Thermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication of spur gears

An analysis and computer program called TELSGE were developed to predict the variations of dynamic load, surface temperature, and lubricant film thickness along the contacting path during the engagement of a pair of involute spur gears. The analysis of dynamic load includes the effect of gear inertia, the effect of load sharing of adjacent teeth, and the effect of variable tooth stiffness which are obtained by a finite-element method. Results obtained from TELSGE for the dynamic load distributions along the contacting path for various speeds of a pair of test gears show patterns similar to that observed experimentally. Effects of damping ratio, contact ratio, tip relief, and tooth error on the dynamic load were examined. In addition, two dimensionless charts are included for predicting the maximum equilibrium surface temperature, which can be used to estimate directly the lubricant film thickness based on well established EHD analysis.