Elastohydrodynamics of a worm gear contact

The paper is concerned with prediction of elastic contact and elastohydrody namic film thickness in worm gears. Using the undeformed geometry of the ga p between gear teeth in contact a three-dimensional elastic contact simulat ion technique has been developed for calculation of the true area of elasti c contact under load relative to the wheel and worm surfaces. A parallel in vestigation of elastohydrodynamic lubrication effects has been carried out using a special non-Newtonian, thermal solver which rakes account of the no nsymmetrical and spin aspects of worm contacts. An interesting feature of t he results obtained is the discovery of regions of poor film forming due to entrainment failure at the edges of the contact.