Analysis of a Low-Loss Gear Geometry Using a Thermal Elastohydrodynamic Simulation including Mixed Lubrication

Felix Farrenkopf, Andreas Schwarz, Thomas Lohner, Karsten Stahl

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Low-loss gears are an interesting design approach for increasing the efficiency and thermal load limits of gearboxes. The loss-optimized gear geometry concentrates sliding around the pitch point, which results in low load-dependent gear power losses. In this study, a method for modeling transient EHL (elastohydrodynamically lubricated) contacts in gear mesh considering mixed lubrication and thermal effects is introduced and applied to analyze the tribological behavior of a low-loss gear geometry. Special focus is placed on local frictional losses to analyze the role of the thermal effects of the gear mesh. Although a thermal reduction in fluid friction is observed, the overall effect on total frictional losses of the low-loss gear geometry is evaluated to be very small. The edge geometry strongly influences the lubricant film thickness and frictional power losses.

Original languageEnglish
Article number200
JournalLubricants
Volume10
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2022

Keywords

  • efficiency
  • elastohydrodynamic lubrication
  • gear
  • mixed lubrication

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Analysis of a Low-Loss Gear Geometry Using a Thermal Elastohydrodynamic Simulation including Mixed Lubrication'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this