critical stress and the determinant load conditions were calculated, resulting in good agreement with experimental data.

In this work the same method is followed for the development of a load distribution model for internal gear teeth. Graphics for the load distribution along the line of contact of helical teeth and for the load sharing among two spur toothpairs in simultaneous contact are given, all of them along the complete path of contact.

2. LOAD DISTRIBUTION
The model presented in [47] for external gears is based on the assumption that the load distribution along the line of contact provides a minimum elastic potential, considering all the pairs of teeth in simultaneous contact. The same model can be applied to internal gears by using the geometry of the external pinion and the internal wheel to compute the elastic potential.

LOAD DISTRIBUTION MODEL OF MINIMUM ELASTIC POTENTIAL FOR INVOLUTE INTERNAL GEARS
Jos I. PEDRERO Miguel PLEGUEZUELOS Silvia AGUIRIANO

2.1. Load Distribution for Spur Internal Gears

The elastic potential of a spur tooth U can be expressed as the sum of the bending component Ux, the compressive component Un and the shear component Us:

Abstract: This paper presents a new model of load distribution for involute, internal gear drives, which takes into account the changing rigidity of the pair of teeth along the path of contact. The model has been obtained from the minimum elastic potential criterion, resulting in a nonuniform load distribution along the line of contact (for helical gears), as well as among several pairs in simultaneous contact. Key words: cylindrical gears, internal gears, load distribution, elastic potential.

U = U x +Un +Us
All the components can be computed from the equations of the theory of elasticity and the geometry of the tooth:
U x = 6 Un = F 2 cos 2 c Eb
2 2

( y c y )2 d y e3 (y) y
yc
p

1 F sin c 2 Eb

e( y )
yp

yc

dy

1. INTRODUCTION
International Standards [13] use simple equations given by the linear theory of elasticity and the Hertzian contact model to evaluate the load capacity of spur and helical involute gear drives. But these equations are not in good agreement with experimental results if the load is assumed to be uniformly distributed along the line of contact, and several correction factors for load distribution are required. In previous works [47], the authors obtained a more realistic load distribution model for external teeth, from the minimum elastic potential criterion. The elastic potential of a pair of teeth was calculated and expressed as a function of the contact point and the normal load. The load sharing among several spur tooth-pairs in simultaneous contact was obtained by solving the variational problem of minimize the total potential (equal to the addition of the potential of each pair at its respective contact point) regarding the restriction of the total load to be equal to the sum of the load at each pair. The same approach was used for helical gear teeth by dividing each helical pair in infinite slides, perpendicular to the gear axis, assuming each slide to be equivalent to a spur gear with differential face width, and extending the integrals to the complete line of contact. From this model, the location of the points of

U s = C

1 F 2 cos 2 c 2 Gb

e( y )
yp

yc

dy

where F is the normal load between both teeth, c the load angle, b the face width, E the modulus of elasticity of the material, G the transverse modulus of elasticity, and e(y) the tooth thickness at the section described by y, being y the coordinate along the tooth centerline from the gear rotation center. The plus/minus sign corresponds to the external tooth pinion and the internal tooth wheel, respectively. (Hence forward, the upper sign will always correspond to the external pinion, and the lower sign to the internal wheel). yp and yc are the values of coordinate y corresponding to the encastred section (defined by the points of both sides of the profile at the dedendum circle) and to the load section (defined by the intersection of the line of action of the load i.e., the normal to the profile at the contact point and the tooth centerline), respectively. Finally, C is the shear potential correction factor, which accounts the non-uniform distribution of the shear stresses on the section, according to the Colignons theorem. For rectangular section, this factor takes the value C = 1.5 [8]. Fig. 1 represents these geometrical parameters for the external pinion tooth and the internal wheel tooth. The load angle depends on the load point, which may be described from its radius rc, or its parameter c, defined as: 245

yP
C

C
F

e( y)
y
yC

e( y)
yC
y
E

yP
(a) Pinion external tooth. (b) Wheel internal tooth.

Fig. 1. Load angle and integration limits.

where t is the operating transverse pressure angle, the distance between both tangency points divided by the pinion base radius and the pinion angular pitch, and subscripts 1 and 2 denote the pinion and the wheel, respectively. (For simplicity the parameter of the pinion will be denoted by , without subscript). All the components of the spur toothpair potential are proportional to the squared load F2 and inversely proportional to the face width b; consequently if we define the unitary potential of the tooth pair up as the potential for unitary load and face width, we have:

c =

z 2

rc2 1 rb2

where z is the number of teeth and rb the base radius. From this parameter, the load angle is described by:

c =

2 c m b z 2

in which b is the angular thickness of both involute profiles at the base radius, which is given by:

b =

4x tan n 2(tan t t ) z

U p ( ) =

F2 u p ( ) b

where x is the rack shift coefficient and n the standard normal pressure angle. The tooth thickness may be expressed as:
e( y ) = 2r ( y )sin

