Static and dynamic analysis of high contact ratio spur gear

Introduction
Gears are widely used in almost each type of machineries in the industry. Along with bolts,
nuts and screws; they are a common element in machines and will be needed frequently by
machine designers to realize their designs in almost all fields of mechanical applications.
Ever since the first gear was conceived over 3000 years ago, they have become an integral
component in all manner of tools and machineries. These toothed wheels were used to
transmit circular motion or rotational force from one part of a machine to another. Gears are
used in pairs and each gear is usually attached to a rotating shaft.
Since the 19th century the gear drives designed have mainly been concerned with keeping
contact stresses below material limits and improving the smoothness of the drive by keeping
velocity ratios as constant as possible. The major rewards of keeping the velocity ratio
constant is the reduction of dynamic effects which will give rise to increase in stress,
vibration and noise. Gear design is a highly complicated skill. The constant pressure to build
cheaper, quieter running, lighter and more powerful machinery has given rise to steady and
advantageous changes in gear designs over the past few decades. High contact ratio spur
gears could be used to exclude or reduce the variation of tooth stiffness. Kasuba [1]
established experimentally that the dynamic loads decrease with increas-ing contact ratio in
spur gearing. Sato, Umezawa, and Ishi-kawa [2] demonstrated experimentally that the
minimum dynamic factor corresponds to gears with a contact ratio slightly less than 2.0
(1.95). The same result was found ex-perimentally by Kahraman and Blankenship [3] and
theoreti-cally by Lin, Wang, Oswald, and Coy [4].
A pair of teeth in action is generally subjected to two types of cyclic stresses:
i) Bending stresses inducing bending fatigue
ii) Contact stress causing contact fatigue.
Both these types of stresses may not attain their maximum values at the same point
of contact. However, combined action of both of them is the reason of failure of gear tooth
leading to fracture at the root of a tooth under bending fatigue and surface failure, due to
contact fatigue.

When loads are applied to the bodies, their surfaces deform elastically near the point
of contact. Stresses developed by Normal force in a photo-elastic model of gear tooth. The
highest stresses exist at regions where the lines are bunched closest together.
The highest stress occurs at two locations:
1. at contact point where the force F acts
2. at the fillet region near the base of the tooth

Fig .high stress location

Problem of statement
The understanding of the speed ratio of the gear system was critical. Due to the crude design
of the system, the speed ratio was not constant. As a result, when one gear ran at constant
speed, there was regular acceleration and deceleration of each tooth of the other gear. The
loads generated by the acceleration influence the steady drive loads to cause vibration and
ultimately failure of the gear system

1.2 CONTACT RATIO

The increase in contact ratio can be implemented in two ways:
1) By decreasing pressure angle and
2) By increasing tooth height.
Obviously, the use of a standard pressure angle and standard tools is preferable. In the author
certificate

(Nikolayev and Podzharov) [5] A simple method of design of high contact ratio spur gears
with standard basic rack of 20 profile angle was presented. This method allows us to design
gears with a contact ratio

nearly 1.95. Vulgakov [6] pro-posed a method of design of nonstandard gears in

generalized parameters and found that spur gears with a contact ratio of more than 2 and a
pressure angle more than 20 worked considerably quieter. Rouverol and Watanabe [7, 8]
proposed maximum-conjugacy gearing which has a low pressure angle at pitch point and
which increases slowly at the tip and at the root. The measurements also show a considerable
reduction in the noise level compared with standard gears.
Contact ratio is defined as ratio of length of arc of contact to circular pitch. When two gear
teeth mesh, the meshing zone is usually limited between the intersecting radii of addendum of
the respective gears as shown in Figure 1.2. From the figure it can be seen that the initial
tooth contact occurs at point a and final tooth contact occurs at b. If the tooth profiles are
drawn through points a and b, they will intersect the pitch circle at points A and B
respectively. The radial distance AP is called the arc of approach q a, and the radial distance
PB is called the arc of recess qr and the sum of these being the arc of action qt.

