Load distribution in spur gears including the effects of friction

Abstract

Friction losses between meshing gear teeth are amongst the most influential loss sources in a gearbox at nominal or near nominal operating conditions. Gear friction losses are influenced by speed, load and coefficient of friction. These factors and their variation along the path of contact must be taken into account in order to obtain accurate power loss predictions. Understanding how the power loss develops along the path of contact certainly helps in the development of more efficient and reliable gear designs. The aim of this work is then to introduce a formulation to calculate the load distribution along the path of contact taking into account elastic effects and friction.