Lateral bearing stiffness effect on the spiral bevel gear nonlinear vibration response

This research presents the consequence of the bearing stiffness variation on nonlinear dynamic response for a driveline possessing spiral bevel gears (SBGs). SBGs are instrumental in transmitting motion and power between intersecting shafts. The unique design of well-engineered SBGs, involving two or more teeth in contact, provides them with the distinct advantage of being smoother and quieter compared to straight bevel gears. As a result, SBGs are particularly recommended for higher speeds, limited spatial constraints, and where noise reduction is important. Their versatility makes them invaluable in a wide array of applications, ranging from implementation in helicopters and many other transmission systems to usage wherever torque transfer between nonparallel axes is required. In the present model an eight translational-rotational DOF lumped model is considered. The time-varying mesh stiffness for the front and backside contact is thoroughly evaluated using Calyx software through the finite element method (FEM). Results show that the pinion and gear lateral stiffness have significant effect on the system responses; i.e., for bearing stiffness the response is simply periodic, while for smaller lateral stiffness values the system represents quasi-periodic and even chaotic responses. Nevertheless, the effect of axial bearing stiffness is insignificant.