Optimization design and test of stability of contact patterns of spiral bevel gears

In order to improve the stability of contact patterns of spiral bevel gears, the optimization design method of the sensitivity coefficient of contact patterns was proposed. Firstly, the contact patterns were parameterized, and the effect of equivalent misalignments on the parameter of the contact patterns were investigated. The sensitivity coefficients of the parameter of contact patterns to the misalignments was defined, and the objective function established by the minimum sum of the sensitivity coefficients and the machine-tool settings of pinion were adopted as optimization variables to construct an optimization model for the stability of contact patterns. The simulated results of the numerical example show that the sensitivity of contact patterns to misalignments can be improved by implementing the above methodologies in proper ranges. The contact pattern development tests also validated the stability of the contact patterns under the operating conditions.