Study of subdivision surface modelling for spiral bevel gear manufacturing

Abstract

Precise machining spiral bevel gear (SBGs) on Numerical Control (NC) machine tools has attracted much research attention. This paper presents a new precise SBGs CAD/CAM model with Loop subdivision algorithm. The involute surfaces for spiral bevel gears and pinions are first modelled with parametric surfaces. From them and a set of parameters, an initial mesh model is created for gear surfaces. This mesh model is then used as a base for a subdivision surface. The precision of subdivision surfaces can be exactly controlled by a subdivision process which can generate enough machining points on the designed tooth surface model. As a result, all meshing points of the tooth surface for a pair of gear and pinion can be applied on NC machines for higherprecision surface manufacturing. This novel SBGs CAD/CAM modelling method has been evaluated with precision. The precise model could be extended to hypoid gear and other complex surface design. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010.