Load Sharing Model for Non-standard Involute Spur Gears

The presence of undercut at the tooth root, non-equal addendum on pinion and wheel, non-standard tooth height or non-standard center distance may have decisive influence on the load sharing between pairs of teeth in simultaneous contact of spur gears. The curve of variation of the meshing stiffness along the path of contact, quite symmetric respect the midpoint of the interval of contact, loses its symmetry for non-standard geometries and operating conditions. As a consequence, the critical contact points for bending and wear calculations may be shifted from their locations for standard gears. In this paper, a non-uniform model of load sharing of standard spur gears, obtained from the minimum elastic potential criterion, has been enhanced to fit with the meshing conditions of the above mentioned non-standard spur gear pairs.