Helicalgearsareusedtoreducethespeedofcentrifugalcompressorsandturbinestomatchnominal

motorandgeneratorspeeds.Properlubricationandcoolingarecriticaltothesuccessfuloperationof
thesegears.Whengearsmesh,thetoothsurfacesrollandslideagainsteachother(Figures1and2).

Figure1.HelicalGearTerminology

Figure2.DirectionofSliding
Thismeshingcreatesenormouscontactandshearstresses.Oilisusedtolubricatethematinggear
teethandpreventscuffing,wearandpittingdamagetogeartoothsurfacesduetometaltometal
contact.Oilviscosityincreaseswithpressurethereforeoilcanseparatethematinggearteethdespite
enormousstress.Oilisalsousedtocoolthegearteethandpreventexcessivetoothtemperaturesand
overheatingoftheoil.Thisarticlepresentsvariousissuesassociatedwithproperlubricationand
coolingrequirementsofhighspeedhelicalgears.Highspeedhelicalgearsaredefinedasthosegears
thatoperatepitchlinevelocitiesgreaterthan120m/s.

GearSurfaceDistress

Thematingsurfacesofgearteetharenotperfectlysmooth.Thesurfacesarefullofsmallasperities,
suchasmachiningmarks.Thisisreferredtoassurfaceroughness.Iftheoilfilmisthickenough,the
asperitiesfromthematinggearteethdonotcontactoneanother.Basedonelastohydrodynamic
lubrication(EHL)theory,lubricationfallsintooneofthreeregimes.InRegimes1and2thereissome
contactbetweenthematinggearteeth.MosthighspeedgearsfallintoRegime3,inwhichfullEHLoil
filmdevelopsandtheasperitiesinthetoothsurfacesdonotcontactoneanother.
Geartoothdistressincludesscuffing,wearandsurfacefatigue(micropittingandmacropitting).
ANSI/AGMA1010E95(1995)providesdescriptionsandpicturesofthesetypesofdamage.
Scuffing
Scuffingisdamagetoatoothsurfaceduetoweldingandtearingofthetoothsurfacebytheflankof
thematingtooth.Itischaracterizedasradialscratchlines(Figure3).Scuffingoccurswhentheoilfilm
thicknessislessthanthecompositeroughnessofthepinionandgearandmetaltometalcontact
occurs.

Figure3.Scuffing(CourtesyofANSI/AGMA1010E95)
Mild(Left),Severe(Right)
AccordingtoAGMA925A03(2003),Thebasicmechanismofscuffingiscausedbyintensefrictional
heatgeneratedbyacombinationofhighslidingvelocityandhighcontactstress.Scuffingwillnormally
notstartatthepitchlinebecausetheslidingvelocityiszero.Thus,scuffinggenerallystartsineither
thetoporbottomhalf,orroot,oftheteeth.Thecontacttemperatureisequaltotheflashtemperature
plusthetoothtemperaturebeforeenteringthemesh.AGMA925A03(2003)states:Theflash
temperatureisthecalculatedincreaseingeartoothsurfacetemperatureatagivenpointalongtheline
ofactionresultingfromthecombinedeffectsofgeartoothgeometry,load,friction,velocityand
materialpropertiesduringoperation.
Severalsourcescancausehighertoothtemperaturesathighpitchlinespeed.AccordingtoAGMA925
A03(2003),Forpitchlinevelocitiesabove80m/s,churningloss,expulsionofoilbetweenmeshing
teethandwindagelossbecomeimportantheatsourcesthatmustbeconsidered.Theotherfactoris
howeffectivelytheoilspraycoolstheteeth.Whensprayingthegearmesh,oilmustcoverthetooth
surfacesforaslighttimeintervalbeforebeingflungoff.Athighpitchlinespeeds,theteethmaybe
movingsofastrelativetotheoilvelocitythatnotalltheteethgetcoveredwithoil.
Wear
Wearisdefinedastheremovalordisplacementofmetalfromgeartoothsurfaces.Damagedueto
scuffingorpittingisnotnormallyconsideredwear.Wearreducestooththicknessandcanchangethe
contouroftheteeth.Wearcanresultfrommechanical,chemicalorelectricalaction.Forwelldesigned
gearsthatoperateinlubricationRegime3,therateofwearshouldbesoslightthattheoriginal
machiningmarksshouldstillbevisibleafterayearormoreofservice.Thislowrateofwearalso
assumesthatthesupplyoiliswellfilteredandthatthereisnoabrasivewearduetohardparticles
suspendedintheoil.
Micropitting
MicropittingisahighrollingcontactfatigueincidentthatoccursintheHertziancontactbandarea.Itis
afunctionofcombinedrollingandslidingvelocities,load,temperature,specificfilmthicknessandthe
lubricantitself.AGMA925A03(2003)states:thepitsaretypically10to20mdeepbyabout25to
100mlongand10to20mwide.Becauseofthesizeofthepits,micropittingcanbedifficulttosee.
Ifmicropittingprogressesfarenough,themicropitswillcoalesceandthesurfacewilltakeonadull,
matteappearance(Figure4).

