Analysis of Time-Varying Mesh Stiffness and Dynamic Response of Gear Transmission System with Pitting and Cracking Coupling Faults

The gear transmission system is an important part of the mechanical system, so it is essential to judge its running state accurately. To solve the difficult problem of identifying the components of coupling faults, this paper derives the calculation method of gear time-varying mesh stiffness for coupling faults of pitting and cracking based on the energy method and considering the coupling between teeth, establishes the dynamics model of two-stage gear transmission system with coupling faults and studies the influence of coupling faults on gear time-varying mesh stiffness and dynamic characteristics. The accuracy of the proposed method is verified by experiments. The results show that both pitting and cracking can lead to a reduction in mesh stiffness. The stiffness of pitting will fluctuate irregularly due to the influence of pitting on the tooth surface, while the stiffness of cracked teeth is relatively smooth. The coupling fault stiffness is dominated by more serious faults. By analyzing the periodic impact components in time domain and the sideband components around the harmonics in frequency domain the faulty gears in the transmission system can be distinguished. It provides an effective reference for the diagnosis of faulty gears.