Mesh stiffness measurement of cracked spur gear by photoelasticity technique

The mesh stiffness plays a vital role in gear dynamics. Mostly, analytical expressions are being used to calculate the time varying mesh stiffness. In the present work, photoelasticity technique has been used for measuring the stress intensity factor (SIF) for cracked gear tooth. Subsequently SIF has been used to calculate the gear mesh stiffness. The variations in the SIF and mesh stiffness have been quantified with angular displacements of the gears. Photoelasticity experiments have been performed for different crack lengths at the tooth root of the spur gear pair. Experimental results of mesh stiffness variation are compared with one of the analytical method i.e. potential energy method, which is widely used by researchers to calculate gear mesh stiffness.