Influence of misalignment fluctuation on transmission error of planetary gears

Abstract

The influence of the complicated behavior of the components of a planetary gearset (i.e., sun gear, carrier and ring gear) on transmission error is still unexplained. Accordingly, to elucidate that influence, the transmission error and misalignment of each component of one planetary gearset were experimentally measured at a time under a condition in which the fixed carrier position was varied. The measurement result shows that, under that condition, the state of misalignment fluctuates and the transmission error changes according to that fluctuation. Although the fluctuation of misalignment (in the form of eccentricity or inclination) is generally in a circular orbit, in this experiment, it was found to be in a near-elliptical orbit. By taking such misalignment fluctuation into account when calculating transmission error of the planetary gearset, it was found that the calculated behavior of transmission error replicates the above-described experimental measurements approximately.