An Experimental Investigation of the Dynamic

Behavior of Planetary Gear Set

Maha Karray1, Fakher Chaari1, Alfonso Fernandez Del Rincon2,

Fernando Viadero2, and Mohamed Haddar1
1
Dynamics of Mechanical Systems Research Unit,
National School of Engineers of sfax, BP1173 – 3038 – Sfax – Tunisia
maha-karray@hotmail.fr,
fakher.chaari@gmail.com,
mohamed.haddar@enis.rnu.tn
2
Department of Structural and Mechanical Engineering,
University of Cantabria, Spain
{viaderof,fernandra}@unican.es

Abstract. In this paper an experimental planetary gear set rig is developed for dy-
namic analysis purposes. This bench is composed by two identical planetary gears
connected by a common shaft. Two tri axial accelerometers are mounted in both
rings. Series of mmeasurements were achieved to study the influence of speeds as
well as loads on the dynamic behaviour of the system. Time histories are charac-
terized by a periodic fluctuation. Spectra showed sidebands around the mesh fre-
quency and its harmonics. In order to identify the natural frequencies of the bench,
series of run up are done. Influence of load on natural frequencies values is also
investigated.

Keywords: planetary gears, dynamic behaviour, natural frequencies, load, side-

bands, experimental studies.

1 Introduction
Planetary gear sets are used commonly in many industrial applications such as au-
tomobiles, helicopters, aircraft engines, heavy machinery and marine vehicles.
Noise and vibration remain one of the main concerns in these applications. Mesh
and bearing forces are the primary sources of such behavior. The study of planeta-
ry gear dynamics was performed over the last 30 years. Two approaches were
adopted model based and experimental analysis. Analytical models should include
multiple mesh contacts, detailed kinematics, mesh stiffness variation, transmission
error excitation.. which explains the few works dedicated to analytical and expe-
rimental analysis of planetary gears.
Major analytical studies proposed lumped-parameter models to predict free and
forced vibration characteristics of planetary gear sets where the gears are rigid
bodies interconnected by springs representing teeth in mesh and support bearings.

M. Haddar et al. (Eds.): Design and Modeling of Mechanical Systems, LNME, pp. 199–206.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-37143-1_25 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
200 M. Karray et al.

It is possible to find models going from purely torsional to finite elements models
(Kahraman 1994, Lin and Parker 1999-2002).
Experimental studies on planetary gear vibrations are scarce due to the com-
plexity of the transmission with difficult access to the internal gears. (Hidaka and
Terauchi 1976-1979) and (Hidaka et al 1979) studied the static and dynamic load
sharing behavior of planetary gear set. (Kahraman 1999) developed a generalized
model to predict load sharing of planets under quasi-static conditions and vali-
dated the model with experiments. (Ligata 2007) investigated with experimental
and theoretical approaches the influence of several system level factors in gear
stress. (Inalpolat and Kahraman 2009) presented a theoretical and experimental
investigation on modulation sidebands phenomena observed in planetary gear sets.
(Botman 1980) presented measurement results on the planetary gear of a PT6 air-
craft engine which showed some peculiar behavior of planetary gear vibration
concerning load sharing, response due to gear errors, and dynamic instability. Few
experimental researches were dedicated to two stage planetary gear and this can be
explained by the complexity of this transmission.
The study presented in this paper is expected to provide the understanding by
experimental approach the behavior of a two stages planetary gear by achieving
modal analysis and measuring dynamic response.

2 Description of the Bench

The bench is based on the ‘‘back-to-back’’ concept power circulation. It was de-
veloped at the University of Cantabria in Spain. It consists of two identical plane-
tary gear sets (a test gear set and a reaction gear set) as shown in Figure 1. In this
arrangement, the sun gears of both planetary gear sets are connected to each other
through a common shaft. Likewise, the carrier of the test gear set is connected to
the carrier of the reaction gear set via a rigid hollow shaft. The ring of the test gear
set is held stationary while an external torque is applied mechanically to the ring
of the reaction gear set giving rise to a closed power loop. A motor is connected to
the shaft of the sun gear driving both gear sets while the gearmeshes carry the load
imposed by the torque trapped in the closed loop through the external torque ap-
plied to the reaction ring gear.

Fig. 1 Back to back planetary gear set rig

An Experimental Investigation of the Dynamic Behavior of Planetary Gear Set 201

3 Instrumentation, Data Analysis

In each ring, two tri axial accelerometers (type ISOTRON) are mounted. The rota-
tional speed of the carrier is measured with an encoder.
Vibration signals are recorded in LMS SCADAS and the data is processed with
LMS Test.Lab software to obtain the acceleration spectra. Time histories were
collected and averaged. An autopower is then used to obtain frequency spectra
corresponding to each averaged time history.

4 Experimental Results
The characteristics of the gear system are giving in table 1.
Table 1 Planetary gear characteristics

Carrier Ring Sun Planet

Number of teeth - 65 16 24
Moment of inertia (kgm²) 0.0021 0.697 0.0003 0.002
Base diameter (mm) 57.55 249.38 61.38 92.08

In order to study the effect of the variation of the speed and the influence of
load, several tests using different load at different speed of the carrier were carried
out. Series of run up are done to identify and characterize natural frequencies of
the bench.

