Modelling of spur gear contact using a local adaptive finite element mesh
Abstract
The gear drive is a critical part of a power transmission system. Modelling and simulating of the gear pair
with finite element method (FEM) take important role as a part of the design process to estimate stresses,
deformations, and damage risks in various operating conditions. A parameterized calculation model for the
analysis of stresses in the gear contact and the gear root was developed. A local adaptive FE mesh was used,
where a dense FE mesh zone around the contact point moves along the line of action to speed up the
computation. The adaptive FE mesh, the rotation of the gear pair, and the accurate surface profile based on
gear hobbing process were created in Matlab environment to obtain a good control of the flank profile and
the meshing parameters. These were integrated with a commercial FEM software to calculate deformations
and stresses. The developed FE mesh approach was validated successfully against analytical Hertzian theory.
In addition, the developed spur gear model was compared to the gear standard ISO 6336 and a commercial
gear calculation software resulting in relatively good correspondence with the maximum contact pressure
and the maximum tooth root stresses.
