LOAD-DEPENDENT BEVEL GEAR DEFLECTIONS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE PITTING LOAD CARRYING CAPACITY

Abstract

Usually the contact patterns of bevel gears are very sensitive to displacements of the shafts. These displacements are not only influenced by the bevel gear set but also by the stiffness of the gearbox housing and the bearings as well as the stiffness of the indirect surrounding structure the gearbox is fixed to. This paper will explain the influence of different surrounding structures on the shift of the contact pattern of a specific bevel gear set. Starting with repeated measurements of the bevel gear set's displacements for multiple load stages, loaded tooth contact analyses have been carried out. In a next step the impact of the shifted contact pattern on the locally determined pitting load carrying capacity is regarded. Moreover the minimal local pitting load carrying capacities of the variants are compared and an attempt to explain the differences is presented.