Research on the Collaborative Design of Spiral Bevel Gear Transmission Considering Uncertain Misalignment Errors

To extend the time between the overhauls of helicopters, a novel collaborative methodology that takes into account uncertain misalignment errors by considering the shape and performance of the gear is built. Firstly, the digital characteristics of contact patterns, such as the reference point and direction angle, are extracted. Secondly, an optimization model calculates the equivalent misalignment by minimizing deviations in the reference point and direction angle between two contact patterns. This equivalent misalignment accounts for uncertainty misalignment errors introduced by complex gear support deformation. Thirdly, the ease-off is utilized to derive the pinion target surface that can sustain meshing performance under an equivalent misalignment, similar to the original gear in real conditions. This way it integrates with the optimization theory for flank reconstruction to redesign the pinion surface. Simulations reveal that the critical digital characteristics of the contact path on the original gear under the equivalent misalignment mirror those of the original gear in real conditions. Moreover, the surface parameters of the redesigned pinion result in an identical surface under a different equivalent misalignment, maintaining similar contact and dynamic performance. This proposed collaborative design approach, considering the shape and performance while accounting for uncertain misalignment errors through ease-off, greatly improves the gear transmission behavior.