How to determine spiral bevel gear tooth geometry for finite element analysis

An analytical method was developed to determine gear tooth surface coordinates of face milled spiral bevel gears. The method combines the basic gear design parameters with the kinematical aspects for spiral bevel gear manufacturing. A computer program was developed to calculate the surface coordinates. From this data a 3-D model for finite element analysis can be determined. Development of the modeling method and an example case are presented

Efficiency study comparing two helicopter planetary reduction stages

A study was conducted to compare the efficiency of two helicopter transmission planetary reduction stages. Experimental measurements and analytical predictions were made. The analysis predicted and experiments verified that one planetary stage was a more efficient design due to the type of planet bearing used in the stage. The effects of torque, speed, lubricant type, and lubricant temperature on planetary efficiency are discussed

Generation of a crowned pinion tooth surface by a surface of revolution

A method of generating crowned pinion tooth surfaces using a surface of revolution is developed. The crowned pinion meshes with a regular involute gear and has a prescribed parabolic type of transmission errors when the gears operate in the aligned mode. When the gears are misaligned the transmission error remains parabolic with the maximum level still remaining very small (less than 0.34 arc sec for the numerical examples). Tooth contact analysis (TCA) is used to simulate the conditions of meshing, determine the transmission error, and determine the bearing contact

Generation of helical gears with new surfaces, topology by application of CNC machines

Analysis of helical involute gears by tooth contact analysis shows that such gears are very sensitive to angular misalignment that leads to edge contact and the potential for high vibration. A new topology of tooth surfaces of helical gears that enables a favorable bearing contact and a reduced level of vibration is described. Methods for grinding of the helical gears with the new topology are proposed. A TCA (tooth contact analysis) program for simulation of meshing and contact of helical gears with the new topology has been developed. Numerical examples that illustrate the proposed ideas are discussed

Computerized inspection of real surfaces and minimization of their deviations

A method is developed for the minimization of gear tooth surface deviations between theoretical and real surfaces for the improvement of precision of surface manufacture. Coordinate measurement machinery is used to determine a grid of surface coordinates. Theoretical calculations are made for the grid points. A least-square method is used to minimize the deviations between real and theoretical surfaces by altering the manufacturing machine-tool settings. An example is given for a hypoid gear

Topology of modified helical gears

The topology of several types of modified surfaces of helical gears is proposed. The modified surfaces allow absorption of a linear or almost linear function of transmission errors. These errors are caused by gear misalignment and an improvement of the contact of gear tooth surfaces. Principles and corresponding programs for computer aided simulation of meshing and contact of gears have been developed. The results of this investigation are illustrated with numerical examples

Gas turbine ceramic-coated-vane concept with convection-cooled porous metal core

Analysis and flow experiments on a ceramic-coated-porous-metal vane concept indicated the feasibility, from a heat transfer standpoint, of operating in a high-temperature (2500 F) gas turbine cascade facility. The heat transfer and pressure drop calculations provided a basis for selecting the ceramic layer thickness (to 0.08 in.), which was found to be the dominant factor in the overall heat transfer coefficient. Also an approximate analysis of the heat transfer in the vane trailing edge revealed that with trailing-edge ejection the ceramic thickness could be reduced to (0.01 in.) in this portion of the vane

Straddle design of spiral bevel and hypoid pinions and gears

The design of spiral bevel and hypoid gears that have a shaft extended from both sides of the cone apex (straddle design) is considered. A main difficulty of such a design is determining the length and diameter of the shaft that might be undercut by the head cutter during gear tooth generation. A method that determines the free space available for the gear shaft is proposed. The approach avoids collision between the shaft being designed and the head cutter during tooth generation. The approach is illustrated with a numerical example

Computerized inspection of gear tooth surfaces

An approach is proposed that uses coordinate measurements of the real surface of spiral bevel gears to determine the actual machine tool setting applied during the gear manufacturing process. The deviations of the real surface from the theoretical one are also determined. Adjustments are then applied by machine tool corrections to minimize these surface deviations. This is accomplished by representing the real surface analytically in the same Gaussian coordinates as the theoretical surface

Low-noise, high-strength, spiral-bevel gears for helicopter transmissions

Improvements in spiral-bevel gear design were investigated to support the Army/NASA Advanced Rotorcraft Transmission program. Program objectives were to reduce weight by 25 percent, reduce noise by 10 dB, and increase life to 5000 hr mean-time-between-removal. To help meet these goals, advanced-design spiral-bevel gears were tested in an OH-58D helicopter transmission using the NASA 500-hp Helicopter Transmission Test Stand. Three different gear designs tested included: (1) the current design of the OH-58D transmission except gear material X-53 instead of AISI 9310; (2) a higher-strength design the same as the current but with a full fillet radius to reduce gear tooth bending stress (and thus, weight); and (3) a lower-noise design the same as the high-strength but with modified tooth geometry to reduce transmission error and noise. Noise, vibration, and tooth strain tests were performed and significant gear stress and noise reductions were achieved