A novel model of lubricated contact for spur gears

Abstract

Research on gear dynamics is vital for power transmission. While elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) significantly affects gear behavior, its computational cost is high. This study presents a reduced EHL model for gear teeth line contact, derived from numerical results for various Moes parameters. Parameters like stiffness, damping, and oil film thickness are adimensionalized, forming a grid map linking load, displacement, and film thickness under specific conditions. By solving the EHL model for each parameter combination, the approach is computationally efficient. The lubricated contact model is integrated into a lumped parameter gear pair model, with frequency domain displacement validated against experiments. Results reveal torque increases amplify displacement peaks, while speed changes have minimal effect when torque remains constant.