Data-driven process control for manufacturing spiral bevel and hypoid gears by using design for six sigma (DFSS) considering numerical loaded tooth contact analysis (NLTCA)

Abstract

Data-driven process control considering both geometric and loaded contact performance evaluations has been an increasingly important stage in field of spiral bevel and hypoid gears. A new data-driven manufacturing process control strategy is proposed for a high performance spiral bevel and hypoid gears. Here, to distinguish with the conventional simulated loaded tooth contact analysis (SLTCA) using economical finite element software package, the numerical loaded tooth contact analysis (NLTCA) is of more flexibility and practicality. In light of the advantages of the improved design for six sigma (DFSS), it is integrated with NLTCA for establishing a novel data-driven process control of gear manufacturing. Firstly, in improved DFSS framework, quality function deployment (QFD) is used to determine four sub-objective high-performance evaluation items. Then, their data-driven relationships between machine settings are respectively determined by using NLTCA. In particular, the manufacturing process control is further converted into multi-objective optimization (MOO) modification of the hypoid generator settings. Finally, an interactive preference point approach is applied for data-driven control of its iterative step and it can obtain a robust solution from Pareto optimal front. A case study is provided to verify the proposed methodology.