Abstract: Transmission errors and contact pattern have determinative effects on the meshing performances of a gear drive, so a new approach for designing pinion surface of spiral bevel gears is proposed, based on a predesigned parabolic function of transmission errors with limited magnitude of maximal transmission errors and a predesigned linear function of contact path. This approach is based on three meshing points. By controlling their magnitudes of transmission errors and the positions on the tooth surface, the whole process control of engagement quality is realized. In addition, in order to meet different manufacturing reguirements, the value of work offset, one of the pinion machine tool settings, can also be assigned in advance with little influence on transmission performance. The developed approach is illustrated with numerical example. The proposed ideas are proven by the manufacturing and test of a pair of spiral bevel gears.

Key words: Blank offset, Contact pattern, Spiral bevel gears, Transmission errors