Influence of tribological and geometrical parameters on lubrication conditions and noise of gear transmissions

This paper shows the influence of different parameters on lubrication conditions and structure-borne noise of gear transmissions by using multi-body simulation. A new method for simulating gear contacts is presented which includes the oil film between tooth flanks and elastic flank deformation. Furthermore, procedures for the simulation of other gearbox elements like bearings, shafts and housing are shown. The approach enables the simulation of complete transmissions, the prediction of lubrication conditions and the direct determination of structure-borne noise. An experimental transmission is used for the model validation. The structure-borne noise level and its frequency spectrum are measured at a real transmission, compared with the simulated ones and show a good correlation. The model is used to investigate the influence of different tribological, geometrical and operational parameters for a rattling and a loaded gear pair. The time-dependent behavior of flank forces, integral characteristics like excitation levels and efficiency for different loads and the distribution of pressures on tooth flanks are presented. Finally, the basic influence of all parameters on important characteristic values is given in table form. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.