Dynamic Features of Gear System With Tooth Crack and Tooth Surface Sliding due to Speed Variation

It was found that the vibration features resulted from tooth crack and sliding on the contact interfaces due to speed variation are very similar with each other, which is difficult to distinguish. So, it is meaningful to study whether they are the same or not. Firstly, a finite element model of a spur gear pair in mesh with tooth crack at pitch circle is established to calculate the effect of tooth crack on gear mesh stiffness. Then, combined with the tooth crack through mesh stiffness, a spur gear dynamic model with six degrees of freedom (dof) is developed to extract the dynamic features affected by the tooth crack. The tooth surface friction due to different relative velocity is also involved to study its effects on the dynamic characteristics of the gear system. Finally, comparisons are made between the dynamic features of the gear system with tooth crack and the tooth surface sliding to expose their effects to supply some theoretical guidance on fault detection.