Analytical Study on Improvement in Load Sharing for Planetary Gear Set using Floating Ring Gear

Abstract

Purpose: The load on the planet gear of a planetary gear set is uniformly distributed. However, manufacturing and assembly errors cause uneven load sharing in the planetary gear set. To solve this problem, most studies have suggested applying a floating sun gear to the planetary gear set. However, the effect of the floating ring gear and floating carrier has not been extensively studied. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the floating ring gear. Methods: Two models were developed; one was the fixed ring gear model, and the other was the floating ring gear model. In the fixed ring gear model, the clearance between the ring gear and the housing was 0 μm, and in the floating ring gear model, the clearance was from 10 μm to 100 μm. The load sharing of the planetary gear set was evaluated by the load sharing factor. Results: Our study showed that with increase in clearance, the load sharing factor of the planetary gear set approached unity. In addition, when the clearance increased above a certain level by which a fully floating ring gear was achieved, the load sharing factor was not affected by the clearance. Conclusions: This indicates that the fully floating ring gear increased the power density of the planetary gearbox by uniformly dividing the load of the planetary gear set. For this reason, the size of the gearbox could be decreased by using a fully floating ring gear.