Contact stress and transmission errors under load of a modified curvilinear gear set based on finite element analysis

This study conducted a loaded tooth contact analysis of a modified curvilinear gear set with localized bearing contact based on finite element analysis. The contact stress and transmission errors under load were examined. First, a mesh generation program was developed according to the mathematical model of a curvilinear gear generated using a male fly cutter. A finite element model containing one contacting tooth pair was built, and the mesh density at the contact-sensitive area was adjusted to attain a reasonable finite element model for estimating the contact pressure. Adequate mesh density at the possible contact region predicted by tooth contact analysis was defined based on the theoretical Hertzian contact stress and the calculated contact ellipse. A finite element model containing five tooth pairs was developed and applied to examine the contact stress and transmission errors under load of the modified curvilinear gear set. Finally, numerical examples were provided to demonstrate the contact stress and transmission errors under load for various design parameters and loads.