Geometry optimization of the rolling tool for gear roll-forming process

Gear roll forming process is an innovative near-net-shape gear manufacturing technology for efficient manufacturing, high material utilization rate, high products strength, and outstanding surface quality. The profile of the Tooth of the Rolling Tool (TRT) has a direct impact on its strength/stiffness which further affects its life duration and the accuracy of the formed products. Research has been carried out to design the involute curve of TRT, however, the transaction curve of TRT which also has a significant impact on tooth strength and service durability remains to be designed and optimized in order to further improve the rolling performance. In this paper, an elliptical gear tooth root transaction curve is proposed to replace the traditional fillet curve for the enhancement of tooth bending performance. The maximum root stress and stiffness of the gear tooth with elliptical transaction curve are calculated and compared to the standard profile with different parameters (modulus, pressure angle, and coefficient of bottom clearance). The results show that proposed elliptical tooth reduces the maximum root stress and increase the strength and stiffness of TRT especially significant for rolling tools with small number of teeth and coefficient of bottom clearance.