Work

Lifecycle wear prediction of spur gears with time-dependent Archard model and surface topography evolution

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: • Closed-loop model predicts 3D gear wear under dry friction conditions • Time-dependent wear coefficient describes nonlinear wear evolution • Dynamic geometry update captures tooth-shape evolution during service • Simulation results show strong agreement with experimental observations • Proposed model improves prediction accuracy and computational efficiency Gear wear degrades transmission accuracy by altering tooth geometry, contact pressure, and dynamic response. Many prediction approaches under dry/solid-lubricated conditions still under-represent the tribo-dynamic coupling among a time-dependent wear coefficient (TDWC), evolving surface morphology, and contact kinematics. This study proposes a lifecycle wear-prediction scheme that integrates a profile-alignment/correction (error) model, a lumped-parameter dynamic model, and a wear module. The framework introduces a spatio-temporal TDWC model that maps wear-coefficient variation along the tooth profile and over time, while incorporating surface-morphology feedback into the dynamic analysis to achieve closed-loop wear evolution. Tooth morphology is measured by 3D profilometry and refined via mathematical processing, then fed to the dynamic model with time-varying meshing stiffness (TVMS) computed by the potential-energy method (PEM). Contact is evaluated with Hertzian theory, and wear depth is updated by the Archard law using friction and wear-coefficient parameters calibrated from equivalent wear tests (EWTs), iteratively refreshing tooth geometry. Simulations and experiments show strong agreement across tooth positions, with tooth-level wear-mass deviations < 1 mg, indicating high predictive accuracy at modest computational cost under dry friction.

Source: Results in Engineering

DOI: 10.1016/j.rineng.2025.108495

Authors: Jingqi Zhang, Jianxing Zhou, An Wu, Quanwei Cui, Ning Dong

Institutions: Xinjiang University, Goldwind (China), Northwestern Polytechnical University

Language: English

Topic: Gear and Bearing Dynamics Analysis

Subfield: Mechanical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,940

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Urumqi Science and Technology Bureau