Load Distribution in Spiral Bevel Gears

A new approach for the computerized simulation of load distribution in mismatched spiral bevel gears with point contact is presented. The loaded tooth contact is treated in a special way: it is assumed that the point contact under load spreads over a surface along the “potential” contact line (Simon, 2006, Mech. and Machine Theory, in press), which line is made up of the points of the mating tooth surfaces in which the separations of these surfaces are minimal, instead of assuming the usually applied elliptical contact area. The bending and shearing deflections of gear teeth, the local contact deformations of mating surfaces, gear body bending and torsion, the deflections of supporting shafts, and the manufacturing and alignment errors of mating members are included. The tooth deflections of the pinion and gear teeth are calculated by the finite element method. As the equations governing the load sharing among the engaged tooth pairs and load distribution along the tooth face are nonlinear, an approximate and iterative technique is used to solve this system of equations. The method is implemented by a computer program. By using this program the load and tooth contact pressure distributions, the angular displacements of the driven gear and the stresses in the pinion and gear teeth are calculated. The influence of design data and transmitted torque on load distribution parameters and fillet stresses is investigated and discussed.