Simulation on the Rotational Vibration of Helical Gears in Consideration of the Tooth Separation Phenomenon (A New Stiffness Function of Helical Involute Tooth Pair)

Abstract

In this paper, an exact vibration model for helical gear pairs, is developed assuming no spacing error and no shaft run-out, in consideration of nonlinear tooth separation phenomenon. Inside the model, a simple modified stiffness function, including the effect of tooth numbers and addendum modification coefficients, is proposed for a helical involute tooth pair. This new stiffness function is verified by comparing its results with theoretical calculation and experiment. The rotational vibration of helical gear pairs with comparative narrow face width is simulated clearly on a 16-bit personal computer using the finite difference method in Fortran. The total contact ratio, including transverse and overlap contact ratios, is changed in the range of 1 ≤ ε ≤ 3. As a result, the simulated vibration time waveforms and their frequency characteristics agreed precisely with Umezawa’s calculation and experiment. This simulator is also used to investigate the effect of shaft deviation and pressure angle errors on the vibration of helical gears.