STATIC CONTACT STRESS-ANALYSIS OF A SPUR GEAR TOOTH USING THE FINITE-ELEMENT METHOD, INCLUDING FRICTIONAL EFFECTS

The literature available on gear tooth contact stress problems is not very extensive and that available does not explain the method by which analysis was carried out. In this paper an attempt has been made to s tudy the contact stresses of a pair of mating gear teeth, under static conditions, by using a two-dimensional finite element method and the Lagrangian multiplier technique. The contact condition at the neighbou ring node pair, namely, the contact existing over a number of node pai rs in the contact zone, has been considered. To study the effect of fr iction between the mating gear teeth a range of average static frictio n coefficients, from 0.0 to 0.3, has been considered. The actual lengt h of contact against the calculated length of contact is discussed. Th e variation of contact stress along the contact surface in a direction normal to the mating surfaces, which will give an idea about the dept h of hardening required, is also presented.