A function-oriented active form-grinding method for cylindrical gears based on error sensitivity

Abstract

This paper proposes a function-oriented form-grinding approach to obtain excellent and stable contact performance of cylindrical gears by designing modification forms based on a predesigned controllable fourth-order transmission error (TE) function and error sensitivity evaluation. First of all, a predesigned fourth-order TE polynomial function is assigned to the gear drive. Mathematical models of modified tooth surfaces that can describe their local deviation and ease-off topography are then obtained with the predesigned fourth-order TE function. The corresponding error sensitivity analysis is applied for investigation that reflects inherent relationships between contact attributes of modified tooth surfaces and misalignments. Moreover, the form-grinding wheel’s profile equation, the coordinate transformation matrix during form-grinding, and settings of computer numerical control (CNC) form-grinding programs for this active design method can be determined. This approach is ultimately conducted on three involute cylindrical gear pairs to demonstrate its feasibility and effectiveness.