Abstract

Curvilinear cylindrical gear drives are a type of parallel-axis gear set, and the longitudinal geometrical shape of the gear teeth is a part of the circular arc. This study aims to develop a curvilinear cylindrical gear drive with superior transmission performance. This study proposes a curvilinear cylindrical gear drive with a parabolic profile. The gear tooth surfaces are generated by a face-milling cutter with a straight-line profile, and the matching gear tooth surfaces are generated by a face-milling cutter with the parabolic profile. Initially, mathematical models of the gear set are described based on the theory of gearing. The finite element method and tooth contact analysis algorithms were applied to contact and bending stress analyses. Finally, four numerical examples are provided to illustrate the transmission performance of the curvilinear cylindrical gear drive with the parabolic profile. The study results show that curvilinear cylindrical gear drives have superior transmission performance compared to those with a straight-line profile.