Effects of defects on helical two-stage gear system behaviour

This paper presents a three-dimensional model of a helical two-stage gear system. Excitation is induced by periodic variation of the mesh stiffness. This case describes the real working of the gearing. The mesh phasing variation is related to the number of teeth and also to the location of the gears. First, dynamic response is calculated using Newmark's step-by-step time integration method. The numerical results are presented in both the frequency and time domains. The dynamic behaviour of a defect-free gear system and a defective one are compared in both the time domain and frequency domain. Two types of defect are considered: a cracked tooth and misalignment. The cracked tooth produces an amplitude modulation with the mesh frequency and its first harmonics on the dynamic response. An amplitude modulation also occurs when a misalignment is introduced. The Wigner–Ville distribution method is used to show the dynamic behaviour in the joint time–frequency domain and to localise the cracked teeth.