A measurement method for tooth surface errors of straight bevel gears based on 3D model

Abstract Due to the inconsistency between a theoretically designed tooth surface and the actual measured reference surface, the tooth surface error data obtained by the traditional measurement method is unreliable, and incorrectly reflects the machining accuracy of straight bevel gears. This has become a key problem in the current measurement process, and needs to be resolved. In this paper, a new measurement method is proposed to achieve accurate measurement and evaluation of the machining error of straight bevel gears. The 3-dimensional (3D) model surface designed by the manufacturer is directly extracted as a theoretical reference to complete the measurement, which ensures the correctness of the error results. A measurement strategy of normal rotation of the measured point is adopted to make up for the disadvantages of the one-dimensional (1D) probe and improve the measurement accuracy. The problem of the sensitive direction of the probe deviating from the normal direction is compensated for by increasing the dimension of the 1D probe and reducing the dimension of the 3D normal. According to the constructed error calculation model, the minimum tooth surface error is obtained through reconstruction and optimal matching techniques. Finally, the accuracy and effectiveness of the measurement method are verified through measurement comparison experiments. This method solves the technical problem of the inconsistency of the measured reference surface, and uses a low-cost 1D probe to achieve precise measurement of the 3D surface. It not only improves the disadvantages of current measurement methods, but also provides effective technical support for other gear measurements.