Effects of gear eccentricity on time-varying mesh stiffness and dynamic behavior of a two-stage gear system

Gear eccentricity, one of the most common defects of gear systems, affects not only dynamic behavior but also mesh stiffness. Accurate mesh stiffness under defect conditions is vital for the dynamic simulation and fault diagnosis of gear systems. Hence, the timevarying mesh stiffness affected by gear eccentricity, which is commonly neglected in most studies, is incorporated in the proposed twostage spur gear dynamic model and calculated by a novel gear mesh model with an improved potential energy method. The effects of mesh stiffness with and without gear eccentricity on the gear system are compared on the basis of the constructed dynamic model. The influences of gear eccentricity on dynamic transverse and torsional responses, as well as dynamic transmission errors, are also quantitatively studied. Some helpful analytical results are then presented.