Pitting and stress analysis of gears: A numerical and experimental study

In this paper, the pitting phenomenon and stress distribution of gears are investigated by means of experimental activities and numerical finite element analyses. In the first part, results of experimental accelerated endurance tests for the investigation of the pitting phenomenon of gears are reported. These durability tests are made at a specific nominal load and far from the resonance. After a short time, a visible pitting phenomenon arises. In the second part, finite element numerical analyses for the evaluation of gear stresses are listed. The numerical analyses start from stress-vibration correlations and dynamic factors obtained by a 2-dof dynamic model; these results are used in the dynamic FEM simulations in order to calculate the maximum normal stress and the contact pressure on the contact tooth of the pinion vs. vibration amplitude for different dynamic factors.