Figure 1.2 Contact ratio

qt= qa+qr

2.1 LITERATURE STUDY

Tuplin (1950) [1] suggested that the number of stress cycles causing failure of a given
material under any particular stress is dependent of the time-rate of repetition of stress. Highspeed gears have failed under stresses lower than the fatigue limit so it becomes
necessary to consider whether the actual stress was as low as had been assumed. Pitch errors
and profile variation in gear teeth cause actual stresses to be higher than nominal stresses.
The nominal Permissible stress (corresponding to the mean transmitted torque) should
therefore consider probable errors in the teeth. So spring mass model of mating gears is
developed. Equivalent stiffness was calculated by considering individual stiffnesss.
Dynamic loads were approximated by considering various types of errors.
Houser et al. (1970)[3] investigated dynamic factors for spur and helical gears.
Comprehensive program was developed for spur and helical to investigate the influence of
errors and variation in mesh stiffnesss on peak stresses. Four sets of specially designed gears
were tested. Tooth loads and system shaft torques at various operating conditions were
compared.
Wilcox et al. (1973) [4] explained the analytical method of finite elements for analysis of
gear tooth stresses. Necessary details for simulating a two-dimensional tooth shape with
finite elements were outlined and stress values at the tooth surface in the root fillet
were determined. Tensile fillet stress in generated tooth shapes considering either
symmetric or asymmetric profiles was analyzed using finite element analysis. Stress
data obtained were used to develop a new simplified stress formula which gives tensile fillet
stress as a function of geometric tooth shape and general loading conditions.
Staph (1976) [5] Developed a computer program to design external spur gears having normal
contact ratios (<2) and high contact ratios ( 2). Effects of changes in gear parameters on.
several performance factors of high contact ratio gears were studied. Then results were
compared with those for the equivalent normal contact ratio gears. It was concluded that a

high contact ratio gear obtained by increasing the addendum of an equivalent normal contact
ratio gear have lower bending and compressive stresses (favorable) and increased friction
heat generation and flash temperatures (unfavorable).
Cornell et al. (1978) [6] Presented a solution for a dynamic model of spur gear systems for all
practical contact ratios. The dynamic response of the gear system and the associated tooth
loads and stressing were determined in this analysis. The dynamic model considered the two
gears as a rigid inertia and the teeth act a variable spring of a dynamic system which was
excited by the meshing action of the teeth. The effects of different parameters like nonlinearity of the tooth pair stiffness in meshing, the tooth errors and the tooth profile
modifications were included in this study. It concluded that system inertia and damping, tooth
profile modification and system critical speeds affect the dynamic gear tooth loads
and stressing dominantly.
J.W.Lund (1978) [7] described method for calculating the coupled torsional-lateral vibrations
a geared system of rotors. In this paper both forced vibrations and free damped vibrations
whose complex Eigen frequencies define the damped critical speeds and the stability of the
rotor system were considered. The Holzer method was used for torsional vibrations and the
Myklestad Prohl method was used for lateral vibrations, after which they were coupled
through impedance matching at the gear meshes.
Elkohly (1985) [9] gave solution for the calculations of load sharing between teeth in mesh
for high contact ratio gears. In this analysis the sum of tooth deflection, spacing error and
profile modification was assumed to be equal for all pairs in contact. Also the sum of normal
loads taken by pairs was assumed to be equal to the maximum normal load. Stiffness
variation along path of contact was considered.

Tooth fillet stress, contact stress were

determined using tooth geometry after individual load were calculated. The results
obtained from experimental analysis were compared with analytical results. Ozguven et al.
(1988) [11] used single degree of freedom non-linear model for the dynamic analysis of gear
pair. Calculations for the dynamic mesh and tooth forces, dynamic factors based on stresses
and dynamic transmission error from measured or calculated loaded static transmission errors
were performed by two methods and a computer program was developed. The effects of
variable mesh stiffness and damping, gear errors pitch, profile errors, run out errors, profile
modifications and backlash were also discussed in this analysis. One of the methods was
accurate and the other one was approximate. In the first method, the time variation of both

