Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

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Journal of Sound and Vibration

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jsvi

A novel method to reduce the fluctuation of mesh stiffness by

high-order phasing gear sets: Theoretical analysis and experiment
Xiangqian Chen a, Jing Wei a, *, Jiaxiong Zhang a, Chunpeng Zhang a,
Chang-lu Wang b, Ziyang Xu a, Hao Gao b, Aiqiang Zhang a, Guangbin Yu c
a
State Key Laboratory of Mechanical Transmissions, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
b
Institute of Beautiful China Development, Sanming University, Sanming 365004, China
c
School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150006, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The vibration, triggered by the periodic fluctuation of time-varying mesh stiffness, is difficult to
Time-varying mesh stiffness be reduced especially for the traditional spur gear transmission. In this paper, to reduce the
Near zero fluctuation fluctuation of mesh stiffness, a novel high-order phasing gear is proposed and verified by theo­
High-order phasing gear
retical analysis and experiments. The contact line is studied in terms of the high-order phasing
Vibration reduction
gear pair. Based on the time-varying mesh stiffness of spur gear pair, the mesh stiffness of the
high-order phasing gear pair is derived. And the phasing parameters of the high-order phasing
gear pair are optimized with the aim of achieving the near zero fluctuation of mesh stiffness.
Moreover, it is proved that the application of the phasing gear sets effectively decreases gear
meshing vibration, and the optimal staggered phase angle is verified by experiment.

1. Introduction

During the meshing, the number of gear teeth pairs participating in meshing at the same time changes periodically with time, so
that the deformation of the gear teeth becomes a periodic function changing with contact point position. Since the mesh stiffness is
closely related to the elastic deformation of the gear teeth, the mesh stiffness of the gear pair also changes periodically with time, which
is an important reason to produce excitation force and vibration for gear system. Especially for high-speed gears having thin rim and
disk, the periodically changing axial component of the meshing force easily arouses traveling wave vibration, causing serious accident.
Thus, it is of great significance to reduce the fluctuation of mesh stiffness for improving gear transmission performance and reducing
gear vibration.
Many researchers have studied the mesh stiffness of gear pair and reduction of meshing stiffness fluctuation. Chen and Shao [1]
proposed a general analytical mesh stiffness model and investigated the effect of tooth profile modifications, applied torque and gear
tooth root crack on the mesh stiffness of spur gear pair. Chen and Shao [2] and Jianfeng et al. [3] considered the flexibility of the ring
and the flexibility of the gear body, respectively into their mesh stiffness models. Qiu et al. [4] improved the Fourier series used to
express the time-varying meshing stiffness and performed a perturbation analysis for the gear model. Ma et al. [5] established an
improved analytical method suitable for gear pairs with tip relief to determine time-varying mesh stiffness, and developed a mesh
stiffness model for profile shifted gears with addendum modifications and tooth profile modifications [6]. Yu et al. [7] proposed a

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: weijing_slmt@163.com (J. Wei).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsv.2022.116752
Received 10 June 2021; Received in revised form 6 December 2021; Accepted 10 January 2022
Available online 12 January 2022
0022-460X/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Nomenclature

b tooth width
c, p, q positive integers
k order of Fourier series
n order of the phasing gear
x, y direction of vibration displacement
z number of teeth
ε contact ratio
λ the proportion coefficient of contact ratio
Φ mesh phase difference between two layers of phasing gear pair
φ staggered phase angle of the phasing gear
Ak amplitude of the kth Fourier series sum
ak, bk the kth Fourier coefficient
fm mesh frequency
fs shaft frequency
zs the number of spline teeth
Kmax maximum value of time-varying stiffness
Kmin minimum value of time-varying stiffness
Kn(t) mesh stiffness of the nth gear pair
ΔK(t) the time-varying part of mesh stiffness
ΔKn(t) the time-varying part of mesh stiffness of the nth gear pair
ε0 basic contact ratio
Πk initial phase of the kth Fourier series sum
τd double teeth-meshing area (or three teeth-meshing area for high contact ratio gear pair)
τm mesh period
τs single teeth-meshing area (or double teeth-meshing area for high contact ratio gear pair)
Φ0 initial mesh phase
Φi initial mesh phase of the ith gear pair
K mean value of time-varying mesh stiffness
L the average contact line length
Ln the average contact line length of n-order phasing gear pair

