The Interaction Between Contact Loads and Tooth Wears of Engaged Plastic Gear Pairs

The interaction between the dynamic contact loads and the tooth profile wears of a meshing plastic gear pair is simulated and investigated in this study. A dynamic model of a plastic gear pair is presented. The effects of position-varying mesh stiffness, damping ratio, load sharing, tooth profile errors and temperature variation, on the dynamic contact loads are included in this model. The tooth wear equation proposed by Flodin et al is used to simulate the tooth wear and the tooth profile variation. The variation of the contact load introduced from the cumulative tooth profile wear is simulated and analyzed. Numerical results indicate that the dynamic load histogram of an engaging plastic gear pair may change greatly with the tooth wear.