New method for determining singularities on enveloped surface and its application to study curvature interference theory of involute worm drive

In this paper, a more computationally convenient singularity condition of the enveloped surface is proposed using the theory of linear algebra. Its preconditions are only the tangential vector of the enveloping surface, the relative velocity vector, and the total differential of the meshing function. It avoids calculating the curvature parameters of the enveloping surface. It is proved that the singularity conditions of enveloped surface from different references are equivalent to each other and the relational equations among them are obtained. The curvature interference theory for the involute worm drive is established using the proposed singularity condition. The equation for the singularity trajectory is obtained. The calculation method for the singularity trajectory is proposed and its numerical result is obtained. The influence of the design parameters on the singularity trajectory is studied using the proposed curvature interference theory. The study results show that the risk of curvature interference is high when the transmission ratio is too small, especially in the case of the single-threaded worm and large modulus. The proposed singularity condition can also be applied to study the curvature interference mechanism in other types of the worm drive and to study the undercutting mechanism when machining the worm drive.

Worm addendum thickness and gear curvature interference for enveloping cylindrical worm drive with arc-toothed worm

The purpose of this paper is to provide the calculation methods on worm addendum thickness and curvature interference limit line, and find the feasible value range of the technological crossing angle to avoiding addendum sharpening and curvature interference for enveloping cylindrical worm drive with arc-toothed worm. In accordance with the features of the proposed worm, the mathematical models of cutting and working are established. Based on this, the tooth profile geometry of the worm in its axial section and the worm addendum thickness are obtained by geometric analysis and calculation, and then, the feasible value range of the technological crossing angle is given. In virtue of vector rotation and elimination method, the nonlinear equation with one variable for solving the interference limit line is determined. In the process of solving nonlinear equation, the method of geometric construction is used to judge the existence of solutions and provide an initial value for the subsequent iterative calculation. The numerical example results show that with the increases of the technological crossing angle, the interference limit line is close to the boundary line of the conjugate region of the worm pair, and the hazard of curvature interference evident increases. Generally, a smaller value of the technological crossing angle within its available value range can completely avoid the occurrence of the curvature interference.

Meshing Theory of ZC1 Worm Drive

The toroidal enveloping cylindrical worm drive, also called the ZC1 worm drive, is grinded by the toroidal grinding wheel. In this paper, the meshing theory for this worm drive is systematically established. According to this meshing theory, the meshing function, the meshing limit function, the equations of the worm helicoid and the worm gear tooth surface are obtained. A method for computing the normal vector of the instantaneous line of the ZC1 worm pair is proposed. Due to this method, the curvature interference limit function and the meshing quality parameters can be more simply and clearly obtained. Based on above results, the methods of the numerical calculation of the instantaneous lines and the conjugate zone are proposed. The initial values of the nonlinear equation systems, computed the conjugate zone and the contact lines, are detected and solved by the method based on the elimination method and geometric construction. The results of numerical example clearly reflect that the conjugate zone can almost cover the whole tooth surface of the worm gear and the effective working length of the worm cannot nearly exceed the half of its thread length. The values of the induced principle curvature and the sliding angle show that the lubrication performance is poor and the stress level is higher, near the meshing limit line and at the dedendum of the worm gear.

Influence of grinding wheel parameters on the meshing performance of toroidal surface enveloping conical worm drive

A new type of toroidal surface enveloping conical worm gearing is proposed in our recent work (Chongfei and Yaping, 2019b). According to its forming principle, the geometrical shape of the generating surface has an important influence on the geometry characteristic of the enveloping worm pair. To explore the reasonable principles for selecting the geometrical parameters of the grinding wheel, some numerical study examples are performed. In this process, the methods for the tooth crest width are developed. Simple strategies for estimating the risk of the worm tooth surface being located in the invalid area and the risk of the curvature interference on the tooth surface are proposed. The numerical result shows that increasing the radius of the toroidal-generating surface and the nominal pressure angle of the grinding wheel are beneficial to improve the engagement behavior of the conical worm pair, but the tooth crest sharpening of the conical worm may happen if they are too large. For the nominal radius of the grinding wheel, it has a negligible effect on the meshing characteristics of this worm set. In addition, the selection principle of the parameters is also suggested.

Meshing characteristics of a sphere–face gear pair with variable shaft angle

This article presents a sphere–face gear pair by substituting the convex spherical gear for the pinion of a conventional face gear pair. The sphere–face gear pair not only maintains the advantages of the face gear pair with a longitudinally modified pinion but also allows variable shaft angles or large axial misalignments. Meshing characteristics of the proposed gear pair are studied in this article. The mathematical models of the sphere–face gear pair are derived based on machining principles. The tooth contact analysis (TCA) and curvature interference check are conducted for the sphere–face gear pair with variable shaft angles. The loaded TCA is also implemented utilizing the finite element method. The results of numerical examples show that proposed gear pair has the following features. Geometrical transmission error of constant shaft angle or varying shaft angle is zero; contact points of the sphere–face gear set with variable shaft angle are located near the centre region of face gear tooth surface; there is no curvature interference in meshing; and transmission continuity of the gear pair can be guaranteed in meshing.