A running-in strategy based on an efficient wear simulation model for double circular-arc spiral bevel gears

A proper running-in process is necessary for double circular-arc spiral bevel gears to achieve desirable meshing performance. However, this type of gear transmission lacks a suitable running-in wear model, which brings great difficulties to the design of appropriate running-in strategies. To address this problem, the present study establishes an efficient numerical wear model to reveal the wear behavior of double circular-arc spiral bevel gear pairs, based on which a step-wise load running-in strategy is proposed. The established Archard's wear model considers the meshing characteristics of double circular-arc spiral bevel gears and sets a small threshold value, which can reflect the wear behavior of this gear in the running-in stage. To improve the computation efficiency, a two-step parameter updating strategy is proposed to enhance the iteration of p and s. The wear simulation reveals the quantitative relationship contact pressure and running-in cycle during the running-in process. Based on the reveal relationship, a step-wise load running-in strategy is proposed to sharpen the running-in period. The developed wear model and the proposed running-in strategy can be extended to other types of gears with circular-arc profiles.