Effect of the bearing clearance on vibrations of a double-row planetary gear system

The bearing clearance, external torque, and input speed can greatly affect vibrations of the planetary gear system. The double-row planetary gear systems are commonly used in the gearbox of special vehicles, which are the key parts to obtain a larger gear ratio. Although many works have been presented to study those factors on vibrations of the single-row planetary gear system, a few works were focused on vibrations of the double-row planetary gear system with the bearing clearance. To overcome this problem, a multi-body dynamic model of a double-row planetary gear system with six planet bearings and one supported bearing of the sun gear is presented. This model is the main part of a gear box transmission system. The new model is developed for studying the effect of the bearing clearance on the planetary system. The meshing stiffness and damping between the gears are obtained by current methods in the listed references, as well as the contact stiffness and damping in bearings. The liner stiffness and damping model is used. The effects of the bearing clearance, external torque, and input speed on vibrations of the system are analyzed. The results show that vibrations of the ring gear and sun gear decrease with the increment of the external torque and increase with the increment of the input speed. Moreover, a reasonable bearing clearance can be helpful for reducing system vibrations for some mating external torque and input speed conditions. The results can provide some guidance to find new method to reduce vibrations and increase the service life of planetary gear systems.