(y)
2

The unitary potential of a determined pair of teeth can be computed from the geometry of the pinion and wheel teeth, by numerical techniques of integration. If there are several (n) pairs of teeth in simultaneous contact, the total elastic potential UT will be:
U T = U pi ( i ) =
i =1 n

where (y) is the angular thickness of the tooth, which can be derived from:

1 n 2 Fi ui ( i ) = U T (1 ) b i =1

( y ) = b m 2 ( y )

(y) is the polar angle of the point of the profile, measured from the radius of the involute start point at the base circle. Equations for (y) both at involute portion of the profile and at the root trochoid can be found in [4, 9-10]. The potential of a pair of teeth in contact Up will be the sum of those of the external pinion and the internal wheel, which can be also expressed as a function of the parameter of the pinion since the difference of the curvature radii of both transverse profiles at the respective contact points is constant along the path of contact, and equal to the distance between the tangency points of the operating pressure line and both base circles of pinion and wheel, so that:
2 = =
246
z 2 z1 tan ' t 2

which can be expressed as a function of the parameter of the first pair, because it can be checked that:

i +1 = i + 1
Summarizing, we have a variational problem which can be enunciated as follows: find the values of Fi which minimize the function:
UT = 1 n 2 Fi ui ( i ) b i =1

regarding the restriction:

F
i =1

=F=

1 rb1

where P is the transmitted power and 1 the rotational velocity of the pinion. The problem can be solved by

0.8

v()

0.6

0.4

0.2

of single pair tooth contact in both cases. The variation of R() along the intervals of two pair tooth contact is quite linear for external teeth, and presents a slight curvature for internal teeth. Ordinates of singular points (0.35, 0.60, 0.65 and 0.40 in Fig. 3a; 0.33 and 0.66 in Fig. 3b) are valid for any pair of teeth, with small variations, so they can be used for calculations.

2.2. Load Distribution for Spur Internal Gears

2 2.25 2.5 2.75 3 3.25 3.5

Fig. 2. Inverse unitary potential v().

means of the Lagranges method, yielding the following result:

Fi (1 ) = 1 ui 1 u j =1 j
n

The same approach may be used for helical gears by dividing the helical tooth in infinite slides, perpendicular to the gear axis. Each slide is equivalent to a spur gear with differential face width db. In this case, the difference between the parameters of two slides separated a distance d along the gear axis (or dl along the line of contact) is:

d =
F= vi

d =

cos b
b

dl

vj
j =1

in which v() = u-1() is the inverse unitary potential, which has been represented in Fig. 2 (since the absolute values of v() have no influence on the load sharing, the scale of the yaxis has been normalized to do vmax = 1). The load sharing ratio R() (or the fraction of the load supported by the considered pair of teeth) would be:

where is the axial contact ratio and b is the base helix angle. The load on the slide i, denoted by subscript i, will be given by:
d Fi = f i d l =

vi

f being the load per unit of length. According to this, if lc denotes the line of contact we can write:
fi = vi

Ri (1 ) =

Fi (1 ) = F

vi

v
j =1

vdl
lc

F=

cos b
b
lc

vi

v d

and the load per unit of length f, for spur internal gears, can be expressed as:
f ( ) = F R ( ) b

The variation of the load sharing ratio along the path of contact for spur, internal teeth is represented in Fig. 3a, for transverse contact ratio between 1 and 2. Fig. 3b represents the same variation of the load sharing ratio, for spur, external teeth. Of course, R() = 1 along the interval

vi is the inverse unitary potential of the considered slide i, and can be expressed as a function of the parameter of its contact point, i. The integral of v() along the complete line of contact (considering all the pairs of teeth in simultaneous contact) will be given as a function of the parameter of a reference slide (reference transverse section of the pinion), which will be denoted by 0. We can therefore write [4]:
f ( , 0 ) =

cos b v( ) F b I v ( 0 )

0.8

0.8

R()

0.6

R()

0.6

0.4

0.4

0.2

0.2

1.75

2.25

2.5

2.75

3.25

2.25

2.5

2.75

3.25

3.5

3.75

(a) Internal gear drives. Fig. 3. Load sharing ratio R().

(b) External gear drives.

247

0.8

0.8

Iv(0)

0.6

Iv(0)

0.6

0.4

0.4

0.2

0.2

0.6

0.8

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

0.5

0.75

1.25

1.5

1.75

0
(a) Case I: d + d > 1.

0
(b) Case II: d + d < 1.

