Active Reduction of Gear Mesh Vibrations by Drive Torque Control

In gearboxes, internal excitation mechanisms cause vibrations during power transmission. These periodic vibrations propagate through the shafts and bearings to the housing and are radiated from there as noise. In this paper, a method is presented to reduce the vibrations and noise by controlling the drive torque. An FxLMS algorithm with secondary path identification is used to determine the compensation torque. In addition, a control strategy is presented to provide the high frequency currents for the compensation torque. Experimental results on a three-stage spur gearbox show that acceleration can be reduced by up to 90%. Noise can be reduced by up to 10dB.