Optimization and active control of internal gearing power honing process parameters for better gear precision

Abstract. Optimization and active control of internal gearing power honing (IGPH) process parameters for excellent and stable gear precision were carried out using the engagement theory of a conjugate curved face, the Box–Behnken design of experiments method, and the artificial immune clone selection algorithm (AICSA). Optimization and active control were carried out in four stages. In the first stage, the second-order models of tooth profile deviations were developed considering the nonlinear influence of IGPH process parameters on tooth profile deviations based on the Box–Behnken design. In the second stage, a method for solving the multi-objective optimization of the IGPH process was presented based on building the synthetic tooth profile deviation model, which considered the different weighting factors of different tooth profile deviation indexes. In the third stage, excellent gear precision was obtained by importing the ranges of synthetic tooth profile deviation and parameters into the AICSA. In the fourth stage, based on the optimized process parameters, the active control of IGPH process parameters was realized based on the constant cutting speed on the fixed position of the gear tooth surface. The total gear profile error reached a minimum value at the optimal parameters of 1270.4 rpm for spindle speed, 60 mm min−1 for axis feed velocity, 2.4 µm per oscillation for radial feed velocity, and 2.4 spark-out times. The gear accuracy test results show that the total gear profile error value from the above active control method is more stable and lower than that without active control, indicating that the proposed method is effective.