Dynamic characteristics of a planetary gear system based on contact status of the tooth surface

Studies on the planetary gear have attracted considerable attention because of its advantages, such as compactness, large torque-to-weight ratio, vibrations, and high efficiency, which have resulted in its wide applications in industry, wind turbine, national defense, and aerospace fields. We have established a novel dynamic model of the planetary gear transmission by using Newton’s theory, in which some key factors such as time-variant meshing stiffness, phase relationships, and tooth contact characteristics are considered. The influences of gear axial tipping, operating conditions, and the meshing phase on the contact characteristics and the dynamic characteristics were researched systematically. It was found that the contact area of the tooth surface was moved due to the axial gear tipping, which obviously affected the meshing stiffness. With the increase in the inclination angle of the sun gear, the meshing stiffness decreases, which produces an evident influence on the high natural frequency in the planetary transmission system. In terms of the dynamic characteristics of the system, the component of rotating frequency appeared in the dynamic meshing force of the sun gear and the planetary gear. Moreover, the floating track of the center wheel varied significantly and exhibited an oval distribution as the inclination angle of the sun gear changed. When the inclination angle of the sun gear increased, the rotating frequency component increased significantly, but the other meshing frequency components remained unchanged; meanwhile, the deformation of the floating track also increased. If the inclination angle of the sun gear changes, the vibration state of the system and the collision impact could become more serious, and the lifetime of the planetary transmission system will reduce. Furthermore, when the load was increased, we found that the gear-tooth contact zone transformed from line contact to surface contact, the meshing stiffness increased, the effect of high natural frequency on the planetary transmission system became more evident, but its low-order natural frequency remained stable. With regard to the dynamic characteristics of the system, the components of the major frequency at the external gearing remained unchanged, but the rotation frequency of the sun gear and the meshing frequency amplitude increased linearly with the increase in load. In conclusion, the variation in the meshing stiffness of the planetary gear system had minor impact on the low-order natural frequency, but had a significant impact on the high natural frequency of the planetary transmission system due to the phase variation of the gear.