Stress calculation on bevel gears with FEM influence vectors

In order to be able to carry out an optimal gear design with the aim of cost reduction and the careful handling of resources, load capacity is an important criterion for the evaluation of a gear. For the calculation of the flank and root load capacity, a precise loaded tooth contact analysis (LTCA) is necessary. With LTCA software like BECAL, influence numbers are used to calculate the deformation of the gear. These influence numbers are calculated with a BEM-module and considered for calculating the local root stress. This method simplifies the coupling stiffness in tooth width direction with a decay function and neglects the influence of local differences in tooth stiffness. In this publication, this simplification shall be questioned and evaluated. Therefore, a new method for calculating stress with FEM influence vectors is presented. This method enables the calculation of full stress tensors at any desired location in the gear with the efficiency of the influence number method. Additionally, the influence of local stiffness variations in the gear is taken into account. Various gear examples show the influence of material connections at the pinion root and the influence of the rim thickness of a wheel on the root stress. To validate the accuracy and the time efficiency of the new calculation method and to compare the results to current state-of-the-art simulations, a well-documented series of tests from the literature is recalculated and evaluated.