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.

Stress calculation on bevel gears with FEM influence vectors

In order to be able to carry out an optimal gear design with the aim of cost reduction and the careful handling of resources, load capacity is an important criterion for the evaluation of a gear. For the calculation of the flank and root load capacity, a precise loaded tooth contact analysis (LTCA) is necessary. With LTCA software like BECAL, influence numbers are used to calculate the deformation of the gear. These influence numbers are calculated with a BEM-module and considered for calculating the local root stress. This method simplifies the coupling stiffness in tooth width direction with a decay function and neglects the influence of local differences in tooth stiffness. In this publication, this simplification shall be questioned and evaluated.Therefore, a new method for calculating stress with FEM influence vectors is presented. This method enables the calculation of full stress tensors at any desired location in the gear with the efficiency of the influence number method. Additionally, the influence of local stiffness variations in the gear is taken into account. Various gear examples show the influence of material connections at the pinion root and the influence of the rim thickness of a wheel on the root stress. To validate the accuracy and the time efficiency of the new calculation method and to compare the results to current state-of-the-art simulations, a well-documented series of tests from the literature is recalculated and evaluated.

Data-driven process control for manufacturing spiral bevel and hypoid gears by using design for six sigma (DFSS) considering numerical loaded tooth contact analysis (NLTCA)

Data-driven process control considering both geometric and loaded contact performance evaluations has been an increasingly important stage in field of spiral bevel and hypoid gears. A new data-driven manufacturing process control strategy is proposed for a high performance spiral bevel and hypoid gears. Here, to distinguish with the conventional simulated loaded tooth contact analysis (SLTCA) using economical finite element software package, the numerical loaded tooth contact analysis (NLTCA) is of more flexibility and practicality. In light of the advantages of the improved design for six sigma (DFSS), it is integrated with NLTCA for establishing a novel data-driven process control of gear manufacturing. Firstly, in improved DFSS framework, quality function deployment (QFD) is used to determine four sub-objective high-performance evaluation items. Then, their data-driven relationships between machine settings are respectively determined by using NLTCA. In particular, the manufacturing process control is further converted into multi-objective optimization (MOO) modification of the hypoid generator settings. Finally, an interactive preference point approach is applied for data-driven control of its iterative step and it can obtain a robust solution from Pareto optimal front. A case study is provided to verify the proposed methodology.

Tool Profile Modification of Hypoid Gear Machined by Duplex Helical Method

For the hypoid gear pair of the heavy-duty vehicle drive axle machined by the duplex helical method, in order to avoid edge contact and stress concentration on the tooth surface, a four-segment tool profile is designed to modify the concave and convex surfaces simultaneously. First, the geometric model of the four-segment tool profile is established. Second, the mathematical model of the duplex helical method based on the four-segment tool profile is established, and the method of solving the tooth surface generated by the connecting points of the four-segment tool profile is given. Finally, the finite element method of loaded tooth contact analysis is used to analyze the meshing performance of the gear pair obtained by the four-segment tool profile modification, and the results are compared with the original gear pair. The results show that after the tooth surfaces are modified, the edge contact of the tooth surfaces are avoided, the stress distribution of the tooth surfaces are improved, the maximum contact stress of the tooth surfaces are reduced, and the fatigue and wear life of the tooth surface are improved.

A Novel Loaded Tooth Contact Analysis Procedure with Application to Internal-External Straight Bevel Gear Mesh in Pericyclic Drive

A comprehensive numerical loaded tooth contact analysis (LTCA) model is proposed for straight bevel gears that exhibit large number of teeth in contact, well beyond involute line of action limits. This kind of contact is observed when the meshing gears have conformal surfaces, as in a Pericyclic mechanical transmission, and is traditionally analysed using finite element simulations. The Pericyclic drive is kinematically similar to an epicyclic bevel gear train, and is characterized by load sharing over large number of teeth in an internal-external bevel gear mesh, large shaft angles (175° - 178°), nutational gear motion, and high reduction ratio. The contact region spreads over a large area on the gear tooth flank due to high contacting surface conformity. Thus, a thick plate Finite Strip method (FSM) was utilized to accurately calculate the gear tooth bending deflection. Based on tooth deformation calculation model, and accounting for initial surface separation, a variational framework is developed to simultaneously solve for load distribution and gear tooth deformation. This is followed by calculation of contact stress, bending stress, mesh stiffness, and transmission error. The results demonstrate the high power density capabilities of the Pericyclic drive and potential for gear noise reduction. The model developed herein is applied with real gear tooth surfaces, as well.

