Prediction of Steady State Adhesive Wear in Spur Gears Using the EHL Load Sharing Concept

The concept of load sharing between asperities and fluid film is applied in conjunction with lubricated sliding wear formulation proposed by Wu and Cheng (1991, “A Sliding Wear Model for Partial-EHL Contacts,” ASME J. Tribol., 113, pp. 134–141; 1993, “Sliding Wear Calculation in Spur Gears,” ASME J. Tribol., 115, pp. 493–500) to predict the steady state adhesive wear in gears. Thermal effects are included using a simplified thermoelastohydrodynamic analysis. The prediction of the model is verified by comparing simulation results with published experimental data pertinent to steady state wear rate. The main advantages of this method are the accuracy and the remarkable computational efficiency. The results of parametric simulation study are presented to investigate the effect of speed and surface roughness on a portion of load carried by asperities and wear rate.