4.1 Time Varying Acceleration

The system was runned with 2 input speeds 300rpm and at 480rpm. In the two
cases the system was loaded and then unloaded.
Figure 2 shows the time evolution of the acceleration measured on the ring and
the corresponding spectrum for an unloaded system and at 300rpm. At this speed
the mesh frequency is 325Hz.

Fig. 2 (a) Evolution of the acceleration on the ring (b) the corresponding spectrum
(unloaded system at 300rpm)
202 M. Karray et al.

Another test was made for 300 rpm but with a loaded system by mass. The cor-
responding acceleration and the spectra are shown in figure 3.

Fig. 3 (a) Evolution of the acceleration on the ring (b) the corresponding spectrum
(loaded system at 300rpm)

For the second chosen speed 480rpm, figure 4 presents the time evolution of
the acceleration and its spectrum for the unloaded case and figure 5 presents the
same descriptors for the same speed but for a loaded case.

Fig. 4 (a) Evolution of the acceleration on the ring (b) the corresponding spectrum
(unloaded system at 480rpm)

Fig. 5 (a) Evolution of the acceleration on the ring (b) the corresponding spectrum (loaded
system at 480rpm)
An Experimental Investigation of the Dynamic Behavior of Planetary Gear Set 203

As we increase the speed of the system the amplitude of the vibration increases
for loaded and unloaded cases.
Time histories acceleration show periodic fluctuation in vibration levels.
The ring is fixed and the accelerometer indicates a periodic fluctuation in vibra-
tion amplitudes as planets pass close to this transducer. This fact leads to the appa-
rition of an amplitude modulation of vibration in time histories which results in
amplitude modulation with sidebands around mesh frequencies and harmonics.
Other source of these sidebands can be manufacturing errors. Results were ob-
tained for such transmissions by (Inalpolat and Kahraman 2009).
When the system is loaded the amplitude of the acceleration increase with more
sidebands around the mesh components.

4.2 Run Up Tests

The objective of this experimental study is to characterize the natural frequencies
of the bench. When the motor is initially started, a sudden torque is applied to the
system which can excite torsional natural frequencies of the system.
Two methods were used to load the system:
-Hydraulic jack as a spring attached to the free ring (figure 6).
-Mass attached to the free ring by an arm (figure 7).

Fig. 6 System loaded by a jack Fig. 7 System loaded by mass

A waterfall plot is created by stacking multiple frequency spectra at 10 rpm speed

increments. Frequency in Hertz is shown on the horizontal axis and motor speed is
shown on the vertical axis. Order lines or multiples of running speed appear as
diagonal lines.
The simulated first natural frequency was found to be 27Hz.
We start by loading the system by mass in order to study the influence of add-
ing more and more mass to the free ring on the value of the first natural frequency.
Figure 8(a) shows the waterfall spectra for a run up for with an unloaded sys-
tem. The first natural frequency was identified during this test equal to 23.71Hz.
After adding 4 mass to the arm (half of total load) a second run up is done.
For this case the first natural frequency change and it is founded near to 18.74Hz
(figure 8(b)).
204 M. Karray et al.

Now the system is completely loaded. Figure 8(c) shows the waterfall corre-
sponding to this test. First natural frequency changes to 18.52Hz. The decrease of
the natural frequency value is expected since the increase of mass will decrease
the value of the first natural frequency.

Fig. 8 Waterfall plot of the ring of a system loaded by mass during a run up

In order to load the system without introducing additional masses, a hydraulic

jack is used. It will produce the same load effect as for the case of added masses.
In this case the jack will act as a spring with high rigidity.
For an unloaded system the first natural frequency is found to be near to
27.82Hz (figure 9(a)).
Than the system is loaded by a jack as we add 8 mass to the attached arm. It is
noticed that the first natural frequency is unchangeable. It is within 3 percent of
the calculated computed frequency.
The simulated second natural frequency is predicted to be 134Hz while the
third is about 454Hz.
Figure 9(b) and (c) show that the second measured natural frequency is to be
137.6Hz and the third natural frequency is about 460Hz. So the second one
is within 2.6 percent of the calculated frequency and the third one is within 1.3
percent. There is no effect when using the mass or the jack to load the system.
An Experimental Investigation of the Dynamic Behavior of Planetary Gear Set 205

Fig. 9 Waterfall plot of the ring of a system loaded by jack during a run up

5 Conclusion
In this work an experimental study of “back to back” power circulation is devel-
oped. The bench is composed by two identical planetary gears, with three planets,
connected together by a common shaft. Measurements are taken by accelerometer
attached to the ring. Several tests are made to characterize the bench and study its
dynamic behaviour. A series of tests in stationary conditions are done to show the
influence of the speed and the load on the dynamic behaviour of the system. It is
noticed apparition of sidebands in frequency domain. Resonance is studied by do-
ing a run up in order to identify natural frequency.

Acknowledgements. This work is supported by the Tunisian-Spanish Joint Project no

A1/037038/11.

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