Finite element analysis of contact fatigue and bending fatigue of a theoretical assembling straight bevel gear pair

The aim of this work is to propose a 3D FE model of a theoretical assembling straight bevel gear pair to analyze the contact fatigue on the tooth surface and the bending fatigue in the tooth root. Based on the cumulative fatigue criterion and the stress-life equation, the key meshing states of the gear pair were investigated for the contact fatigue and the bending fatigue. Then, the reliability of the proposed model was proved by comparing the calculation result with the simulation result. Further study was performed to analyze the variation of the contact fatigue stress and the bending fatigue stress under different loads. Furthermore, the roles of the driving pinion and the driven gear pair were evaluated in the fatigue life of the straight bevel gear pair and the main fatigue failure mode was determined for the significant gear. The results show that the fatigue failure of the driving pinion is the main fatigue failure for the straight bevel gear pair and the bending fatigue failure is the main fatigue failure for the driving pinion.

Influence of Alignment Errors on Contact Pressure during Straight Bevel Gear Meshing Process

Straight bevel gears are widely applied in automotive, aerospace, chemical and many other fields as one of the most common type of gears. Currently, the researches on straight bevel gears have focused on the fields of fatigue, wear, noise and vibration, while little attention is paid to the effect of multiple alignment errors on the gear tooth wear. To study the influence of alignment errors on the gear tooth wear, a simulated model of a straight bevel gear pair is established. Then, the contact pressure on the tooth surface is analyzed under the various alignment errors according to the Archard wear relationship. The main combinations of alignment errors played vital roles on the tooth wear are investigated. The result shows that under the single alignment error, the contact pressure moves to the tooth heel and increases greatly at here when ？P=0.1 or ？G=0.1; when ？E=–0.03, the contact pressure greatly increases at the tooth heel, but it obviously increases at the tooth toe when ？E=0.03; the alignment error ？γ=1 has little effect on the contact pressure on the tooth surface. Moreover, the combination of ？P, ？G, ？E〈0 and ？γ is the most dangerous type among the multiple alignment errors. This research provides valuable guidelines for predicting the tooth wear under various alignment errors.