A new type of face-gear drive with intersected axes of rotation formed by a helical involute pinion and conjugated face-gear has been investigated. Generation of face-gears by a shaper free of undercutting and pointing has been investigated. A new method of grinding or cutting of face-gears by a worm of special shape has been developed. A computerized design procedure has been developed to avoid undercutting and pointing by a shaper or by a generating worm. Also, a method to determine the limitations of the helix angle magnitude has been developed. The method provides a localization of the bearing contact to reduce the shift of bearing contact caused by misalignment. The analytical method provides a simulation of the meshing and contact of misaligned gear drives. An automatic mesh generation method has been developed and used to conduct a 3D contact stress analysis of several teeth. The theory developed is illustrated with several examples.Litvin, Faydor L. and Fuentes, Alfonso and Gonzalez-Perez, Ignacio and Piscopo, Alessandro and Ruzziconi, PaoloGlenn Research CenterSHAPERS; GEAR TEETH; TRANSMISSIONS (MACHINE ELEMENTS); STRESS ANALYSIS; SINGULARITY (MATHEMATICS); HELICES; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; AXES OF ROTATION; COMPUTER SYSTEMS DESIGN; CONJUGATION; MISALIGNMENT; POSITION (LOCATION); MECHANICAL DRIVES; HELICOPTERS; GRID GENERATION (MATHEMATICS)

A face gear drive with a spur involute pinion is considered. The generation of the face gear is based on application of a grinding or cutting worm whereas the conventional method of generation is based on application of an involute shaper. An analytical approach for determination of: (1) the worm thread surface, (2) avoidance of singularities of the worm thread surface, (3) dressing of the worm, and (4) determination of stresses of the face-gear drive, is proposed. A computer program for simulation of meshing and contact of the pinion and face-gear has been developed. Correction of machine-tool settings is proposed for reduction of the shift of the bearing contact caused by misalignment. An automatic development of the model of five contacting teeth has been proposed for stress analysis. Numerical examples for illustration of the developed theory are provided.

The use of face gears in power transmission and drive systems has a significant number of benefits. Face gears allow a variety of new transmission arrangements as well as high reduction ratio capability. This leads to drive system weight reduction and improvements in performance. In this work, basic information about the design and analysis of face gear drives is presented. The work considers face gears in mesh with spur involute pinions for both intersecting axes and offset drives. Tooth geometry, kinematics, generation of face gears with localized bearing contact by cutting and grinding, avoidance of tooth undercutting, avoidance of tooth pointing, tooth contact analysis, and algorithms for the simulation of meshing and contact are all topics which are discussed. In addition, applications of face gear drives are presented. Included are design uses in aerospace applications such as helicopter transmissions, split-torque face gear arrangements, comparisons of face gears with bevel gears, and general design considerations.

The use of face gears in power transmission and drive systems has a significant number of benefits. Face gears allow a variety of new transmission arrangements as well as high reduction ratio capability. This leads to drive system weight reduction and improvements in performance. In this work, basic information about the design and analysis of face gear drives is presented. The work considers face gears in mesh with spur involute pinions for both intersecting axes and offset drives. Tooth geometry, kinematics, generation of face gears with localized bearing contact by cutting and grinding, avoidance of tooth undercutting, avoidance of tooth pointing, tooth contact analysis, and algorithms for the simulation of meshing and contact arc all topics which are discussed. In addition, applications of face gear drives are presented. Included are design uses in aerospace applications such as helicopter transmissions, split-torque face gear arrangements, comparisons of face gears with bevel gears, and general design considerations. Litvin, F. L. and Egelja, A. and Tan, J. and Chen, D. Y.-D. and Heath, G. Glenn Research Center NCC3-356; RTOP 581-30-13; DA Proj. 1L1-62211-A4-7A

Over the last several decades, gearing development has focused on improvements in materials, manufacturing technology and tooling, thermal treatment, and coatings and lubricants. In contrast, gear design methods have remained frozen in time, as the vast majority of gears are designed with standard tooth proportions. This over-standardization significantly limits the potential performance of custom gear drives, especially in demanding aerospace or automotive applications. Direct Gear Design introduces an alternate gear design approach to maximize gear drive performance in custom gear applications. Developed by the author, the Direct Gear Design® method has been successfully implemented in a wide variety of custom gear transmissions over the past 30 years. The results are maximized gear drive performance, increased transmission load capacity and efficiency, and reduced size and weight. This book explains the method clearly, making it easy to apply to actual gear design. Describes the origin and theoretical foundations of the Direct Gear Design approach as well as some of its applications—and its limits Details the optimization techniques and the specifics of Direct Gear Design Discusses how this approach can be used with asymmetric gears to further improve performance Describes tolerance selection, manufacturing technologies, and measurement methods of custom gears Compares Direct Gear Design with traditional gear design from both an analytical and an experimental perspective Illustrates the applicability and benefits of this gear design approach with implementation examples Written by an engineer for engineers, this book presents a unique alternative to traditional gear design. It inspires readers to explore ways of improving gear transmission performance in custom gear applications, from higher transmission load capacity, efficiency, and reliability to lower size, weight, and cost.

This revised, expanded, edition covers the theory, design, geometry and manufacture of all types of gears and gear drives. This is an invaluable reference for designers, theoreticians, students, and manufacturers. This edition includes advances in gear theory, gear manufacturing, and computer simulation. Among the new topics are: 1. New geometry for modified spur and helical gears, face-gear drives, and cycloidal pumps. 2. New design approaches for one stage planetary gear trains and spiral bevel gear drives. 3. An enhanced approach for stress analysis of gear drives with FEM. 4. New methods of grinding face gear drives, generating double crowned pinions, and improved helical gear shaving. 5. Broad application of simulation of meshing and TCA. 6. New theories on the simulation of meshing for multi-body systems, detection of cases wherein the contact line on generating surfaces may have its own envelope, and detection and avoidance of singularities of generated surfaces.