scope:

This paper will walk through a case study involving pinion failures on plastic extruder drives. It will cover failure analysis, gear rating review, application of advanced mesh analysis to define component deflections causing loaded mesh misalignment, and reduced tooth contact/high stress concentration resulting in tooth macropitting. The paper will demonstrate the capability and benefits of advanced mesh analysis, including design of optimized microgeometry and application of said microgeometry through precision tooth form grinding, with recommendations on types of microgeometry which are most effective, easiest to apply, inspect, and document in a production gear manufacturing environment. The summary will review tools which are commercially available to perform advanced mesh analysis, design, manufacture, and inspect optimized microgeometry-which compensates for tooth deflection, shaft bending, torsional windup, and bearing deformation in order to improve gearing mesh alignment and tooth contact under load for quiet running and longer life gearing. This tool can be applied proactively at the design phase to optimize gearing performance or reactively to identify root cause of failures and recommend corrective action.