which ignores the different effects of the meshing characteristics of each pair of teeth on the dynamic behavior of the gear system. In this work, a new calculation method of dynamic meshing force is proposed based on the new dynamic model considering the meshing state of multiple pairs of teeth. The difference between the traditional calculation method and the new calculation method of dynamic meshing force is analyzed. Based on the new dynamic model and new calculation method of dynamic meshing force, the influence of different factors on dynamic response and dynamic meshing force are further discussed. The results show that, compared with the traditional calculation method, this new method can be used to effectively calculate the dynamic meshing force and the load sharing ratio of each pair of teeth with different meshing characteristics. The presented method for the calculation of the dynamic meshing force and the load sharing ratio provides an important reference for analyzing and predicting the dynamic behavior or the load capacity of spur gears, especially the high contact ratio (HCR) gears with contact ratio more than two.

This study analyzes the nonlinear static and dynamic response in spur gear pairs with tooth root crack damage. A finite element/contact mechanics (FE/CM) model is used that accurately captures the elastic deformations on the gear teeth due to kinematic motion, tooth and rim deformations, vibration, and localized increases in compliance due to a tooth root crack. The damage is modeled by releasing the connectivity of the finite element mesh at select nodes near a tooth crack. The sensitivity of the calculated static transmission errors and tooth mesh stiffnesses is determined for varying crack initial locations, final locations, and the path from the initial to final location. Gear tooth mesh stiffness is calculated for a wide range of tooth root crack lengths, including large cracks that extend through nearly all of the tooth. Mesh stiffnesses are meaningfully reduced due to tooth root crack damage. The dynamic response is calculated for cracks of varying length. Larger cracks result in increased peak dynamic transmission errors. For small tooth root cracks the spectrum of dynamic transmission error contains components near the natural frequency of the gear pair. The spectrum of dynamic transmission error has broadband frequency response for large tooth root cracks that extend further than one-half of the tooth’s thickness.

A probability distribution model of tooth pits for evaluating time-varying mesh stiffness of pitting gears

Dynamic excitation caused by time‐varying meshing stiffness is one of the most important excitation forms in gear meshing process. The mesh phase relations between each gear pair are an important factor affecting the meshing stiffness. In this paper, the mesh phase relations between gear pairs in an encased differential gear train widely used in coaxial twin‐rotor helicopters are discussed. Taking the meshing starting point where the gear tooth enters contact as the reference point, the mesh phase difference between adjacent gear pairs is analyzed and calculated, the system reference gear pair is selected, and the mesh phase difference of each gear pair relative to the system reference gear pair is obtained. The derivation process takes into account the modification of the teeth, the processing, and assembly of the duplicate gears, which makes the calculation method and conclusion more versatile. This work lays a foundation for considering the time‐varying meshing stiffness in the study of system dynamics, load distribution, and fault diagnosis of compound planetary gears.

In this study, the interactions between backlash, bearing clearance and bearing flexibility are studied in geared flexible rotors. For this purpose, the non-linear mathematical model developed in a recent previous study for geared rotors on flexible bearings is extended further to handle clearance nonlinearity in bearings. The model consists of elastic shafts on elastic bearings with clearance, and coupled by a non-linear gear mesh interface. Shafts are modeled by using finite elements. The mathematical model includes the axial loading on shafts, rotary inertia, material damping of shafts, backlash nonlinearity of gear mesh and flexible bearings with clearances nonlinearity. The model considers also the effects of gear errors and profile modifications. The excitation effect of time varying mesh stiffness is indirectly included into the analysis through a periodic displacement representing loaded static transmission error (STE). STE input is modeled by the highest n harmonic terms of the Fourier series representation of the measured or calculated data. The model developed is believed to be one of the most advanced ones: It includes several linear and non-linear effects and capable of handling various different gear-rotor-bearing configurations. Through several case studies, the combined effects of backlash, bearing clearance, and bearing flexibility on dynamic mesh force and bearing loads are studied.

Studies on the planetary gear have attracted considerable attention because of its advantages, such as compactness, large torque-to-weight ratio, vibrations, and high efficiency, which have resulted in its wide applications in industry, wind turbine, national defense, and aerospace fields. We have established a novel dynamic model of the planetary gear transmission by using Newton’s theory, in which some key factors such as time-variant meshing stiffness, phase relationships, and tooth contact characteristics are considered. The influences of gear axial tipping, operating conditions, and the meshing phase on the contact characteristics and the dynamic characteristics were researched systematically. It was found that the contact area of the tooth surface was moved due to the axial gear tipping, which obviously affected the meshing stiffness. With the increase in the inclination angle of the sun gear, the meshing stiffness decreases, which produces an evident influence on the high natural frequency in the planetary transmission system. In terms of the dynamic characteristics of the system, the component of rotating frequency appeared in the dynamic meshing force of the sun gear and the planetary gear. Moreover, the floating track of the center wheel varied significantly and exhibited an oval distribution as the inclination angle of the sun gear changed. When the inclination angle of the sun gear increased, the rotating frequency component increased significantly, but the other meshing frequency components remained unchanged; meanwhile, the deformation of the floating track also increased. If the inclination angle of the sun gear changes, the vibration state of the system and the collision impact could become more serious, and the lifetime of the planetary transmission system will reduce. Furthermore, when the load was increased, we found that the gear-tooth contact zone transformed from line contact to surface contact, the meshing stiffness increased, the effect of high natural frequency on the planetary transmission system became more evident, but its low-order natural frequency remained stable. With regard to the dynamic characteristics of the system, the components of the major frequency at the external gearing remained unchanged, but the rotation frequency of the sun gear and the meshing frequency amplitude increased linearly with the increase in load. In conclusion, the variation in the meshing stiffness of the planetary gear system had minor impact on the low-order natural frequency, but had a significant impact on the high natural frequency of the planetary transmission system due to the phase variation of the gear.

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Motivated by accurate representations in gear dynamics models, this work analyzes the force-deflection relationship between spur gear pairs when the gear teeth have tooth root cracks. A finite element/contact mechanics approach is used to accurately capture the elastic deformations of the gear mesh incorporating kinematic gear motion; elastic deflections of the teeth, root, and blank; and elastic contact between the mating gear teeth. Tooth root crack damage of fixed sizes are analyzed, and the resulting static transmission error and mesh stiffness are calculated. These FE/CM model outputs are relatively insensitive to important gear crack geometry, including the initial crack location, the path it follows, and its final location. Crack-induced changes in static transmission error and mesh stiffness are driven by the remaining amount of the tooth that is healthy. Calculations of average-slope and local-slope mesh stiffness are included because both are used in gear dynamic models.</div></div>