Figure4.Micropitting
(CourtesyofANSI/AGMA1010E95)
Micropittingcanleadtoareductioningeartoothaccuracy,whichincreasesgeartoothloading,
vibrationandnoise.Micropittingcanleadtomacropittingandgeartoothbreakage.Thereisabasic
lackofunderstandingofthemechanismofmicropitting.Onetheoryclaimsthatmicropittingstarts
whentheasperitiesongeartoothsurfacescarryasignificantportionoftheload.Theseasperitiesthen
deform,whichproduceslocalresidualtensilestresses.Thecyclicalloadingisthenhighenoughto

causelocalfatiguecracksthattakeontheformofsmallpits.Thus,surfaceroughnessisabigfactorin
theriskofmicropitting.AccordingtoAGMA925A03(2003),micropittingwaseliminatedinsomecases
whenthegeartoothsurfaceswerefinishedtoamirrorlikefinish.
Micropittingcanoccuranywhereonthegeartoothsurface.However,accordingtoresearchersCardis
andWebster,itgenerallystartsinareasassociatedwithhighslidingvelocity,whichisinthebottomor
topofthetoothprofile,notatthepitchlinewheretheslidingvelocityiszero.
Lubricantsalsoplayakeyaspectintheriskofmicropitting.StudiescompletedbyCardisandWebster
haveshownthatmicropittingismoreapttooccuringearsthatuseoilswithantiscuffingadditives.
Also,micropittingresistancetendstodecreasewithhighergeartoothtemperatures,butithasbeen
reportedthatotheradditivesactuallyimprovemicropittingresistanceathighertemperatures.
Macropitting
Macropittingisalsoasurfacefatiguephenomenon.Thesepitsaretypicallyontheorderof0.5to1.0
mmindiameterandarelargeenoughtobeseenbytheunaidedeye(Figure5).

Figure4.Micropitting
(CourtesyofANSI/AGMA1010E95)
Macropitstypicallyoccuriftherearehighasperitiesandmetaltometalcontactoccursbetween
meshingteeth.However,inhighspeedgears,thesurfacefinishistypicallyverysmoothandtheoil
filmisthickenoughtopreventmetaltometalcontact.Inthesecases,thecauseofthemacropitsis
generallyaninclusionorsmallvoidinthematerialthatprovidestheinitiationpointforthecrack,and
thesubsurfaceshearstressespropagatethecrack.

ThermalProblems

Anotherpurposeoflubricatingoilsistocoolthegeartoothsurfaces.TestingbyMartinagliashowed
thathighspeedhelicalgearteethcoulddistortduetononuniformtemperaturedistributionalongthe
facewidthofthegearing.Inmanycases,theworkingflanksofthepinionandgearhavetobemodified
toaccountforthisdistortion.Atveryhighpitchlinevelocities,problemscanalsooccurwith
overheatingoftheair/oilmixturetrappedinthegearmesh.Varnishandcarbondepositscanalsoform
ongeartoothsurfaces.Thesedepositscloseupthebacklashandcauselocaloverloadingandgear
toothfailure.

GearSprayArrangements

Oilistypicallysprayedintothegearmeshfromaspraybar.Thespraybarextendsacrossthewidthof
thegearsandisfittedwithsmallnozzlesthatareusedtocreatesmalloiljetsthatsprayoilintothe
mesh.Basedonasurveyofseveralgearmanufacturers,thereisnouniversalagreementonwhether
oilshouldbesprayedintotheinmesh,theoutmesh,orboth.Itdependsontheexperienceofthegear
manufacturer.Itisimportantthatthegearteetharewettedwithoilforproperlubricationandthat
enoughoilgetsintothetoothspacesforsufficientcooling.

