Study on temperature field and thermal deformation of the line contact spiral bevel gear transmission

ObjectiveAiming at the meshing transmission problem caused by the temperature change of gear teeth in line contact spiral bevel gear transmission, in order to reveal the steady-state body temperature distribution and thermal deformation law in the meshing transmission of line contact spiral bevel gears, a finite element simulation study was conducted considering the heat generation by tooth friction and the convective heat transfer.MethodsFirstly, a 3D model was established based on the model of the machining tooth surface of the line contact spiral bevel gear. Then, based on this 3D model, combined with the tribology and heat transfer theory, the thermal boundary conditions of each surface of the gear teeth were given, and the thermal load in the line contact spiral bevel gear transmission was solved.A finite element analysis model for the steady-state body temperature field of a single tooth was established, and the distribution of its steady-state body temperature field, as well as the influence of speed, torque, and environmental temperature on the temperature field were obtained. Finally, the results obtained from the temperature field were used as body loads to load the structure field, and the thermal structural indirect coupling analysis was conducted to obtain the thermal deformation of a single tooth.ResultsThe results show that the temperature of the pinion is higher than that of the gear, and a high temperature zone is formed near the large end of the tooth surface. The highest temperature on the tooth surface increases with the increase of the rotational speed, torque and environmental temperature, but the distribution doesn’t change significantly. The tooth expands and deforms as a whole when heated, the normal thermal deformation of the tooth surface is unevenly distributed, and the crest deforms more than the root.