On windage losses in high-speed pinion-gear pairs

Abstract

This article deals with the Windage Power Losses (WPL) of pinion-gear pairs rotating in air. The WPL of several disks, spur and helical gears have been measured using a dedicated test rig developed from a WPL measurement system initially used for one single pinion or disk. In practice, several gears are in mesh and the windage losses for coupled pinion-gear systems need to be addressed. It is experimentally confirmed that, although some couplings can be identified between two rotating gears, the total WPL can be estimated as the sum of that of each individual member.