Enhanced loaded tooth contact analysis of hypoid gears within a multi-body-system simulation

Abstract

To calculate the load capacity of gear stages within complex drivetrains under varying external loads, multi-body-systems (MBS) are used to simulate the vibrational behaviour of integral systems. In order to model a flexible hypoid gear stage, methods like the modal reduction of FEM-models were already introduced. However, the modelling of such systems is complex, challenging and sensitive to its discretisation. The co-simulation within a multi-body-system simulation offers the possibility to outsource the calculation of the tooth contact and therefore the reaction forces under consideration of friction. This leads to a simplification and an improvement of the modelling of gear stages in multi-body-systems.The further developed co-simulation module offers a compromise between computational speeds and exact solutions. To improve the quality of the results and reduce the calculation time the load distribution calculation is investigated specifically. The article describes a method to reduce fluctuations of computed reaction forces and moments during gear movement. The aim is to keep the level of fluctuations of a high contact zone discretisation with a significant smaller contact point count.