| In this study, a general methodology is proposed for the prediction of friction-related mechanical efficiency losses of gear pairs. This methodology incorporates a gear contact analysis model and a friction coefficient model with a mechanical efficiency formulation to predict the gear mechanical efficiency under typical operating conditions. The friction coefficient model uses a new friction coefficient formula based on a non-Newtonian thermal elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) model. This formula is obtained by performing a multiple linear regression analysis to the massive EHL predictions under various contact conditions. The new EHL-based friction coefficient formula is shown to agree well with measured traction data. Additional friction coefficient formulae are obtained for special contact conditions such as lubricant additives and coatings by applying the same regression technique to the actual traction data. These coefficient of friction formulae are combined with a contact analysis model and the mechanical efficiency formulation to compute instantaneous torque/power losses and the mechanical efficiency of a gear pair at a given position. This efficiency prediction methodology is applied to both parallel axis (spur and helical) and cross-axis (spiral bevel and hypoid) gears. In the case of hypoid gears, both face-milling and face-hobbing processes are considered, and closed-form expressions for the geometric and kinematic parameters required by the efficiency model are derived.; The efficiency prediction model is validated by comparing the model predictions to a set of high-speed spur gear efficiency measurements covering several gear design and surface treatment variations. The differences between the predicted efficiency values and the measured ones are consistently within 0.1 percent. Influence of basic gear design parameters, tooth modifications, operating conditions, surface finish and treatments, lubricant properties, and manufacturing and assembly errors on mechanical efficiency of both parallel-axis and cross-axis gears are investigated. At the end, a set of guidelines is provided on how to improve mechanical efficiency of gear pairs through design, surface engineering and lubricant solutions. |
