Production-oriented, automatic optimization of the tooth root load capacity of spur gears

 

Starting Situation

Gears with optimized load carrying capacity can contribute to saving weight, installation space and costs in the design and manufacture of gear units. In order to exploit this potential to the full, methods are required which make it possible to design gear toothings with optimized load carrying capacity in relation to their geometry. The predecessor project FVA 709 I created an effective method for the exact and efficient stress evaluation of free tooth root geometries on the basis of measured face profiles. The use of non-compliant FE meshes allows the mapping and evaluation of contours deviating from the rolling trochoid. Nonconforming meshes are substructures in the finite element mesh of the tooth contact analysis FE spur chain which have a higher resolution than the surrounding mesh. This makes it possible to calculate free contours that would have distorted elements without such a high mesh resolution.

Research Objective

The goal of the project is the use of the extensions of the FE-based tooth contact analysis from FVA 709 I for the automated stress optimization of the tooth root geometry under consideration of manufacturability. Starting from a starting tooth root geometry, it should be possible to achieve a foot safety optimized, free tooth root geometry by means of an implemented iteration algorithm. The project focuses on the recognized advantages of FEM for local stress optimization. In particular, the manufacturing restrictions of the process are considered during the optimization. The load capacity potential is proven in experimental investigations.