Title: Influence of centre distance deviation on the interference of a spur gear pair

Authors: Amin Amani; Vasilios Spitas; Christos Spitas

Addresses: Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands ' School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Landbergstraat 15, 2628CE Delft, Netherlands ' Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

Abstract: Gear design generally considers global geometry like tooth profile shape and centre distance, however, it needs also to consider the tolerances introduced in the manufacturing and assembly of two mating gears. The influence of these tolerances can be predicted better by understanding the behaviour of such manufacturing and assembly errors in conjunction with the gear geometry design process. To address this, in the present study the influence of the centre distance deviation and of the design parameters (i.e., cutter tip radius, dedendum, and tooth thickness) of the tooth profiles on interference will be investigated. An analytical modelling framework for interference of a gear pair is developed, which is used to characterise a structurally well-defined gear meshing system. Non-dimensionalisation methodology has been used to reduce the number of independent parameters and quantify the influence of the latter on interference risk. The tolerance zone is evaluated, with regard to cutter tip radius, dedendum, tooth thickness and centre distance deviation for a structurally well-defined gear mesh model. Different gear transmission ratio, contact ratio and a pressure angle of 20° have been considered. The results of the present work can be used as a guideline for the tolerance design of a gear pair.

Keywords: powertrain; spur gears; spur gear pair; centre distance deviation; design parameters; interference risk; tolerance zone; corner contact; corner penetration; gear design; mating gears; tolerances; manufacturing errors; assembly errors; cutter tip radius; dedendum; tooth thickness; tooth profiles; gear mesh models; modelling; gear transmission ratio; contact ratio; pressure angle; tolerance design.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPT.2015.073785

International Journal of Powertrains, 2015 Vol.4 No.4, pp.315 - 337

Received: 03 Jul 2014
Accepted: 26 Nov 2014
Published online: 22 Dec 2015 *

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