Design and Analysis for Hypoid Gears with Ease-Off Flank Modification

An approach of ease-off flank modification for hypoid gears was proposed to improve the meshing performance of automobile drive axle. Firstly, a conjugate pinion matching with gear globally was developed based on gear meshing theory. Secondly, a modified pinion was represented by a sum of two vector functions determining the conjugate pinion and the normal ease-off deviations expressed by both predesigned transmission error function and tooth profile modification curves to change the initial contact clearance of the tooth. Thirdly, the best ease-off deviations were determined by optimizing the minimum amplitude of loaded transmission error (ALTE) based on tooth contact analysis (TCA) and loaded tooth contact analysis (LTCA). Finally, the results show that effective contact ratios (εe) are established by clearances both teeth space and of contact elliptical, and greatly affect ALTE. The εe is a variable value with increasing loads for the tooth with modification. ALTE decreases with increasing εe. After εe reaches the maximum, ALTE increases with increasing loads. The mismatch of the best ease-off tooth is minimal, which contributes to effective reduction in ALTE, thus significantly improving drive performance.

Comparison of Occlusal Parameters between Open Bite and Nonopen Bite Patients Using the T-Scan III System: A Pilot Study

Objective To evaluate and compare the first tooth contact region, occlusion time, time to generate total force, and force distribution between open bite (OB) and non-OB (NOB) patients at the maximum intercuspation position using the T-Scan III system. Materials and Methods Sixteen patients were divided into the OB and NOB groups (n = 8 for each group). The T-Scan III system was used to evaluate the first tooth contact region, occlusion time, time to generate total force, and force distribution. Statistical Analysis The mean patient age, overjet, overbite, occlusion time, and time to generate total force were compared between the groups by independent samples t-test. Relative force distributions between groups and among regions were compared by the Mann–Whitney U- and Kruskal–Wallis H-tests, respectively. A probability value of less than 5% (p < 0.05) was considered significant. Results Differences in the first tooth contact region between groups were observed. The molar region was the first tooth contact region in the OB group, while first tooth contact was observed in all regions in the NOB group. Neither the occlusion time nor the time to generate total force was significantly different between the groups (p > 0.05). The highest force distributions were observed in the molar regions in both groups. Significant intragroup differences were found among all regions (p < 0.05), except between the anterior and premolar regions in the NOB group (p = 0.317). Intergroup differences in the force distributions in the anterior (p = 0.000), premolar (p = 0.038), and molar (p = 0.007) regions were significant. Conclusion Unlike in the NOB group, in which first tooth contact occurred in every region, in the OB group, first tooth contact occurred only in the molar region. Compared with those in the NOB group, the force distributions in the OB group were approximately 1.5 times higher in the molar region but were significantly lower in the anterior and premolar regions.

Compound transmission principle analysis of eccentric curve-face gear pair with curvilinear-shaped teeth based on tooth contact analysis

A new type of compound transmission gear pair was put forward, called eccentric curve-face gear pair with curvilinear-shaped teeth. It could realize reciprocating motion of the gear shaft when the intersecting shafts achieve transferring motion and power through its unique tooth profile. The compound transmission principle of this gear pair was fully established based on the profile-closure process of axial direction and meshing process of the end face. The tooth surfaces of the eccentric curve-face gear and non-circular gear were generated. The contact paths of different teeth were obtained, and the compound transmission principle of eccentric curve-face gear pair with curvilinear-shaped teeth was verified by tooth contact analysis. By analyzing the mechanical characteristics of time-varying contact points, the changing rule of contact force was studied, and the compound transmission principle of the gear pair was further revealed from mechanics. Moreover, the experimental platform for transmission of eccentric curve-face gear pair with curvilinear-shaped teeth was set up to measure the motion law and contact area, and the correctness of the analysis results was verified.

