Calculation Method for Contact Fatigue Life of Herringbone Planetary Gears Based on Iterative Coupling of Dynamic Meshing Force and Oil Film Pressure

doi:10.3901/JME.2025.01.199

Abstract

Abstract: To address the issue of missing dynamic load in the calculation method of contact fatigue life of herringbone planetary gears under mixed elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication, a new method for calculating contact fatigue life based on the iterative coupling of gear dynamic meshing force and oil film pressure is proposed. Firstly, a dynamic model of herringbone planetary gears with coupled tooth surface friction and a model of mixed elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication are established, and the tooth surface pressure and shear force are solved by the iterative coupling method. Secondly, the elastic half-space theory is used to simulate the sub-surface stress field of the gear, and the contact fatigue life is calculated based on the multi-axial fatigue criterion. Finally, the dynamic meshing characteristics, lubrication characteristics, and sub-surface stress distribution under the coupling action of dynamics and mixed elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication are studied, and the effects of dynamic meshing force and tooth surface roughness on contact fatigue life are analyzed. The research results show that the stress calculation method based on the iterative coupling of dynamic meshing force and oil film pressure can effectively simulate the real stress state of the gear sub-surface and accurately predict the contact fatigue life of herringbone planetary gears under mixed elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication. The tooth surface roughness and dynamic meshing force have a significant impact on the contact fatigue life. The increase in tooth surface roughness will cause the maximum sub-surface stress to move towards the tooth surface, increasing the risk of micro-pitting failure. When the dynamic meshing force increases, the contact fatigue life at the resonance frequency is significantly reduced.

Key words: herringbone planetary gear, contact fatigue, mixed EHL, dynamic load

CLC Number:

TH114

XU Xiangyang, REN Bo, HUANG Kaisheng, JIA Hanjie, ZHU Caichao. Calculation Method for Contact Fatigue Life of Herringbone Planetary Gears Based on Iterative Coupling of Dynamic Meshing Force and Oil Film Pressure[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2025, 61(1): 199-208.

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