Optimization of NVH-Behavior of Gears by Alternative Gear Materials

The process chain of alternative gear materials offers advantages in material and energy consumption when compared to conventional milling processes. According to STREHL, the shortening of the process chain regarding the usage of powder metallurgy (PM) leads to a cost advantage for PM gears [1]. Due to a lower density, alternative gear materials also lead to a decrease in weight. Additionally, alternative gear materials offer a high potential for an optimized NVH behavior due to the damping and insulation effects of porosity and material stiffness. This report evaluates the potential of an optimized gear design for an improved NVH behavior by using the alternative gear materials PM and ADI. First, steel gears are compared to the material variants with an identical macro- and micro geometry. This allows for the evaluation of the noise optimization potential in general. In a second step, the density profile of the tooth flank caused by the manufacturing process of PM gears is calculated and used for the simulation of the excitation behavior. In addition, the gear mesh excitation of one ADI gear is adjusted to the gear mesh excitation of steel. Finally, the results of the theoretical and experimental investigation are compared and discussed.