time-varying asymmetric mesh stiffness model to analyze the effect of the addendum modification on gear dynamics. Wang et al. [8]
proposed an improved time-varying mesh stiffness model by considering the axial mesh force in helical gears. Wei et al. [9] studied the
effects of tip-relief and lead crowning on the time-varying mesh stiffness and dynamic characteristics of the helical gear system. The
simulation results indicated that the optimized tooth modification parameters can effectively decrease mesh stiffness fluctuation and
reduce the vibration. And the simulation results were demonstrated by experimental data. Hou et al. [10] proposed a novel
comprehensive mathematical model for computing the mesh stiffness of helical gears, which considered slice coupling and structure
coupling simultaneously. They studied the effect of addendum modification coefficient on mesh stiffness and concluded that the
fluctuation value of mesh stiffness decreases when a positive addendum modification coefficient is adopted. Gill-Jeong [11] proposed a
new phase damping approach using a simple spur gear pair, which is to reduce the fluctuation of mesh stiffness by adding a pair of
half-pitch phase gears. But the compensating effect on time-varying mesh stiffness is not enough to reach the optimum.
Gear tooth modification is an effective way to reduce mesh impact and vibration. Wang [12] proposed a multi-objective modifi­
cation optimization design method for helical gear considering vibration and noise reduction and uniform load distribution on tooth
surface. Chen and Ji [13] proposed an improved analytical mesh stiffness model and quasi-static transmission error model, and studied
the influence of tooth profile modification on mesh stiffness of gear pair. Abdul et al. [14] studied the effects of linear, parabolic and
exponential tooth profile modification on the performance of involute spur gear pairs. Samani et al. [15] investigated the vibration of
nonlinear spiral bevel gears by using an innovative tooth surface modification method. However, the gear tooth modification pa­
rameters are directly affected by the load, which means that the gear modification is greatly dependent on the load and that the
optimum modification parameters for one working condition may not be applicable for another.
At the same time, many fresh approaches were proposed to decrease gear vibration. Asiri et al. [16] and Richards and Pines [17]
developed a new passive periodic bar structure and applied it to the helicopter gearbox system, which improved the vibration per­
formance of helicopter gearbox. Wei et al. [18] studied the influence of flexible structure on the vibration response of planetary gear
train. Gill-Jeong [19,20] effectively reduced the torsional vibration of the spur gear transmission by adding a unidirectional clutch to
the spur gear. Guan et al. [21] investigated the suppression effect of active inertia actuator and semi-active gear shaft torsion coupling
on the vibration of the gearbox. Zhao et al. [22] and Guan et al. [23] studied the suppression effect of two kinds of piezoelectric
rotating inertia actuators on the structural noise radiated by rotating machinery. Porto and Idehara [24] investigated the suppression
effect of conical spring clutch on torsional vibration of gear transmission system. Wang et al. [25] studied the axial and transverse

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 1. The phasing gear and staggered phase angle.

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of n-order phasing gear.

vibration transmission performance of the struts and its effect on transmission vibration attenuation. Zech et al. [26] developed an
active vibration control system based on inertial mass actuator. Dogruer and Pirsoltan [27] proposed a nonlinear controller to adjust
the torque acting on the drive gear. The periodic variation of mesh stiffness is compensated by adjusting the input torque. Firrone and
Zucca [28] proposed a passive vibration reduction method based on annular damper. Wang et al. [29] established the dynamics model
of the gear-damping ring system and studied the suppression effect of the damping ring on torsional vibration of the gear system. But in
fact, these methods increase the cost, requiring additional drivers, external power supplies and signal processing.
Therefore, a novel method using high-order phasing gear sets is proposed to decrease gear vibration caused by periodic fluctuation
of time-varying mesh stiffness and to improve gear transmission performance. In this study, the paper outline is organized as follows.
First, the principle of multi-tooth meshing of high-order phasing gear pair is explained, and the contact line length of high-order
phasing gear pair is studied in Section 2. The mesh stiffness of high-order phasing gear pair is derived in Section 3 based on the
mesh stiffness of a single spur gear pair, and the staggered phase angle which achieves near zero fluctuations in the mesh stiffness is
obtained. Section 4 verifies that the phasing gear has the best vibration attenuation under the optimal staggered phase angle by means
of experiment. Finally, the main conclusions of the work are summarized in Section 5.

2. Principle of high-order phasing gear transmission

2.1. The phasing gear and staggered phase angle

There is no mesh phase difference in gear engagement between a pair of ordinary spur gears. However, the situation changes when
a spur gear is divided into two axially connected spur gears with equal tooth width. As shown in Fig. 1(b), the two layers differ by an
angle φ in the circumferential direction, so that the gear engagement between such a pair of gears has mesh phase difference. The angle
can be adjusted to improve transmission performance without affecting the gear transmission ratio. This kind of gear is defined as a
phasing gear, and this method of transforming gears is called axial phasing. In addition, the angle φ is defined as staggered phase angle.
Fig. 1(b) shows a two-order phasing gear and its conversion process is as follows. A spur gear is divided into two layers with equal
tooth width along the axis, and the first layer keeps still while the second layer rotates an angle φ in the circumferential direction. Then,
the two-order phasing gear is obtained by assembling these two layers along the axis. By extension, if the gear is divided into n layers
with equal tooth width along the axis, and there is the same staggered phase angle between every two adjacent layers, the n-order

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 3. The meshing period of gear pair.

Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of two-order phasing gear engagement.

phasing gear will be gained as shown in Fig. 2.