Dynamic Characteristic Analysis of Spur Gear System Considering Tooth Contact State Caused by Shaft Misalignment

Shaft misalignment will change the gear contact state, and then leads to the variation of the internal stiffness excitation of the gear pair, and finally the dynamic characteristics of the gear system will be affected. However, the influence of the gear contact state change on stiffness is usually neglected in the traditional stiffness calculation model for misaligned gears, and the underlying influence mechanism of the gear contact state changes aroused by the shaft misalignment on the dynamic characteristics of gear system is still unclear. To address these shortcomings, traditional loaded tooth contact analysis (LTCA) model is improved with the influences of fillet foundation deformation taken into consideration. Combined with the improved LTCA model, a new mesh stiffness calculation model for misaligned gear considering the tooth contact state is proposed, and then the effects of the contact state changes aroused by the shaft misalignment on the mesh stiffness excitation are studied. Moreover, a dynamic model of misaligned gear system with 8 degree of freedom (DOF) is established, and the dynamic characteristics of the system are simulated and finally verified by experiment. The results show that the proposed model can be used to evaluate the dynamic characteristics of the misaligned gear system with the change of gear tooth contact state taken into consideration. This study provides a theoretical method for the evaluation and identification of the shaft misalignment error.

TOOTH CONTACT ANALYSIS OF A DESIGNED PLANETARY GEAR DRIVE FOR THE VEHICLE INDUSTRY

A planetary gear drive consists of a sun gear, planet pinions and an internal gear. We designed a complex gear system which is usable in the field of the vehicle industry into the automatized robots. The system was designed by GearTeq software which is connected with the SolidWorks designer software. After the assembly and the motion simulations tooth contact analysis (TCA) was made to analyse the normal stresses and the normal deformations on the connecting surface of the planet pinions and the internal gear by different load moments.

Optimal Vibration Suppression Modification Method for High-Speed Helical Gear Transmission of Battery Electric Vehicles under Full Working Conditions

To improve the working performance of battery electric vehicle (BEV) high-speed helical gear transmission under full working conditions, combined with Tooth Contact Analysis (TCA) and Loaded Tooth Contact Analysis (LTCA), the vibration model of single-stage helical gear bending-torsion-axis-swing coupling system considering time-varying mesh stiffness was established. The genetic algorithm was used to optimize the tooth surface with the objective of minimizing the mean value of the vibration acceleration at full working conditions. Finally, a high-speed helical gear transmission system in a BEV gearbox was taken as a simulation example and the best-modified tooth surface at full working conditions was obtained. Experiment and simulation results show that the proposed calculation method of time-varying meshing stiffness is accurate, and tooth surface modification can effectively suppress the vibration of high-speed helical gear transmission in BEV; compared to the optimally modified tooth surface under a single load, the optimal modified tooth surface under full working conditions has a better vibration reduction effect over the entire working range.

Wear simulation of worm gears based on an energetic approach

Wear phenomena in worm gears are dependent on the size of the gears. Whereas larger gears are mainly affected by fatigue wear, abrasive wear is predominant in smaller gears. In this context a simulation model for abrasive wear of worm gears was developed, which is based on an energetic wear equation. This approach associates wear with solid friction energy occurring in the tooth contact. The physically-based wear simulation model includes a tooth contact analysis and tribological calculation to determine the local solid tooth friction and wear. The calculation is iterated with the modified tooth flank geometry of the worn worm wheel, in order to consider the influence of wear on the tooth contact. Experimental results on worm gears are used to determine the wear model parameter and to validate the model. A simulative study for a wide range of worm gear geometries was conducted to investigate the influence of geometry and operating conditions on abrasive wear.

Innovative tooth contact analysis with non-uniform rational b-spline surfaces

More and more simulation tools are being used in the development of gears in order to save development time and costs while improving the gears. BECAL is a comprehensive software tool for the tooth contact analysis (TCA) of bevel, hypoid, beveloid and spur gears. The gear geometry is provided by a manufacturing simulation or a geometry import. To determine the exact contact conditions in the TCA, the discrete flank points are converted into a continuous and differentiable surface representation. At present, it is an approximation by means of Bézier tensor product surfaces. With this surface representation, significant deviations to the target points can occur depending on the tooth geometry. In particular tip, root and end relief, strongly curved tooth root geometries or discontinuous topological measurement data due to e.g. micro-pitting can only be considered insufficiently.Hence, a new method for surface approximation with non-uniform rational b‑spline surfaces (NURBS) is presented. Its application can significantly improve the surface representation compared to the target geometry, leading to more realistic results regarding contact stress, tooth root stress and transmission error. To illustrate the advantages, NURBS-based surfaces are compared with the Bézier tensor product surfaces. Finally, the potential of the new approach regarding the prediction of lifetime and acoustics is demonstrated by application to different gear geometries.