The effect of surface roughness on contact and stress states of spur gears

Abstract The contact characteristics of spur gears are analysed, taking into consideration real surface micro‐geometry, and using numerical algorithms. The contact pressure distribution, contact area, and rigid body rotation of the gears have been calculated for different types of gear surface according to machining: shaping, grinding, or milling. Finally, the sub‐surface stress state is evaluated for different pressure distributions, by finite element method.