Combined numerical and experimental investigation of transmission idle gear rattle

Gear rattle is caused by engine torsional vibration (engine order response) imparted to the transmission components, further causing the gears to oscillate within their functional backlashes. These oscillations lead to the repetitive impact of gear teeth, which lead to noisy responses, referred to as gear rattle. The lack of in-depth research into the effect of lubricant on gear rattle has been identified as a deficiency in the previous research in rattle. The aim ofthe current work is to address this shortcoming. The thesis outlines a new approach in investigating the problem of idle gear rattle. The approach is based on the assumption that under idling condition the teeth-pair impact loads are sufficiently low and the gear speeds are sufficiently high to permit the formation of a hydrodynamic lubricant film between the mating gear teeth. This film acts as a non-linear spring-damper that couples the driver and the driven gears. A torsional single-degree of freedom model is used in the development of the theory. The model is then expanded into a seven-degree of freedom torsional model and finally into an Il-degree of freedom model that also includes the lateral vibrations of the supporting shafts. The Il-degree of freedom model is based on a real life transmission that is also used in experimental studies to validate the model. It is found that lubricant viscosity and bearing clearance (lubricant resistance in squeeze) play important roles in determining the dynamics of the system and its propensity to rattle. At low temperatures, the lateral vibrations of the shafts, carrying the gears interfere with the gear teeth impact action. The severity of rattle is determined by the relationship between the entraining and squeeze film actions of the hydrodynamic film. When the latter dominates, the system can rattle more severely. The numerical results are found to correlate well with the experimental findings obtained from vehicle tests in a semi-anechoic chamber and also with those from a transmission test rig in the powertrain laboratory

Lightly loaded lubricated impacts: idle gear rattle

Idle gear rattle is associated with the characteristic noise that unselected impacting gears radiate to the environment. It is induced by engine order vibration in the presence of backlash in the unengaged gear pairs, resulting in oscillatory response within their backlash range. A tribo-dynamic model of a front wheel drive manual transmission has been developed to study idle rattle, considering the hydrodynamic contact film reaction and flank friction. The model includes the torsional motions of the idle gears and the lateral motions of the supporting output shafts. The hydrodynamic lubricant film formed between the gear teeth under light impact loads behaves as a non-linear spring-damper mechanism, whilst the inclusion of the shafts’ bearing compliances introduces additional non-linear terms, which are modelled as piecewise linear functions. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the effect of the lubricant on the system’s response, which is eventually transferred to the gearbox case through the bearings. The results are found to conform closely to experimental measurements taken from a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission of the same type

Gear teeth impacts in hydrodynamic conjunctions promoting idle gear rattle

The rattle phenomenon in vehicular transmissions and its impact on the automotive industry have been widely reported in the literature. A variety of palliative measures have been suggested for attenuation of rattle such as use of backlash eliminators, clutch dampers or dual-mass flywheels. These palliative measures incur further costs and can have untoward implications in powertrain noise and vibration problems. A fundamental investigation of the dynamics of impacting gears is undoubtedly the way forward for a root cause solution. This paper introduces a new approach for understanding the interactions between the transmission gears during engine idle conditions by taking into account the effect of lubrication. Gear impacting surfaces are treated as lubricated conjunctions rather than the usually reported dry impacting solids. Depending on load and speed of entraining motion of the lubricant into the contact domains, the regime of lubrication alters. In this paper, the influence of lubricant in torsional vibration of lightly loaded idling gears is examined which promotes iso-viscous hydrodynamic conditions. It is shown that the lubricant film under these conditions behaves as a time-varying non-linear spring-damper element. Spectral analysis of the system response is compared to the findings of the linearised system

Non-linear vibro-impact phenomenon belying transmission idle rattle

This paper investigates automotive transmission gear rattle. Specifically, idle gear rattle, where the repetitive impacts of teeth are subject to light loads is investigated. Hydrodynamic regime of lubrication prevails in lightly loaded impact of teeth pairs. Formation of a lubricant film is due to the combined entraining motion of the lubricant and squeeze film effect. A lumped parameter inertial dynamic model, comprising hydrodynamic impact and flank friction for pairs of simultaneous teeth pairs of loose gears is developed. The overall dynamic model includes seven loose gear pairs and rigid body lateral motions of input and output transmission shafts. Therefore, the influence of fluid film behaviour on idle gear rattle is determined, which has hitherto not attracted sufficient research studies. Gear rattle is manifested by a vibration signature, which corresponds to the bands of frequencies due to torsional engine oscillations, meshing frequencies, and impact characteristics of lubricated conjunctions. The spectral contributions are affected by lubricant rheology, specifically its bulk viscosity variation with temperature. It has been found that spectral disposition tends towards lower frequency contributions with reducing lubricant viscosity because of rising temperatures and lowering lubricant stiffness. The findings conform with the experimental results, also reported in the paper. It has also been shown that squeeze film motion plays a significant role in the propensity of transmission system to rattle

Multi-physics approach for analysis of transmission rattle

The internal combustion engine produces a fluctuating torque due to combustion as well as induced inertial imbalance in the reciprocating motion of pistons. When the clutch is engaged, the resulting torsional oscillations of the crankshaft are transmitted to the transmission. In the transmission the fixed driving gears (pinions) transfer the motion to the driven unselected gears (loose gears) through impacting teeth pairs in close proximity due to the compact nature of modern transmission systems. The driven gears in turn rotate freely on their bearings, as they are unselected (referred to as loose gears). As a result, the idle (loose) gears oscillate within their backlash limits, leading to impacts with the driving gears. The vibrations caused by these impacts are transferred through the transmission shafts and their support bearings to the transmission bell housing, and is mostly radiated as sound that resembles the noise produced when a marble rolls inside a metallic can. This sound is onomatopoeically referred to as rattle