Simulation of mild wear in helical gears

A computer model for simulation of the wear behaviour in helical gears has been developed. The method used can deal with tooth modifications and different profiles. The authors have studied the effects of wear previously but only in a two-dimensional perspective. The objective of the paper is to compare the wear behaviour of gears using different approaches. The gear teeth in this model are regarded as thin uncoupled slices; the slicing method is valid when the contact area is narrow in the rolling direction, which is the case for contacting gear teeth. The pressure distribution on each slice is calculated using the well-known theories of Hertz assuming an infinitely wide line-contact. When the pressure and velocity on the surfaces are known, a modified Archard's wear equation is applied to calculate wear depths on the teeth. The simulation is an initial value problem since a complete mesh cycle is repeated a number of times with gradually changing surfaces due to the wear, which is being integrated over each time step. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.