Dynamic modeling and vibration characteristic analysis of a high contact ratio double-helical star gear transmission system with tooth broken fault

Abstract

In high contact ratio gearboxes, incipient vibration features induced by tooth broken faults may be masked by multi-tooth meshing characteristics. To address this challenge, the stiffness reduction caused by tooth broken faults is quantitatively evaluated, and the corresponding vibration characteristic evolution is systematically investigated in the high contact ratio double-helical star gear transmission system (HCR-DHSGTS). When tooth broken faults are introduced separately into the sun gear, planet gear, and ring, an analytical-finite element method is employed to calculate the time-varying meshing stiffness. By incorporating the time-varying meshing stiffness, a rigid-flexible coupling dynamic model is established. The component mode synthesis method is then applied to enhance computational efficiency. The proposed stiffness calculation method is verified by finite element analysis, and the proposed dynamic model is verified against the multibody dynamics simulations in ADAMS software. The results indicate that under tooth broken fault conditions, a progressive stiffness reduction is observed, accompanied by modulation sidebands around the gear meshing frequency and its harmonics. Under the same fault severity, the stiffness reduction is found to be more pronounced for the sun gear and ring gear than for the planet gear. Furthermore, two indicators of sideband energy ratio and sideband level factor are proposed. Subsequent analyses reveal that both indicators monotonically increase with the severity for all fault locations considered in this paper. These findings provide theoretical support and quantitative guidance for early warning and condition monitoring of high contact ratio gearboxes.

Keywords

double-helical star gear / tooth broken fault / meshing characteristics / vibration response / modulation sideband

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