A calculation method of sliding friction coefficient on tooth surface for helical gear pair based on loaded tooth contact analysis and elastohydrodynamic lubrication theory

The sliding friction coefficient on tooth surface is related to power loss, carry capacity and transmission performance of gear. Reasonable transmission analysis of gear pair is the premise of accurate calculation of sliding friction coefficient on tooth surface. However, for helical gear pair, the line contact without considering machining error/installation error/modification of gear is usually adopted to replace the major axis of ellipse caused by contact load. Therefore, in this paper, contact path on tooth surface, length of contact line, load distribution on tooth surface and loaded transmission errors are accurately calculated by loaded tooth contact analysis (LTCA). Combing with elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) theory, a calculation method of sliding friction coefficient on tooth surface for helical gear pair is proposed.

Quasi-Static Characteristics and Vibration Responses Analysis of Helical Geared Rotor System with Random Cumulative Pitch Deviations

As one of the long period gear errors, the effects of random cumulative pitch deviations on mesh excitations and vibration responses of a helical geared rotor system (HGRS) are investigated. The long-period mesh stiffness (LPMS), static transmission error (STE), as well as composite mesh error (CMS), and load distributions of helical gears are calculated using an enhanced loaded tooth contact analysis (LTCA) model. A dynamic model with multi degrees of freedom (DOF) is employed to predict the vibration responses of HGRS. Mesh excitations and vibration responses analysis of unmodified HGRS are conducted in consideration of random cumulative pitch deviations. The results indicate that random cumulative pitch deviations have significant effects on mesh excitations and vibration responses of HGRS. The curve shapes of STE and CMS become irregular when the random characteristic of cumulative pitch deviations is considered, and the appearance of partial contact loss in some mesh cycles leads to decreased LPMS when load torque is relatively low. Vibration modulation phenomenon can be observed in dynamic responses of HGRS. In relatively light load conditions, the amplitudes of sideband frequencies become larger than that of mesh frequency and its harmonics (MFIHs) because of relatively high contact ratio. The influences of random cumulative pitch deviations on the vibration responses of modified HGRS are also discussed.

Lubricated Loaded Tooth Contact Analysis and Non-Newtonian Thermoelastohydrodynamics of High-Performance Spur Gear Transmission Systems

Energy efficiency and functional reliability are the two key requirements in the design of high-performance transmissions. Therefore, a representative analysis replicating real operating conditions is essential. This paper presents the thermoelastohydrodynamic lubrication (TEHL) of meshing spur gear teeth of high-performance racing transmission systems, where high generated contact pressures and lubricant shear lead to non-Newtonian traction. The determination of the input contact geometry of meshing pairs as well as contact kinematics are essential steps for representative TEHL. These are incorporated in the current analysis through the use of Lubricated Loaded Tooth Contact Analysis (LLTCA), which is far more realistic than the traditional Tooth Contact Analysis (TCA). In addition, the effects of lubricant and flash surface temperature rise of contacting pairs, leading to the thermal thinning of lubricant, are taken into account using a thermal network model. Furthermore, high-speed contact kinematics lead to shear thinning of the lubricant and reduce the film thickness under non-Newtonian traction. This comprehensive approach based on established TEHL analysis, particularly including the effect of LLTCA on the TEHL of spur gears, has not hitherto been reported in literature.

Designing and loaded tooth contact analysis of an Archimedean worm gear drive focusing for the connecting teeth of the worm wheel by loaded torques

The cylindrical worm gear drives are widely used in different mechanical construction such as in the vehicle industry, the robotics, the medical appliances etc. The main property of them is the perpendicular and space bypass axes arrangement. Quite high transmission ratio could be achieved because of the high number of teeth of the worm-wheel and a little number of threads of the worm. More teeth are connected on the worm-wheel at the same time that is why higher loads and power could be transferred. In this research an Archimedean type cylindrical worm gear drive was designed. After the determination of the geometric parameters the computer-aided models were created for the LTCA analysis. Knowing of the kinematic motions of the elements the contact points of the wrapping surfaces could be determined by mathematical way. The necessary coordinate system's arrangements and matrixes were also determined. Different torques were applied during the LTCA. The changing of the distribution of the normal stress and normal deformation into different directions was followed on each connecting tooth of the worm-wheel by the torques. Based on the results consequences were determined by the created diagrams which contain the torques and the analysed mechanical parameter for each tooth.