Analysis of Gear Crack’s Influence on Mesh Stiffness

By means of the finite element analysis of gear tooth contact process,a three-dimensional solid finite element model for a straight toothed spur gear is built including a gear without crack and gears with crack’s at their tooth roots and reference circles separately.Through mesh analysis to every contact point,the integration stiffness of the gear is obtained according to the deformation and load on the gear tooth during the whole engagement process.The results indicate that the influence of the tooth root crack on the gear mesh stiffness was higher than that of the reference circle crack.The study is of meaningful for exploring the relations between the crack failure of the tooth and the mesh stiffness of the gear.