TRANSMISSION GEARBOX
SUMMARY
An alternative would be to use a full finite element (FE) model of the whole
transmission system. However, even the most sophisticated FE model, which
requires great expertise and involves immense time and solving cost, there is
no guarantee that the results can be relied upon [3,4]. For a full model to be
realistic, it requires extensive model correlation for all components. At present
it is a requirement to correlate individual transmission component in isolation
with experimented modal analysis techniques. This has several disadvantages,
for example, a prototype is required for each component, and when the
correlated components are connected, assumptions are made about their
boundary conditions. This can result in a model which is not analogous to
reality and would require a large amount of ‘model correlation’ to yield
acceptable results.
The gear shafts are modelled as beam elements; the outer diameter and bore
of the shaft and its position are the only input parameters required for the
modelling. The loading is applied to the shaft by specifying its position,
direction and magnitude. The gears and bearings and other components are
mounted on the shaft in the shaft assembly window. The connection and
interaction of the shaft with other shafts is realised through the meshing of the
mounted gears and through interconnecting bearings. The positioning of the
shaft in a gearbox is done by editing its properties. The shaft can be rotated in
RomaxDesigner relative to a global co-ordinate system and can be repositioned
in a later stage if necessary. Figure 3 shows the input shaft modelled in
RomaxDesigner.
Stage 1: In the concept design stage, only a few essential inputs are required
such as tooth number, module or diametral pitch, centre distance, pressure
angle and face width in which the centre distance is determined by the position
of the gears. The gears are either defined as gear pair or a gear train. The
meshing of gears in a gear train can be specified interactively.
Stage 2: In the second stage, the concept design is converted into a detailed
design based on a standard rack or a user-modified rack. The modifications of
gear tooth profiles like tooth thickness, tooth tip and edge chamfers and root
fillet radius are easily manipulated in a editing window. In the case study, the
required modifications are input in the detailed gear design window from
which the 3D gear was modelled. Figure 5 shows a helical gear and a helical
gear train created in RomaxDesigner.
The gears are defined with stiffness under contact and a backlash that is
derived from the assembled and deflected conditions. The behaviour of the
gear mesh is nonlinear.
MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX
A simple planetary gear train normally consists of one sun gear, one ring
gear, and some arbitrary number of planets. The gear ratio changes are
controlled by activating a set of clutches. Depending on the clutch selection,
RomaxDesigner automatically calculates the planetary gear train’s ratios. The
modelling of a planetary gear train is similar to that of a helical gear train
except that the meshing among the planets, sun gear and ring gear has to be set
more carefully. Figure 6 shows a planetary gear train in the automatic
transmission model from the case study.
The clutch model is simplified to two parts, one inner part and one outer
part (See Figure 8). For a planetary system, the inner part is connected to, for
example, the ring gear while the outer part is connected with the housing. A
rigid connection is used to simulate the connection between the outer part and
the housing.
MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX
Outer part
Inner part
The gearbox housing influences the deflection of the mounted bearings and
therefore affects the meshing of the gear trains. In order to accurately predict
the gear transmission error, the influence of the housing must be considered.
However, the gearbox housing has a very complex geometry and cannot be
modelled as a simple component in RomaxDesigner. The inclusion of the
influence of the housing on system deflection is achieved by condensing the
housing finite element model into a reduced stiffness matrix and incorporating
it into the current system model. The reduced stiffness matrix represents the
interaction between the bearings and the housing. In the case study, the finite
MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX
When the gearbox model is completed, before running the duty cycle, a
powerflow can be run first to check the various torsional connections between
gears, shafts, bearings, clutches, carriers and housing under different operation
conditions. Once the powerflow is checked, the model can be submitted for
duty cycle analysis. In the case study, the driving input power is 104.7KW and
the input torque is 250NM. Six forward gears driving, 1 reverse gear driving
and 6 forward coasting and 1 reverse coasting gear load cases are analysed in
this duty cycle. The calculating time for the 14 load cases only take about 28
minutes on a Pentium 4 PC with 3GHz CPU and 2G RAM. The bearing
damage, bearing life, shaft stress, shaft fatigue life, gear mesh misalignment,
gear life, gear contact stresses and bending stresses were calculated.
Table 1 shows the bearing life summary for the duty cycle analysis. One
potential bearing failure is identified and the customer has been advised to
consider a different bearing. The bearing contact fatigue life and rolling contact
damage are calculated based on both the ISO standard and the Romax adjusted
life method. In the ISO standard, it is assumed that the bearing is purely radial
loaded, with no clearance, no change in the contact angle and no misalignment.
The RomaxDesigner adjusted life method, however, considers those conditions
and adjusts the bearing life accordingly using a load zone factor.
The accumulated total bearing life damage under a duty cycle for all gear
selections or a specific bearing’s damage under individual load case can be
output (See Figure 10). The gear bending and contact stresses are also
calculated and output as part of a standard duty cycle report (See Figure 11).
The gear meshing misalignment values are important factors in transmission
MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX
Total accumulated duty cycle damage for A bearing’s duty cycle damage
different bearings under individual load case
Figure 10: Bearing life damage chart
MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX
30
25
Misalignment (um)
20
15
10
0
1st gear- 1st gear- 2nd 2nd 3rd 3rd 4th gear- 4th gear- 5th gear- 5th gear- 6th gear- 6th gear- Reverse Reverse
coast drive gear- gear- gear- gear- coast drive coast drive coast drive gear- gear-
coast drive coast drive coast drive
Operating Gear Conditions
Figure 12: Mesh misalignment of a gear pair under different operating conditions
9: CONCLUSIONS
planetary carriers and gearbox housing are incorporated into the internal
transmission system by means of a reduced stiffness matrix which is extracted
using a commercial finite element package.
This new approach makes the model very compact and significantly reduces
the modelling and analysis time of a complex automatic transmission system.
The model can predict the shaft, gear and bearing life much faster than a
conventional finite element analysis model without compromising the
accuracy. By taking the advantage of modelling the gearbox system as a whole,
the model can predict the gear mesh misalignment accurately, allowing
transmission designers to efficiently modify the gear tooth micro-geometry to
compensate for the effect of misalignment prior to the prototyping.
REFERENCES
6. ALLAN, R K, -Rolling Bearings, Sir Issac Pitman & Sons, Ltd, London,
1954