Contact characteristics analysis of gear pair considering flexibility effects of housing

Abstract In gear transmission systems, the flexibility of the housing substantially influences both the tooth contact pattern and time-varying meshing stiffness excitation. However, previous studies have resulted in deviations when calculating meshing stiffness and transmission errors due to the neglect of component coupling effects or the use of simplified methods. Therefore, a single-stage helical gear reducer is modelled using the substructure method, resulting in a fully coupled contact FE representation of the gear system. Through this model, the effects of housing flexibility on tooth contact stress, transmission error, and meshing stiffness are analysed in depth, and compared against a full FE simulation framework for validation. The results indicate that the flexibility of the gearbox has a minor impact on contact stress but significantly affects transmission error and meshing stiffness. This study provides a theoretical basis for gear pair tooth contact analysis and vibration prediction of gear systems.