Research on dynamics and fault mechanism of spur gear pair with spalling defect

This study focuses on the nonlinear dynamic and vibration characteristics of spur gear pair with local spalling defect to explore the spalling mechanism. The dynamic model of the gear pair with spalling defect and time-variant mesh stiffness is established to investigate the effect of spalling defect on mesh stiffness and dynamic response. The analytical solutions of the system which is deduced into four different stages of the gear with the time-variant stiffness in a mesh period are obtained. The dynamic responses with the evolvement of sapll are analyzed by using time history, phase contrail, Poincaré section and spectrum analysis. The spalling characteristics are also evaluated by employing statistical techniques, which shows that the spalling failure is suitable to be detected under low velocity and small excitation. The gearbox with spalling defect is designed and the experiments are carried out to get the dynamic characteristics of the spalling vibration signals. The results obtained herein show the good agreement qualitatively with the theoretical analysis, which provides a theoretical basis to spalling fault diagnosis of gearbox.