An experimental study on high speed helical gears misalignments and dynamic behavior under random loading

Helical gears are known for high load carrying capacity and reduced noise generation characteristics. High speed will lead to increased dynamic loading, which is influential on the gear performance and premature failure. However, predicting the gear response under complex loading conditions becomes complicated, which leads to the need of developing an experimental test to anticipate the gear performance at selected boundary conditions. In the following paper, an experimental setup was developed with the aim to measure gears misalignments, temperatures and vibrations under random and fluctuating speeds. Consequently the effect of input variables can be inspected and the gears performance can be improved by implementing design modification and recommendations. Results showed that higher fluctuating speeds will affect misalignments, as well as vibration amplitudes will increase. Furthermore measured oil temperature varied with the speed increase which will lead to lower viscosity and potential contact surface wear and gear premature.