A Computational Model to Investigate the Influence of Spacing Errors on Spur Gear Pair Dynamics

Abstract

In this paper, a computational model is developed to investigate the influence of tooth spacing errors on the dynamics of spur gear pairs. This finite element based computational model implicitly includes periodically-time varying gear mesh stiffness and nonlinearities caused by tooth separations in resonance regions. The model can simulate the long period transmission error induced dynamic response from a spur gear with different spacing error patterns and predicts both time domain histories and frequency-domain spectra of dynamic mesh force and dynamic transmission error. The dynamic responses due to both deterministic and random teeth spacing errors are predicted and compared to the previously generated results from a lumped parameter model capable of utilizing experimentally measured transmission error as the realistic excitation mechanism. This study also enables creation of an extensive database of dynamic response spectra of gear pairs under the influence of spacing errors that will later be utilized for investigating the diagnostics of gear pairs.