Gear contact modeling for system simulations and experimental investigation of gear contacts

High performance geared systems demand an integrated design approach of the gear and the corresponding system. To this end, a new class of models is developed that aims to bridge the gap between the currently available specialized gear design tools and simulation environments for complete systems. These new models use an averaging method instead of contact tracking for high computational performance. They enable the simulation of the gear mesh with nonlinear stiffness and losses, including stiction effects. Using experimental data, the aforementioned models have been validated.