Determination of the Accuracy of the Straight Bevel Gear Profiles by a Novel Optical Coaxial Multi-Ring Measurement Method

Abstract

Straight bevel gears are widely used in mining equipment, ships, heavy industrial equipment, and other fields due to their high capacity and robust transmission. Accurate measurements are essential in order to determine the quality of bevel gears. We propose a method for measuring the accuracy of the top surface profile of the straight bevel gear teeth based on binocular visual technology, computer graphics, error theory, and statistical calculations. In our method, multiple measurement circles are established at equal intervals from the small end of the top surface of the gear tooth to the large end, and the coordinates of the intersection points of these circles with the tooth top edge lines of the gear teeth are extracted. The coordinates of these intersections are fitted to the top surface of the tooth based on NURBS surface theory. The surface profile error between the fitted top surface of the tooth and the designed surface is measured and determined based on the product use requirements, and if this is less than a given threshold, the product is acceptable. With a module of 5 and an eight-level precision, such as the straight bevel gear, the minimum surface profile error measured was −0.0026 mm. These results demonstrate that our method can be used to measure surface profile errors in the straight bevel gears, which will broaden the field of in-depth measurements for the straight bevel gears.