Abstract: The global character of a time-varying nonlinear gear system is analyzed by using the mixed cell mapping method. The system’s global characters are obtained under different input torque fluctuation, backlash, composite transmission error, exciting frequency and damping ratio. The changing laws of the attractor-basin portrait are studied when these parameters are changed. Since the system’s character is sensitive for the initial conditions, the sensitivity coefficient is brought forward to ascertain how much the system’s character depends on the initial conditions. The results show that the global dynamic qualities of system are relatively poor when the composite transmission error is larger, the damping ratio is smaller or the exciting frequency is higher.

Key words: Gear, Global analysis, Nonlinear, Time-varying