Somegearboxmanufacturersusespecialbafflestoreducewindagelossesinsidegearboxes.Airinside
thegearboxisacceleratedbecauseofthehighrotationalspeedofthegears.Theenergythatittakes
toacceleratetheairisaloss.Byfittingplatesclosetothesidesofthegears,theamountofairthatis
acceleratedislimitedandthislossisreduced.Theseplatescanalsobeusedasshieldstopreventoil
thatissqueezedoutofbearingsfromhittingthegears,causingacceleration,whichwouldresultin
additionalloss.Finally,othergearmanufacturersuseafalsebottominthegearbox.Thisistypicallya
perforatedplatethatisfittedbetweenthegearsandthebottomofthegearbox.Itisusedtohelpthe
oildrainbypreventingtheoilinthebottomofthegearboxfrombeingliftedbackupandreaccelerated.

SpecialDesigns

GreinerandLangenbeckperformedtestswithseparatelubricationandcoolingoilsupplytoobservethe

influenceofthisarrangementongeartemperatures(scuffingloadcapacity)andonefficiency.Oneset
ofnozzleswasusedtosprayeithertheinmeshoroutmeshforlubricationandanothersetofnozzles
wasusedtospraythegearwebsforcooling.Temperature,powerlossandwearmeasurementswere
takenforamultitudeofsprayarrangements,oilflowsandflowsplits.Basedonthetesting,the
separationoflubricationandcoolingoilsupplyledtoa60percentreductioninoilflow(comparedwith
theoriginalrecommendedoilflows),lowergeartoothtemperaturesandaslightincreaseinefficiency.
Onecompanyhasapatentedagearboxthatoperatesinavacuumandvirtuallyeliminateswindage
losses.Thisinventionhasreportedlyloweredthegearboxpowerlossbyupto50percentincomparison
toconventionalgearboxes.Onedocumentedcasewasacomparisonoftwo90MWgearboxes:onewith
conventionalgearingandtheotherwiththevacuumgearbox.Thecalculatedlossesintheconventional
gearboxatfullloadwere1,407kw,whilethelossesinthevacuumgearboxweremeasuredat628kw.
Thisisadifferenceof779kw,oraboutonepercentoftheratedpower.
Severalcompaniesalsomanufacturehighspeedhelicalgearswithspecialaxialgrooves(Figure6).

Figure6.AxialGroovesforHighspeedGearing
Thesegroovesprovideapathforthehotair/oilmixturetoescapebeforeoverheatingandallowfresh,
cooloiltobesuppliedtothegearmeshatanintermediatepointinthemesh.Typically,thesegrooves
areaddedonthebullgearandsometimesonthebullgearandthepinion.AlthoughFigure6shows
onlyasinglegroove,otherdesignsmayhavemore.
Varioushighspeedgearboxesarealsoequippedwithaspecialhighpressure/highvelocitytypespray
arrangementthatisfittedclosetothegearmesh(Figure7).

Figure7.HighpressureGearSprayArrangement

Asstatedabove,itisimportantforpropercoolingfortheoiltocoverthetoothsurfacesforaslight
timeintervalbeforebeingflungoff.Athighpitchlinespeeds,highervelocityoilmaybeneededtoget
sufficientcoolingoilintothetoothspacesbeforebeingstuckbythenexttoothandflungoutofthegear
mesh.Generally,moreoilisrequiredforcoolingthanforlubrication.Sowhiletheremaybeenoughoil
onthegeartoothsurfacesforlubrication,theremightnotbeenoughforcooling.
Therearemanygoodsourcesavailabletoenduserstoassistintheevaluationofhighspeedhelical
geardesigns.Althoughlubricationandcoolingproblemsarerare,theycanbedifficulttosolve.When
evaluatinghighspeedhelicalgears,itisimportanttounderstandthemanufacturersexperience.
Lubricationandcoolingarecomplexissuesandanumberofparametersmustbeconsidered.
EditorsNote:
ReproducedwithpermissionoftheTurbomachineryLaboratory(http://turbolab.tamu.edu).
FromProceedingsoftheThirtythirdTurbomachinerySymposium,TurbomachineryLaboratory,Texas
A&MUniversity,CollegeStation,Texas,p.4148,Copyright2004.
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4.Dudley,D.HandbookofPracticalGearDesign.NewYork,McGrawHillBookCompany,1984.
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Gears.AGMAPaperNumber91FTM13,1991.
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