The Transient Effects of Profile Modification on Elastohydrodynamic Oil Films in Helical Gears

This article presents the results of a transient elastohydrodynamic analysis of the conditions at the contact of two pairs of helical gears operating with different gear ratios. The effects of the variation in contact geometry, kinematics, and tooth loading during the meshing cycle are taken into account together with both tip relief and axial crowning profile modifications. The results are compared with analyses under corresponding steady-state conditions for both point contact and equivalent line contact models. The comparisons show that, away from the ends of the contact lines, steady-state conditions can be used effectively to assess the film-forming capabilities of the gears. Conditions at the end of the contact lines are found to be more adverse with significant transient squeeze film effects. The form of tip relief profile adopted is shown to be highly influential in determining the peak contact pressures and thinnest oil films within the contacts. These conditions are experienced at all axial positions on the tooth flanks at the locations of the start of tip relief profile modifications. If the tip relief profile introduces a slope discontinuity to the gear profile, this can cause a significant stress concentration and very poor film-forming behavior.