Edge contact analysis for power transmission gears using tooth-flank-film elements

The present paper describes edge contact analyses for power transmission gears using tooth-flank-film elements, which have been proposed for finite element analyses of tooth stresses. For edge contact analyses, the tooth-flank-film elements are placed not only on usable flanks but also over tooth edges. Finer elements on edge neighboring areas and on the parts of usable tooth flanks where tend to contact with mating edges enable the edge contact to be analyzed. Comparisons of calculated distributions of tooth contact stress with observed tooth flanks after a running test showed the validity of the proposed method for edge contact analyses.