Investigation of bevel gears failure modes

Abstract

Fatigue analysis is an important topic in the field of tribology. Varying loading conditions result in different kinds of fatigue behavior, each of which require their own kind of testing methods. A topic such as gears, presents unique challenges in the evaluation of the performance of the geometric and material properties of gears. The objective of this study is to experimentally evaluate the capabilities of a novel bevel gear testing system for fatigue endurance studies. In addition, the calibration and testing procedure of the test specimen is introduced and the basic procedure for data processing is presented. The results show that the new test rig can produce reliable data for evaluating fatigue performance of gears. The tests resulted in failure modes of pitting, tooth interior fatigue fracture, and scuffing. The collected of data collected allows for better understanding of fatigue performance in large-size bevel gears.