Investigation of the Thermal Behaviour of Non‐metallic Curved‐Face‐Width Spur Gears

Abstract

AbstractThis paper describes a curved‐face‐width spur gear, specially designed for manufacture from non‐metallic materials. The benefits of this gear are the higher contact ratio, bending and Hertzian contact resistance, and greater tooth stiffness compared to standard spur gears. A modified geometry is proposed for the gear tooth, the height of which varies along the gear face width. Due to the reduction in tooth height, in sections away from the gear centre, lower sliding friction is expected, with consequences for the gear's thermal behaviour. The complex gear geometry makes the design of a die difficult; therefore the gears were cut on a milling machine, using a special kinematic generation process and related equipment. The tooth flank profile, an involute or near involute in sections away from the gear half‐width plane, as well as the flank surface quality determined by the single‐cutter tool used for gear manufacture, influence the meshing condition, and can be detrimental to the thermal behaviour of the gear. Experimental tests were carried out to examine the influence of load and speed on the temperature of the curved‐face‐width spur gears with modified geometry. The measured temperature of the non‐standard gear is further compared with the predicted temperature of plastic standard spur gears of the same specification.