Investigation of Spur Gear Dynamics with Gear Mesh Impacts Induced by Tooth Wear

Tooth wear is one of the most common faults in gear transmission systems. However, due to its limited influences on gear dynamics, the condition monitoring of gear wear experiences more challenges. To investigate the relationship between tooth wear and gear dynamics, this study develops an eight-degree of freedom dynamic model which takes into account the gear mesh impact induced by tooth wear. In this model, the gear mesh impact force induced by tooth wear was calculated as an extra input excitation for the gear dynamic model. Besides, a comparative study was carried out to explore the real reason that causes the poor dynamic behaviour due to the wear from two points of view: 1) the reduction in gear mesh stiffness; 2) the increase in gear mesh impact force. The simulation results show that the wear causes a slight reduction in gear mesh stiffness, thus leading to the decrease in the amplitude of gear mesh frequency. This is not consistent with the phenomena observed in the lab experiment which shows the increase in the gear vibrations. The second simulation of impact force demonstrates that the wear causes an increase in the impact force which further leads to the increase in the amplitude of gear mesh frequency. This study investigates the cause for the deterioration in gear dynamics induced by gear wear, which can benefit the early condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of the gear tooth wear.