An experimental investigation of spur gear efficiency and temperature A comparison between ground and superfinished surfaces

This thesis focuses on reliability when testing gear efficiency and on how gear mesh efficiency can be increased without detrimental effects on the gears. Test equipment commonly used in gear research was analysed to identify important parameters for gear efficiency testing. The effect of the bearing model’s load-dependent losses on gear mesh efficiency was also investigated. Two different surface finishes of gears, ground and superfinished, were investigated to determine how two different load levels during runningin affect gear mesh efficiency and changes in surface roughness. Efficiency and gear temperature were also measured for ground and superfinished gears with dip lubrication, as well as two different forms of spray lubrication (before and after gear mesh contact). Tests on a gear test rig, showed that different assemblies of the same test setup can yield different measurements of torque loss. The applied bearing model had a significant effect on the estimated gear mesh efficiency. The mesh efficiency of ground gears is affected by the running-in procedure, with a higher running-in load resulting in a higher mesh efficiency than a lower load. This effect was not seen for superfinished gears, which show the same gear mesh efficiency for both running-in loads. Gearbox efficiency increased with spray lubrication rather than dip lubrication. The gear mesh efficiency increased, and thus gear temperatures were reduced, when superfinished gears were used rather than ground gears. A lower gear temperature was measured when gears were spray lubricated at the mesh inlet rather than the mesh outlet.