Research on dynamical characteristics of planetary gear system with tooth pitting

Abstract

The dynamical characteristics research of planetary gear system with tooth pitting is useful for early fault diagnosis and monitor. However, it is an unsolved puzzle to establish the relationship between tooth pitting and dynamical characteristics. In this study, a pitting fault analytical model is proposed to investigate the effects of tooth pitting on the gear mesh stiffness. Then this mesh stiffness with tooth pitting is incorporated into a dynamical model of planetary gear system, and the effects of the tooth pitting on the vibration characteristics is investigated. The simulated results show that the time-varying mesh stiffness is reduced with tooth pitting propagations along width or depth direction. The mesh frequency and its harmonics are mainly frequencies components in the frequency spectrum of dynamic mesh force, but sidebands caused by the tooth pitting are more sensitive than the mesh frequency and its harmonics. The tooth pitting frequency and its harmonics also increase with the rising rotational speed of the sun gear. In addition, both relative statistical indicators of RMS and Kurtosis increase with the growth of tooth pitting size. But the relative indicators have different sensitivity on the vibration signal type. These results could supply some guidance to the condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of planetary gear system, especially to the gear tooth pitting at early stage.