THERMOELASTOHYDRODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF LUBRICATION OF WORM GEARS

Abstract

The full thermal elastohydrodynamic analysis of lubrication of worm gears is presented. Four types of worm gears are treated: Archimedian, involute, convolute and the worm ground by conical grinding wheel. A numerical solution of the coupled Reynolds, elasticity, energy, and Laplace's equations for the oil film shape, pressure and temperature distributions in the oil film, and temperature distribution in the worm and gear solid is obtained. The effects of type of worm, addendum modifications, difference of hob and worm diameters, minimum oil film thickness, pitch velocity, and oil viscosity on EHD performance characteristics is discussed.