mesh stiffness and damping was demonstrated with numerical examples. In the second
method, the time average of the mesh stiffness was used. However, the excitation effect of
the variable mesh stiffness was included in the formulation used in approximate
analysis. It was concluded from the comparison of the results of the two methods that the
displacement excitation resulting from variable mesh stiffness was more important than the
change in system natural frequency resulting from the mesh stiffness variation.
Kahraman et al. (1991) [12] included coupling between the transverse and torsional motions
at the gear in appropriate dynamic model of a spur gear pair. Though various numerical
models with large degrees of freedom based on the transfer matrix method or the
finite element method were available, reduced order analytical models were preferred
for design calculations or for non-linear analysis. In this study they proposed such model
and determined the associated error in the undamped Eigen solution by a comparison with a
finite element model.
Kahraman et al. (1992) [13] developed a finite-element model for investigation of dynamic
behavior of geared rotor.

Transverse vibration of bearing and transverse and torsional

vibration of shaft were taken into account for this analysis. In this model the rotary inertia of
shaft, the axial loading on shafts, bearing flexibility and damping, material damping of shafts
and the stiffness and the damping of gear mesh were included. The coupling between
the torsional and transverse vibrations of gears was considered in the model. Mesh stiffness
was assumed to be constant. The dynamic mesh forces due to these excitations were
calculated.
Ramamurti et al. (1998) [15] presented the findings of three-dimensional stress analysis of
spur and bevel gear teeth by Finite element method using cyclic symmetry concept.
The displacement of a tooth was computed for each Fourier harmonic component of the
contact line load and all the components were added to obtain the total displacement.
This displacement was used in the calculation of static stress in the teeth. The sub
matrices elimination scheme was used for calculation of natural frequencies and mode
shapes. This analysis demonstrated the use of cyclic symmetry concept in the Finite Element
Analysis of spur gear.

This approach helps in large saving in computer memory and

reduction of computational effort. The dynamic analysis of gear tooth was efficiently
done by this approach utilizing the geometrical periodicity and the sub matrices elimination
scheme.

Parker et al. (2000)[16]investigated dynamic response of a spur gear pair using a

Finite element/contact mechanics model which suits well for dynamic gear analyses. The gear
pair was tested across a wide range of operating speeds and torques. Comparisons were made
with other researchers published experiments that reveal complex non-linear phenomena.
The non-linearity in meshing was due to the contact loss of the meshing teeth. It occurs even
for large torques for high-precision gears also. Dynamic mesh forces were calculated using a
detailed contact analysis at each time step as the gears roll through the mesh. Mesh forces are
determined by contact analysis in combination with a unique semi-analytical Finite element
formulation at the tooth mesh.
Huang et al. (2000)[17] considered a spur gear tooth as a variable cross-section Timoshenko
beam to develop

a dynamic model to obtain transient response for spur gears of involute

profiles. A dynamic stiffness method using equations of motion of a Timoshenko

beam model was developed to simulate spur gear dynamics during meshing. In this
study the dynamic responses of a single tooth and a gear pair were investigated. Firstly, Gear
blank and tooth profile were represented as polynomials. The dynamic stiffness matrix and
natural Frequencies of the gear were calculated. The modal analysis was used to calculate the
forced response of a tooth subject to a shaft-driven transmission. The forced response was
obtained at arbitrary points in a gear tooth. They considered time varying stiffness and mass
matrices and the gear meshing forces at moving meshing points during the study.
Kapelevich (2000) [18] developed the basic geometry theory for asymmetric gear teeth.
Method of design of spur gears with asymmetric teeth was described so as to increase load
carrying capacity, minimize weight, and overall dimension and vibration levels. It was
concluded that load carrying capacity increases and weight, size decreases with increase in
contact ratio and pressure angle for drive sides. Also the formulas and equations for gear and
generating rack parameters were determined in this study.
Choi et al. (2001) [19] presented an analytical study of the dynamic characteristics of a
geared rotor-bearing system by the transfer matrix method. Rotating shafts of the system
were modeled as Timoshenko beams with effects of shear deformation and gyroscopic
moment. The gear mesh was modeled as a pair of rigid disks connected by a spring-damper
set along the pressure line and the transmission error was simulated by a displacement
excitation at the mesh. The transfer matrix of a gear mesh was developed. The coupled

