Analytical and Experimental Tooth Contact Pattern of Large-Sized Spiral Bevel Gears in Cyclo-palloid System

Demand for large-sized spiral bevel gears has increased in recent years and a trend expected to continue. The large-sized spiral bevel gears with equi-depth teeth are usually manufactured based on Klingelnberg cyclo-palloid system. In this paper, the tooth contact pattern of large-sized spiral bevel gears in this system are investigated analytically and experimentally. First, the tooth contact pattern and transmission errors of such gears are analyzed. The analysis method is based on simultaneous generations of tooth surface and simulations of meshing and contact. Next, the large-sized spiral bevel gears are manufactured and the tooth contact pattern of these gears is investigated experimentally. Moreover, the real tooth surfaces are measured using a coordinate measuring machine and the tooth flank form errors are detected using the measured coordinates. It is possible to analyze the tooth contact pattern of the spiral bevel gears with consideration of the tooth flank form errors expressing the errors as polynomial equations. Finally, the influence of alignment errors due to assembly on the tooth contact pattern is also investigated analytically and experimentally. These analyzed results were compared with experimental ones. As a result, the two results showed a good agreement.