A parametric study of frictional load influence in spur gear bending resistance

Abstract

A revised Lewis bending fatigue stress capacity model for spur gears is presented and used to study the influence of mesh friction on root stress. It took the original Lewis formula and made modifications for dynamic loads, shear stress, and mesh friction in spur gear design. The study reveals that mesh friction may increase bending stress by up to 6% in enclosed cylindrical gear drives when an average mesh friction coefficient of 0.07 is assumed. A possible increase of 15% in root stress may occur in open gear drives when the mesh friction coefficient is taken as 0.15, a value considered to be representative for properly maintained open drives. To account for mesh frictional load and other factors directly influencing mesh friction, a friction load factor of 1.1 is suggested and introduced to gear service load estimation for enclosed gear drives and 1.15 for open gear drives.