lateral-torsional vibration of a geared rotor-bearing system was studied. Natural frequencies

and
corresponding mode shapes, and whirl frequencies under different spin speeds were
determined. In addition, steady-state responses due to the excitation of mass
unbalance, transmission error and geometric eccentricity gear mesh are obtained. Effect
of the time-varying stiffness of the gear mesh was investigated.
Fong et al. (2002) [20] proposed a mathematical model for parametric tooth profile of spur
gear by using a given equation of line of action. The line of action was considered to be
usually composed of only simple curves. By combining simple curves into the line of action
the proposed mathematical model enhanced the freedom of tooth profile design. The equation
of line of action was used to derive curvature, sliding velocity, contact ratio, and the
limitation of undercutting. Based on the proposed mathematical model, both mating tooth
profiles by the single parameter of line of action were presented. In this work the kinematical
characteristics of mating gears with nonstandard tooth profiles were studied.
Vedmar et al. (2003) [21] described method to calculate dynamic gear tooth force and bearing
forces. The model developed in this study also includes elastic bearings. Path of contact and
gear mesh stiffness were determined using the deformations of the gears and the bearings.
This analysis gave contact outside the plane of action and a time varying working pressure
angle. The influence of the friction force was also studied. Dynamic influence on the gear
contact force or on the bearing force in the gear mesh line-of-action direction was
not considered due to friction. On the other hand, the changing of sliding directions in the
pitch point was a source for critical oscillations of the bearings in the gear tooth frictional
direction.
These oscillations in the frictional direction appear unaffected by the dynamic response along
the gear mesh line of action direction.
Maliha et al. (2004) [22] described a nonlinear dynamic model for a gear shaft disk bearing
system. This model of a spur gear pair was coupled with linear finite element models
of shafts on which gears are mounted. The nonlinear elasticity term due to backlash was
expressed by a describing function. The excitations considered in the model were external
static torque and internal excitation caused by mesh stiffness variation, gear errors and gear
tooth profile modifications. This work combines the versatility of modeling a shaft-bearing
disk system that can have any configuration without a limitation to the total degree

of freedom, with the accuracy of a nonlinear gear mesh interface model that allowed
predicting jumps and double solutions in frequency response
Wang et al. (2005) [23] outlined methods for using FEA of high contact ratio spur gears in
mesh, considering adaptive meshing and element size selection under the solution accuracy
criteria. These methods were proficient in a range of loads over the mesh cycle, with and
without modification in tooth profile. This study demonstrated the high contact ratio gears to
provide significant advantages for decreasing tooth root and contact stresses and also
increased load carrying capacity. Earlier numerical work using FEA was limited due to
several factors; (i) the difficulty in predicting load sharing over roll angles covering two or
three teeth simultaneously in mesh (ii) the problem of primary unconstrained body motion
when (long) profile modifications were applied. Methods and results for overcoming these
difficulties with recent computer hardware and software improvements were presented in this
study. Particular developments discussed include the use of FE analysis of High
Contact Ratio Gears in mesh and the results obtained when adaptive meshing was used.
Shuting Li (2007) [24] presented three-dimensional (3-D), finite element methods (FEM) to
conduct surface contact stress (SCS) and root bending stress (RBS) calculations of a pair of
spur gears with machining errors (ME), assembly errors (AE) and tooth modifications (TM).
In this paper, firstly positions of a pair of parallel-shaft spur gears with ME, AE and TM were
defined in a 3-D coordinate system. The tooth contact of the gear pair was assumed on a
reference face around the geometrical contact line. Deformation influence coefficients of the
pairs of contact points were calculated by 3-D, FEM and loaded tooth contact
analysis (LTCA) of the pair of gears with ME, AE and TM was conducted by
mathematical programming method. Tooth contact pattern and root stains of a spur gear pair
with assembly errors were calculated using the programs and these results were compared
with experimental results. Calculated results were in agreement with the measured ones well.
It is concluded that surface contact stress and root bending stress were greater than the case
without errors and tooth modifications.
Podzharov et al. (2008) [25] used high contact ratio spur gears to exclude or reduce
the variation of tooth stiffness. In this work the analysis of static and dynamic transmission
error of spur gears with standard tooth of 20 profile angle was presented. A simple method
for designing spur gears having a contact ratio nearly 2.0 was used. It included the increasing
the number of teeth on mating gears and simultaneously introducing negative profile

