An experimental investigation of contact characteristics of crown gear coupling with angular misalignment

Abstract

Crown gear couplings are commonly applied to transfer rotary motion and torsion from one rotating component to another under a certain misalignment angle. While computational models for contact analysis have recently been proposed, there is no validated contact analysis model of crown gear coupling with angular misalignment due to lack of experimental data. Accordingly, this study proposes to establish an extensive experimental database on contact characteristics of the conventional and novel crown gear couplings with different misalignment angles. A dedicated test rig, which can adjust misalignment angle, is designed and set up. A test matrix covering various misalignment angle conditions is executed in order to form a meshing contact database for crown gear coupling. The experimental data illustrates the variety of contact positions on the hub tooth surface caused by rotational position and misalignment angle. Simulation results obtained by loaded tooth contact analysis are compared to the experimental results for the conventional and novel crown gear couplings with different misalignment angles. The results show that the simulation model used to calculate contact analysis is effective, and the meshing performance of the innovative hub tooth profile is better than that of the conventional one.