A Transient Mixed Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication Model for Spur Gear Pairs

In this study, a transient, non-Newtonian, mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) model of involute spur gear tooth contacts is proposed. Unlike the contact between two cylindrical rollers, spur gear contacts experience a number of time-varying contact parameters including the normal load, radii of curvature, surface velocities, and slide-to-roll ratio. The proposed EHL model is designed to continuously follow the contact of a tooth pair from the root to the tip to capture the transient characteristics of lubricated spur gear contacts due to these parameter variations, instead of analyzing the contact at discrete positions assuming time-invariant parameters. The normal tooth force along the line of action is predicted by using a gear load distribution formulation and the contact radii and tangential surface velocities are computed from the kinematics and geometry of involute profiles. A unified numerical approach is adapted for handling asperity interaction in mixed EHL conditions. The differences between the transient and discrete EHL analyses are shown for a spur gear pair having smooth surfaces and different tooth profile modifications. The transient behavior predicted by the proposed model is found to be mainly due to the squeezing and pumping effects caused by sudden load changes. The lubrication behavior under rough conditions is also investigated at different operating conditions.