Analysis of the Partial Axial Load of a Very Thin-Walled Spur-Gear (Flexspline) of a Harmonic Drive

Harmonic drives are the core components to enable movement in industrial robots. Unfortunately, the deformation of flexspline causes obvious partial axial load on gear engagement. This synthetic error leads to a series of additional problems, such as the deterioration of transmission quality, and the reduction of both precision and fatigue life. This study focuses on a harmonic drive with a double circular-arc tooth profile. A coordinate transformation is carried out based on the kinematics of harmonic drives. On this basis, the conjugate tooth profile of a circular spline is derived. A simulation model is developed based on the motion relationship for harmonic transmission. The effect of inhomogeneity of the load distribution on the surface of the gear teeth was investigated using the partial axial-load index. The effect of different factors on the partial axial load is analyzed. To reduce the effect of partial axial load of flexspline, we select a suitable material and wall thickness. For a certain practical range, both tooth width and chamfering of the flexspline teeth help reduce the partial axial load and increase the flexspline length. These conclusions enable improvements of future designs of reliable flexspline.