Numerical and experimental analysis of oil churning lubrication in a face gear drives

Purpose In the process of gear drive: Lubrication plays a crucial role in the gear drive process. Effective lubrication can reduce friction between tooth surfaces while dissipating the heat generated by friction, providing both lubricating and cooling effects. This helps prevent premature failure of gears, extend their service life, reduce power losses and improve transmission efficiency. Design/methodology/approach This study addresses issues such as the unclear lubrication mechanism and inability to accurately predict transmission efficiency in the oil churning lubrication process of face gear drives, and research oil churning loss and transmission efficiency in face gear drives. Findings First, a three-dimensional model of gas-liquid two-phase flow oil churning lubrication was established to analyze the lubrication state of face gears during the oil churning process. Second, the pressure and velocity fields during the oil churning process of the face gears are calculated, and the pressure and velocity characteristics of the face gear meshing under different gear speeds and oil immersion depths are analyzed. The oil churning loss of the face gears was then calculated and analyzed. Finally, the oil-churning lubrication design and analysis process of the face gear were validated through oil-churning lubrication experiments on face gear drives. Originality/value The findings of this study provide theoretical guidance and experimental evidence for the lubrication design, efficiency enhancement and performance optimization of face gear drives.