shift in order to provide the same center distance. A tooth mesh of periodic structure was
used to consider deflection and errors of each pair of teeth in the engagement. Computer
programs were developed to calculate static and dynamic transmission error of gears under
load. This analysis of gears concluded that gears with high contact ratio have much
less static and dynamic transmission error than standard gears.
Shuting Li (2008) [26] investigated the effect of addendum on tooth contact strength, bending
strength and other performance parameters of spur gears. Mathematical programming method
(MPM) and finite element method (FEM) were used together to conduct loaded tooth contact
analyses (LTCA), deformation and stress calculations of spur gears with different addendums
and contact ratios.

Tooth load, load-sharing, contact stresses, root

bending

stresses,

transmission errors and mesh stiff nesses of the spur gears were analyzed. Effects of
addendum and contact ratio on gear strength and basic performance parameters were
also discussed. Finally, strength calculations of HCRG by considering misalignment error and
lead crowning were presented in this paper.
Karpat et al. (2008) [27] presented paper in which the primary objective was to use dynamic
analysis to compare conventional spur gears with symmetric teeth and spur gears with
asymmetric teeth. The secondary objective was to optimize the asymmetric tooth design in
order to minimize dynamic loads. This study described preliminary results to designers for
understanding dynamic behavior of spur gears with asymmetric teeth. A dynamic model was
developed during study, using MATLAB, and used for the prediction of the
instantaneous dynamic loads of spur gears with symmetric and asymmetric teeth. For
asymmetric teeth, the dynamic factor decreases with increase in addendum. Also the static
transmission error decreases with increasing pressure angle.

It is concluded that the

amplitudes of harmonics of the static transmission errors were reduced for asymmetric teeth
with long addendum high gear contact ratio gears.
Kim et al. (2010) [28] analysed the dynamic response of a pair of spur gears having
translational motion due to bearing deformation. A new dynamic model for the gear set was
formed considering translational motion which means the distance between the centers of a
pinion and a gear varies with time.

So the pressure angle and the contact ratio were

considered as time varying variables. The dynamic responses were computed by applying the
Newmark time integration method after deriving nonlinear equations of motion for gears. The

new model gave more accurate dynamic responses. The effects of damping and stiffness upon
the dynamic responses were also investigated.
Ristivojevic et al. (2013) [29] studied the impact of load distribution in meshed teeth. Also
teeth geometry and manufacturing accuracy on wear of the spur gear tooth flanks
were studied in this paper. Due to wearing causes uneven load distribution hence dynamic
forces increases, and thus energy efficiency was decreases. A larger number of impacts on the
tooth flanks stress state were taken into account so as to reach more accurate model for the
analysis of tooth flanks load carrying capacity. A mathematical model depending on the value
and sign of base pitch difference of meshed teeth developed for the contact stress during
contact period. It was concluded that the original geometry and proper teeth mesh were
impaired by adhesive wear. This results in the lower efficiency, larger variation of load
distribution and higher dynamic forces. Uniformity and intensity of tooth flanks wear depend
on pitch point position on the profiles of meshed teeth.
Rincon et al. (2013) [30] presented the procedure to determine loaded transmission error of a
spur gear transmission as well as meshing stiffness and load sharing ratio. The procedure also
allows a better representation of load transfer between teeth pairs. The analysis of contact
forces and deformations in spur gear transmissions was done using an advanced model. The
deformation at each gear contact point was assumed as a combination of a global and a local
term. The global term was obtained by means of a finite element model and the local term
was described by an analytical approach derived from Hertzian contact theory. The
quasi static behaviour of a single stage spur gear transmission was discussed in this study
using numerical example, which showed the capabilities of the methodology to obtain the
loaded transmission error under several load levels as well as some other related measures
such as load ratio or meshing stiffness.

