Evolution of balanced root stress and tribological properties in high contact ratio spur gear drive

Tooth bending and surface wear are the two major causes of failure modes which occur due to inadequate bending and contact strength. In a gear drive, when the gear ratio is more than one the bending strength of the pinion and gear it is different. Consequently gear drive with an equivalent bending strength in the gear and pinion is called as a balanced gear drive. This can be attained by providing non-standard tooth thickness at the pitch circle in High Contact Ratio (HCR) spur gears. Non-standard HCR spur gear drive is one in which the tooth thickness at the pitch circle of the gear and pinion is not same. In the present study, tooth wear over the contacting surfaces for non-standard HCR spur gear drive is probed numerically through finite element analysis (FEA). In addition, the tooth load, contact stress, film thickness and sliding distance are also estimated for a balanced non-standard HCR spur gear drive. Also the effect of different gear parameters like pinion teeth number, pressure angle, addendum height and gear ratio on tooth wear along the line of action on non-standard HCR spur gear has been evaluated and discussed.