Study on thermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication of face gear pairs with low sliding ratio
Wei Sheng, Zhengminqing Li, Xiaofeng Yu, Ao Xue
Abstract
The relative sliding interaction between tooth surfaces has a significant effect on the lubrication efficiency. In this study, the non-Newtonian characteristic is taken into consideration when examining the point contact thermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication (TEHL) behavior of a low sliding ratio (LSR) face gear pair. By using the instantaneous rotation axes method, tooth contact analysis (TCA) was carried out. Meanwhile, a combination of the Hertz contact model and finite element analysis (FEA) was adopted in order to conduct load tooth contact analysis (LTCA). Subsequently, a TEHL model for the face gear pair was established, incorporating the non-Newtonian behavior of the lubricant. Multi-grid (M-G) and Gauss-Seidel (G-S) methods were employed to improve the computational efficiency as well as convergence accuracy for relatively dense grids. The lubrication behaviors of LSR face gears and traditional face gears under full film lubrication conditions were compared. Additionally, the lubrication characteristics of face gears with the machined three-dimensional morphology were also clarified. The model and computations were validated through comparison with literature data. The findings reveal that improving contact performance can be achieved by designing gear pairs with low sliding ratios.