2.2 PRESENT WORK

The dynamic analysis of the gears has become important part due to the pressing need of
high speed and heavy load carrying machinery. A high contact ratio spur gear pair reduces the
variation of tooth stiffness and thus to reduce vibration and noise. It also improves
structural efficiency, reliability and power to weight ratio. With increased requirements of
high speed, heavy load and light weight in gear design, the dynamic load is required
to determine among two or three pairs in contact. In this work, an analytical method is

discussed for calculation of the load sharing among meshing teeth pairs. Also variations of
dynamic load during mesh cycle are determined. Variable stiff nesses which are required for
dynamic load calculations are found using analytical expressions. This information may be
useful in further analysis of High Contact Ratio Spur Gear drives.
DISADVANTAGES
Although they are common and efficient, spur gears have disadvantages as well. Firstly, they
are very noisy when used at some speeds because the entire face engages at once. Therefore,
they're also known as slow-speed gears. Secondly, they can only be used to transfer power
between parallel shafts. They cannot transfer power between non-parallel shafts. Thirdly,
when compared with other types of gears, they are not as strong as them.
They cannot handle as much of a load because the teeth are small and situated parallel to the
gear axis, rather than being large and situated diagonally as the teeth on a helical gear are.
According to the above, we can conclude that spur gears have many advantages as well as
some disadvantages. Although sometimes, its disadvantages may affect them a lot, their
advantages still outweigh their disadvantages. That is to say, spur gears are still popular
among many industries.

And they can have good performances to meet peoples

requirements
Material of spur gear
While coming to manufacturing materials for Spur gears, a wide variety is available. These
includes:

Steel
Nylon
Aluminum
Bronze
Cast iron
Phenolic
Bakelite
Plastics

Objectives
The objective of the analysis is to perform Structural static analysis on the gear by
applying tangential load and examine the deflections and stresses and calculate the factor
of safety.

The objectives of this seminar are to use a numerical approach to develop theoretical models
of the behavior of spur gears in mesh, to help to predict the effect of gear tooth stresses and
transmission error.
The main focus of the current research as developed here is: To develop and to determine appropriate models of contact elements, to calculate
contact stresses using ANSYS and compare the results with Hertzian theory.
To generate the profile of spur gear teeth and to predict the effect of gear bending
using a three dimensional model and two dimensional model and compare the results
with those of the Lewis equation.
To determine the static transmission errors of whole gear bodies in mesh.
The goals in gear modeling may be summarized as follows:
Stress analysis such as prediction of contact stress and bending stress. Prediction of
transmission efficiency.
Finding the natural frequencies of the system before making the gears.
Performing vibration analyses of gear systems.
Evaluating condition monitoring, fault detection, diagnosis, and prognosis, reliability
and fatigue life

Lubrication and application methods

There are two basic types of lubrication
Continuous lubrication (long-term lubrication)
Intermittent lubrication (total loss lubrication)

Types of lubrication

Continuous lubrication
(long-term lubrication)

Application method

Immersion lubrication

Circulation lubrication

Intermittent lubrication

Transfer lubrication with paddle

wheel
Spray lubrication

MATHEMATICAL MODELLING
3.1 EQUATION OF MOTION
A typical geared rotor system is shown in Figure 3.1. It consists of a motor connected to
one of the shafts by a coupling, a load at the other end of the other shaft and a gear pair
which couples the shafts. Both shafts are supported at several locations by bearings.
Hence system consists of following elements.
1) Shafts
2) Rigid disks
3) Flexible bearings
4) Gears
Figure 3.1 Typical gear rotor system

Figure 3.1 Typical gear rotor system

When two shafts are not coupled, each gear can be modelled as a rigid disk. However, when
they are in mesh, these rigid disks are connected by a spring damper element representing the
mesh stiffness and damping. A typical gear mesh represented by a pair of rigid disks
connected by a spring and a damper along the pressure line which is tangent to the base
circles of the gears in Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2 Modelling of a gear mesh

X gi is displacement of tooth profile of gear i along the line of action.