Stiffness reliability analysis of harmonic drive considering contact pairs wear

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the stiffness reliability of harmonic drive (HD) considering contact pairs wear. Design/methodology/approach In terms of theoretical calculation, the contact pairs wear of HD are calculated based on Archard wear formula and the relative motion characteristics of contact pairs. According to the motion trajectory of flexspline teeth, the teeth backlash and the number of meshing teeth, the meshing stiffness and overall stiffness of HD are analyzed considering the wear and its randomness of contact pairs. Combined with Monte Carlo Simulation, the stiffness reliability evaluation method considering contact pairs wear is proposed, and the result of this method is verified by the stiffness reliability result deduced from the stiffness degradation measurement data. Findings Considering contact pairs wear, during operation, the teeth backlash increases, the number of meshing teeth decreases, the meshing stiffness decreases, ultimately leading to a gradual decrease in the overall stiffness of HD. When only one type of contact pair wear is considered, the influence of flexspline and circular spline contact pair wear on HD stiffness reliability is greater. Compared with the stiffness reliability evaluation results obtained from the stiffness degradation data in the literature, the mathematic expectation of stiffness degradation failure life distribution obtained from the proposed method is relatively bigger. Originality/value The stiffness reliability evaluation method of HD considering contact pairs wear is firstly proposed. The stiffness reliability evaluation result from theoretical calculation is verified by the stiffness reliability results deduced from HD stiffness degradation measurement.