Machine-Tool Settings to Reduce the Sensitivity of Spiral Bevel Gears to Tooth Errors and Misalignments

Abstract

The method for loaded tooth contact analysis is applied for the investigation of the combined influence of machine-tool settings for pinion teeth finishing and misalignments of the mating members on load distribution and transmission errors in mismatched spiral bevel gears. By using the corresponding computer program, the influence of pinion’s offset and axial adjustment error, angular position error of the pinion axis, tooth spacing error, and machine-tool setting correction for pinion teeth finishing, on tooth contact pressure, tooth root stresses, and angular displacement of the driven gear member from the theoretically exact position based on the ratio of the numbers of teeth is investigated. On the basis of the obtained results, the optimal combination of machine-tool settings is determined. By the use of this set of machine-tool settings, the maximum tooth contact pressure and transmission errors can be significantly reduced. However, in some cases, by the use of appropriate machine-tool settings for the reduction of tooth contact pressure, the angular displacement of the driven gear increases. Therefore, different optimized combinations of machine-tool settings for pinion tooth finishing for the reduction of the sensitivity of gears to misalignments in regard to maximum tooth contact pressure and transmission errors should be applied. By the use of the combination of machine-tool settings to reduce the sensitivity of gears to misalignments in regard to transmission errors, a slight reduction of maximal tooth contact pressure is achieved, too.