Tooth design and verification of face spline transmission in hub bearing

The hub bearing with face spline transmission is a new type of hub bearing. The design method and standards are lack. In this work, the geometric relationship of the tooth profile parameters and the meshing situation are derived for the hub bearing face spline. The outer diameter <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>D</mml:mi></mml:math>, number of teeth <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>Z</mml:mi></mml:math>, and face tooth profile angle <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>φ</mml:mi></mml:math> are key design parameters. The verification conditions for preload, extrusion stress, tooth root bending stress, and shear stress are established based on strength theory and assumption of uniform load distribution. To validate the design, a case study is conducted on the hub bearing face spline in a certain vehicle model, with theoretical calculation and simulation of stress by using Finite Element Method. The present FEM results compare well with those of the literature data. Finally, through the incorporation the torque strength and durability tests of the face spline, the reliability of the design theory in this work is confirmed. The results indicates that, the tooth tip fillet <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>r</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>1</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:math> has a significant impact on the meshing area, the maximum principal stress near the tooth root is highest at the arc of the tooth root, proving that the selection of the dangerous section is appropriate. The work has value in promoting the development of automotive wheel hub bearings.