Dynamic characteristics of the herringbone planetary gear set during the variable speed process

Highlight•A dynamic model of planetary gears is proposed for the variable speed process.•A dynamic analysis of the variable speed process is conducted for the planetary gears.•Some advice is proposed for designing of planetary gears.

In this study, a dynamic model for herringbone planetary gears is proposed which can be applied in the dynamic analysis of variable speed processes (including acceleration, deceleration, and large speed fluctuation process, etc.). The dynamic responses of the acceleration process of an example of a herringbone planetary gear set are simulated in cases where the profile error excitations are ignored and included. The phenomenon of tooth separations can be observed as the rotating speed increases in the simulation, and the effect of the profile error excitations on the phenomenon is also investigated. Furthermore, the effects of the profile error excitations on the vibrations and dynamic meshing forces are investigated before and after the appearance of tooth separations. Moreover, the dynamic characteristics of the herringbone planetary gear set are also compared with that of the spur/helical herringbone planetary gear set briefly. Finally, some advice for the design of planetary gear sets is given to avoid the phenomena of tooth separation and tooth back contacts and suppress the vibrations and dynamic meshing forces.