Power flow and efficiency analysis of multi-flow planetary gear trains

Power flow and efficiency analysis play an important role in the design of multi-flow planetary gear trains. Based on hypergraph and matrix operation, this paper proposes a new method to calculate gear speed ratio, velocity, torque and power. Systematic efficiency computation is carried out by following the power flow, and power loss equations on each node are derived via an approach based on self-rotation relative power. Power flow analysis and efficiency formulas are verified by two examples of multi-flow planetary gear trains. The proposed method significantly reduces the time required to establish the governing equations. Efficiency on each node can be calculated by following power flow, therefore making system efficiency calculation more accurate. Since power losses on certain nodes are dominant, parameter analysis is performed to analyze their influences. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.