Investigation Of Mesh Phasing In A Planetary Gear Train Using Combined Fe And Multibody Simulations

In this paper, we propose the employment of the Finite Element (FE) method in combination with MB simulation technique, in order to analyse the dynamic characteristics of a planetary gear. The described approach consists of two steps: first, a static transmission error curve is generated using nonlinear static FE simulations and, subsequently, MB analyses are performed on a three-dimensional model of the transmission. The described simulation approach is applied to analyse the dynamic behaviour of the planetary stage of a wind turbine transmission model, in order to minimize unwanted vibrations and improve system dynamics by using different mesh phasing sequences of the planets. The obtained results allow assessing the degree of sensitivity of the dynamic behaviour of the analysed gearbox to this important design parameter, i.e. planet mesh phasing, and the applicability of the proposed modelling approach for the improvement of the dynamic behaviour of planetary gearbox systems.