Spiral Bevel Gears: nonlinear dynamic model based on accurate static stiffness evaluation

In the present paper non-linear dynamics of a spiral bevel gear pair with backlash are investigated in order to clarify the internal excitations of major importance from the vibration point of view: manufacturing errors in the teeth profile, teeth spacing errors, and elastic deformation of the teeth. In some conditions, like in the case of backside contact, the destructive effect of internal excitations can be intensified leading to complex dynamics; for such reasons here backside contacts and reverse rotation are investigated in detail using a nonlinear time-varying model. The effect of damping is investigated as well. A one-DOF model is developed in order to study the dynamic behavior; the resulting a nonlinear differential equation with time-varying mesh stiffness is solved via numerical integration based on an adaptive step-size implicit Runge-Kutta scheme. The dynamic response of the system is analyzed through time histories, phase portraits, bifurcation diagrams, and Poincaré maps. Results show that for small backlash values, the possibility of backside contact increases. Meanwhile, by increasing the backlash value, the amplitude vibration of the gear rotation rises as well. By comparing the dynamic response of the system with different damping ratios, the results show that higher damping effectively reduces gear vibration resonance, although the probability of unsteady response still exists.