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Frequencies of a gear assembly | Power-MI

Aug 21, 2023 2:38 PM

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Gears
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Frequencies of a gear
assembly
By Alfonso Fernandez

Introduction to maintenance

Vibration analysis fundamentals

Vibration sensors and measurement devices

Vibration standards

Imbalance and phase measurement

Low frequency fault diagnosis

Plain bearings

Gears

Frequencies of a gear assembly

Key aspects in vibration readings

Troubleshooting of gears
Rolling element bearings

AC induction motors

Resonance

The location in the spectrum of all the gear related frequencies requires the
knowledge of a minimum amount of gearbox data. These data are the rotating speed
of the input shaft or the output shaft and the number of teeth of the different gears.
In this way there will be no doubt in the identification of the gear frequencies and
their sidebands. The frequencies associated directly with a gear assembly are as
follows:

Gearmesh frequency (GMF): is characteristic of each gear assembly and appears

in the frequency spectrum regardless of the condition of the gears. Its amplitude
depends significantly on the load at the time of reading. It is calculated according
to the following formula where, Z is the number of teeth and RPM is the rotating
speed of the gear.

GMF = ZP × RPMP = ZG × RPMG

Gearmesh frequency side bands: these are frequencies equidistant from the
gearmesh frequency. These sidebands correspond to the rotating frequency of
the pinion and the gear. They are very important in the diagnosis of the gear
assembly, since they indicate if the gear or the pinion are in bad condition.

Hunting tooth frequency (HTF): to calculate it the number of assembly phases

(NA) must be calculated in advance as described in the following section.
Indicates the frequency with which a tooth of the gear engages with the same
tooth of the pinion. In case of damage to one tooth of the gear and another of the
pinion, the maximum vibration will occur when both faults come into contact.
This frequency is very low so it is difficult to locate in the frequency spectrum,
being detected more easily in the time waveform.

GMF × NA
HTF =
ZP × ZG

Assembly phase frequency (APF): indicates that as a result of wear, the space
 between teeth and the teeth profile has changed.

GMF
APF =
NA

Gear natural frequencies: when some kind of gear deterioration develops the
natural frequencies of the gears can be excited.

Ghost or phantom frequencies: correspond to a relatively rare defect that shows

up as a frequency typically higher than the GMF but not directly related to the
geometry of the gear. It is due to manufacturing errors that are driven by vibration
from the manufacturing drive train and can be typically traced to the number of
teeth and speed of the cutter machine.

Figure 8.1: Characteristic spectrum of a gear assembly in good

condition

Calculation of the number of assembly phases

The concept of assembly phases is defined as the different modes of engagement
between a pair of gears. In the following figure a pair of gears is presented, one with
15 teeth and the other with 9. The teeth of the two wheels are numbered and it is
possible to find out graphically that there are three different ways of assembling the
gear. This means that there are three possible wear patterns when engaging the gear
and pinion. For the gear-pinion pair of our figure would be: first assembly phase,
mounting the tooth number 1 of the pinion between the teeth 1 and 15 of the gear;
Second assembly phase, mounting pinion tooth number 2 between teeth 1 and 15 of
the gear; Third assembly phase, mounting pinion number 3 of the pinion between
teeth 1 and 15 of the gear.

Figure 8.2: Calculation of the number of assembly phases

The mathematical method for calculating the assembly phases (NA) is done by
calculating the greatest common divisor of the number of teeth of both gears. In our
particular case of the 15 teeth gear, its prime factors are 5, 3 and 1, since 5x3x1 is 15.
The prime factors of the 9 teeth pinion are 3x3x1. The maximum common divisor is
3x1 which is 3, the same number that had been graphically obtained.
Each pinion tooth will enter to meshing with ZG/NE gear teeth as each tooth of the
gear will enter to meshing with ZP/NE of the pinion. For the particular case of the
diagram of the assembly phases, it is observed that one tooth of the gear always
engages with the same three teeth of the pinion.

Planetary gears
Another type of speed reduction or multiplier gearboxes are those that have planetary
gears. The following figure shows the components and basic structure of planetary
gears.

Figure 8.3: Components of a planetary gearbox

The input shaft ends in a plate called planetary carrier. The planetary carrier is
attached to each of the planetary pinions through a shaft. Around the planets there is
a large and stationary gear, called ring gear. The planets mesh simultaneously with
the ring gear and the sun gear, which is the gear connected to the output shaft.

Its gear ratio is calculated as follows:

ZRING GEAR
GR = 1 +
ZSUN GEAR

where Z refers to the number of teeth of a given gear.

The rotating speed of each of the planetary pinions is calculated as follows:

 ZRING GEAR
RPMPLANETARY PINION = RPMCARRIER
ZPLANETARY PINION

The gearmesh frequency of a planetary gear system is:

GMF = ZPLANETARY PINION × RPMPLANETARY PINION

A defect in the ring gear can be seen at a frequency equal to the number of planetary
pinions multiplied by the rotating speed of the planetary carrier. A defect in the sun
gear will be detected at a frequency equal to the number of planetary pinions
multiplied by the rotating speed of the sun minus the rotating speed of the planetary
carrier. Finally, a defect in a planetary pinion will appear at a frequency equal to twice
the rotating speed of the planetary pinion.

IN THIS PAGE:

Introduction
Calculation of the number of assembly phases
Planetary gears

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