The generation and simulation of worm-gear drive with localized contacts and minimum transmission error

A direct digital design method of worm-gear drive is presented in this paper, which is directly based on the simulation of manufacturing process and completely different from the conventional modeling method. The meshing analysis of worm-gear drive under the condition of existing misalignment errors and load has been presented. According to gearing theory of conjugate curved-faces and contact FEA method, the numerical analysis algorithm is given. The combined modification approach on the tooth flank of worm in two directions has been developed. The purpose of modification in profile direction is to achieve the localization of bearing contact and reduce the sensitivity of the worm-gear drive to misalignment. The modification in longitudinal direction aims at reducing the transmission error, which causes the vibration and noise in the practical operation. The developed approach has been applied for the double-enveloping hourglass worm-gear drive and has been illustrated with a numerical example.