On the interest of a semi-empirical model for the tooth friction coefficient in gear transmissions

Abstract

Accurate modelling of friction coefficient is of primary importance in efficiency, vibration and failure analyses of enclosed gear drives. After showing the influence of surface/lubricant interactions on friction, the authors used a semi-empirical model which can take all these aspects into account. Lubricant is modelled as an Eyring–Reynolds fluid and rough surfaces are described with two parameters via a stochastic approach. A specific two-disc machine is used to perform series of friction measurements on smooth and rough discs. Smooth discs allow to operate under full film lubrication and to measure a reference shear stress of lubricant, whereas rough discs reproduce gear tooth roughness and generate a representative value of friction on asperities. The purpose of this present paper is to describe calculations of this physical-based friction coefficient model and to present the experimental process. On the basis of new results, the impact of a surface finishing process is assessed as well as the consequence of calculating friction coefficient based on oil injection instead of local bulk temperature.