Theoretical and experimental investigation into the influence of the periodic backlash fluctuations on the gear rattle

The paper provides an investigation into the influence of the periodic variation in the boundaries of the dead-zone between the teeth, caused by the Transmission Error, on the gear rattle phenomenon.The study represents an evolution of a theoretical model, which has already been developed by the authors, to analyze lightly loaded gear pairs, accounting for oil squeeze effects between the gear teeth.An experimental test rig and a methodology to estimate the transmission error parameters, starting from an experimental acquisition, are described.A number of experimental–theoretical correlations concerning the influence of transmission errors on gear dynamics are reported in order to validate the theoretical model.