Fig. 4. Typical shape of function Iv(0). where function Iv(0) can be derived from:
I v ( 0 ) = v( ) d =
lc z1 1 0 + i

i = 0 0 + i

v( ) d

assuming v() = 0 outside the interval of contact. (The interval of contact is given by inn inn+ , where inn corresponds to the inner point of contact of the external pinion, and can by computed taken into account that this point meshes with the outside circle point of the internal tooth of the mating wheel). f(,0) denotes the load per unit of length at a point of the line of contact corresponding with at the moment in which the reference transverse section is in contact at a point with = 0. Function v() was represented in Fig. 2; function Iv(0) has a similar shape to that of the evolution of the length of contact along the mesh cycle. Depending on whether the sum of the fractional parts of both transverse and axial contact ratios (d and d , respectively) is less than 1 or not, function Iv(0) takes different forms, as represented in Fig. 4. Of course, functions v() and Iv(0) can only be known point by point, for every transmission to be studied. This means a big problem to develop consistent studies and to extract realistic conclusions. However, this approach for load distribution will have to be used to develop realistic, accurate models for bending and wear.

pendicular to the gear axis, assuming each slide to be equivalent to a spur gear with differential face width, and extending the integrals to the complete line of contact. This model of load distribution will allow to develop more realistic calculation methods of the load capacity from both toothroot strength and surface durability criteria. Determinant load conditions and critical values of the stress should be calculated more accurately. Also, simple models of efficiency based on constant friction coefficient may be improved as considering the different relative sliding velocity at any contact point is allowed.

NOMENCLATURE
b d d E G F f lc P R rb rc U u v x z Face width, mm Fractional part of Fractional part of Modulus of elasticity, MPa Transverse modulus of elasticity, MPa Load, N Load per unit of length, N/mm length of the line of contact, mm Transmitted power, w Load sharing ratio Base radius, mm Contact point radius, mm Elastic potential, Nmm Unitary potential, mm2/N Inverse unitary potential, N/mm2 Rack shift coefficient Number of teeth Load angle Standard normal pressure angle Transverse pressure angle Operating transverse pressure angle Base helix angle Angular thickness of the tooth Angle between involute profiles at base radius Transverse contact ratio Axial contact ratio Polar angle of the tooth profile Involute profile parameter Rotational velocity, rad/s

3. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper a nonuniform model of load distribution along the line of contact of spur and helical, internal gear teeth, has been developed. The model has been obtained from the minimum elastic potential criterion, by using variational techniques (the Lagranges method) to solve the minimization problem. The elastic potential of a pair of teeth has been calculated and expressed as a function of the contact point and the normal load. The load sharing among several spur tooth-pairs in simultaneous contact has been obtained by solving the variational problem of minimize the total potential regarding the restriction of the total load to be equal to the sum of the load at each pair. The same approach has been used for helical gear teeth by dividing each helical pair in infinite slides, per248

c n t t b b

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks are expressed to the Spanish Council for Scientific and Technological Research for the support of the project DPI200408305, Kinematic and dynamic simulation of gear transmissions.

REFERENCES
[1] AGMA Standard 2001D04, Fundamental rating factors and calculation methods for involute spur and helical gear teeth, American Gear Manufacturers Association, Alexandria, VA, 2004. [2] ISO Standard 63362:1996, Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears Part 2: Calculation of surface durability (pitting), International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, 1996. [3] ISO Standard 63363:1996, Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears Part 3: Calculation of tooth bending strength, International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, 1996. [4] PEDRERO, J. I., ARTS, M., FUENTES, A. (1999) Modelo de distribucin de carga en engranajes cilndricos de perfil de evolvente, Revista Iberoamericana de Ingeniera Mecnica, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 31 43. [5] PEDRERO, J. I., ARTS, M., PLEGUEZUELOS, M., GARCAMASI, C., FUENTES, A. (1999) Theoretical model for load distribution on cylindric gears: application to contact stress analysis, AGMA Paper 99FTM15. [6] PEDRERO, J. I., VALLEJO, I. I. (2006) Determinant bending load conditions on high transverse contact ratio spur and helical gear drives, Journal of Mechanical Engineering Design, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 2937. [7] PEDRERO, J. I., VALLEJO, I. I., PLEGUEZUELOS, M. (2007) Calculation of tooth bending strength and surface durability of high transverse contact ratio spur and helical gear drives, Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 129, No. 1, pp. 6974. [8] BORESI, A. P., SIDEBOTTOM, O. M., SEELY, F. B., SMITH, J. O., Advanced mechanics of materials, Wiley, New York, 1978. [9] ISO/TC60/SC2/WG6 DOC. No. 858 Start of involute, International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, 2001. [10] PEDRERO, J. I., ARTS, M., GARCAMASI, C. (2004) Determination of the effective path of contact of undercut involute gear teeth, Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, Vol. 218, No. C7, pp. 751760.
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CORRESPONDENCE
Jos I. PEDRERO, Prof. Dr. Eng. UNED Departamento de Mecnica Juan del Rosal 12, Ciudad Universitaria 28040 Madrid, Spain jpedrero@ind.uned.es Miguel PLEGUEZUELOS, Assist. Prof. Dr. Eng. UNED, Departamento de Mecnica Juan del Rosal 12, Ciudad Universitaria 28040 Madrid, Spain mpleguezuelos@ind.uned.es Silvia AGUIRIANO, Graduate Student UNED Departamento de Mecnica Juan del Rosal 12, Ciudad Universitaria 28040 Madrid, Spain, Silvia.aguiriano@hotmail.com

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