Influence and compensation of CMM geometric errors on 3D gear measurements

Abstract

The influence of CMM geometric errors on 3D gear measurements is still unclear as the requirement for a gear measurement standard with ideal geometry cannot be fulfilled. To solve this issue, the authors have proposed and developed a software program named Me2Ge to simulate 3D gear measurements with CMMs. This allows a systematic analysis of how gear deviations are affected by geometric errors of a CMM, and how the influence can be reduced. A large gear ring measurement standard and a large Cartesian CMM are used as an important application example. The simulation results achieve the gear deviations under the influence of machine geometric errors, and reveal the major error sources for profile slope deviation, helix slope deviation and single pitch deviation, which gives a first impression of geometric errors and their influence on 3D gear measurements. Finally, reversal techniques are integrated into the Me2Ge program to compensate machine errors. The results clearly prove that reversal techniques play a significant role and are worth spending the necessary time to achieve lower measurement uncertainties.