After a complete meshing cycle, a spur gear rotates 2π/z (with z the number of teeth), the angular pitch. Accordingly, for a phasing
gear pair, the first layer gear engagement could be seen as leading the second one by φ/(2π/z) mesh cycles. The change of phase is 2π
for the stiffness function with meshing frequency as the fundamental frequency, after a complete meshing cycle. When Φ is defined as
mesh phase difference between every two adjacent layers, the relationship between staggered phase angle and mesh phase difference is
given as
Φ = φz (1)

2.2. Multi-tooth meshing principle of phasing gear pair

(1) The meshing period of spur gear pair

In spur gear transmission, the contact ratio directly determines the proportion of single or double teeth-meshing area in a meshing
cycle. The meshing period τm of gear pair is shown in Fig. 3. For standard spur gear pair, τd is the double teeth-meshing area and τs is the
single teeth-meshing area. Especially, for high contact ratio gear pair, τd is three teeth-meshing area and τs is the double teeth-meshing
area.
The proportion coefficient of contact ratio is given as
λ = (τd /τm ) (2)

where the value of proportion coefficient lies between 0 and 1. And λ can be simplified as the simplest fraction c/n (with c and n
positive integers). The relationship between the proportion coefficient λ and the contact ratio ε can be expressed as
{
c ε − 1, 1<ε<2
λ= = (3)
n ε − 2, 2 ≤ ε < 3
For standard spur gear pair with contact ratio between 1 and 2, one and two meshed gear teeth pairs are alternating during the
meshing period. For high contact ratio gear pair with contact ratio between 2 and 3, two and three meshed gear teeth pairs are
alternating during the meshing period. In particular, when the contact ratio is equal to 2, there are always two pairs of gear teeth kept
in meshing state theoretically. Such gear pairs have low noise levels and strong load-bearing capacity. But it is very difficult for the

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 5. The meshing period of a two-order phasing gear pair.

contact ratio to be an integer in engineering. Thereby, the proportion coefficient λ can be explained as: a meshing cycle is divided into n
time periods, of which c time periods are double or three teeth-meshing area.
(2) The meshing period of phasing gear pair
On the basis of spur gear engagement principle, the gear engagement principle of two-order phasing gears is obtained as shown in
Fig. 4. The numbers 1 to 4, respectively represent single teeth-meshing area, double teeth-meshing area, three teeth-meshing area and
four teeth-meshing area.
By adjusting staggered phase angle, phasing gear pairs with different number of teeth pairs meshing alternately are obtained to
improve transmission performance. The contact ratio of each layer in phasing gear pair is defined as the basic contact ratio ε0. If the
basic contact ratio ε0 of a two-order phasing gears pair is 1.5, the proportion coefficient λ will be 1/2. Especially, when staggered phase
angle is π/z, the two-order phasing gear pair can keep three teeth pairs meshing at all times as shown in Fig. 5. In this case, the
fluctuation of mesh stiffness is close to zero.
By extension, when the proportion coefficient λ = c/n, the application of n-order phasing gear with staggered phase angle being 2π/
(nz) can keep (n+c) teeth pairs meshing at all times achieve near zero fluctuation of mesh stiffness.

2.3. The contact line of phasing gear pair

(1) The contact line of two-order phasing gear

Similar to traditional spur gear transmission, all pairs of meshing teeth mesh in the mesh surface during the meshing period of
phasing gear pair. The change of the contact line reflects the number of teeth pairs entering the mesh surface, that is, the number of
teeth pairs participating in meshing at the same time. The mesh surface of a two-order phasing gear pair is shown in Fig. 6.
If the staggered phase angle is zero, the phasing gear is the same as the spur gear. The contact line lengths are, respectively b and 2b
as shown in Fig. 7(a) and (b). From the meaning of contact ratio, it can be seen that in a meshing cycle, the proportion of ε0–1 is single
teeth-meshing period, and the proportion of 2-ε0 is double teeth-meshing period. Therefore, the average contact line length can be
expressed as

L = (ε0 − 1) ⋅ 2b + (2 − ε0 ) ⋅ b = ε0 b (4)
When the basic contact ratio is not less than 1.5 and the staggered phase angle is a specific angle, the contact line length can be 1.5b
and 2b, respectively as shown in Fig. 7(c) and (d). In other words, the contact line length ranges from 1.5b to 2b, and the average value
is still ε0b. It can be seen that, the fluctuation of contact line length during the meshing period is less than that of the spur gear pair,
which means that the phasing gear pair can reduce meshing impact and gear vibration.
(2) The contact line of high-order phasing gears
The average contact line length of n-order phasing gear pair is equal to the sum of the average contact line lengths of each gear pair.
It can be expressed as,
b
Ln = ε0 ⋅ n = ε0 b (5)
n
The above formula shows that the average contact line length of n-order phasing gear pair is the same as that of the spur gear pair.
But the phasing gear can make the fluctuation range of the contact line length smaller like the mentioned two-order phasing gear. And
even in the best case, when the proportion coefficient λ = c/n, the application of n-order phasing gear with staggered phase angle being
2π/(nz) can keep (n+c) teeth pairs meshing at all times. In other words, the contact line length of n-order phasing gear pair keeps a
constant value (1+c/n) b as shown in Fig. 8. The mesh impact is almost close to zero during the meshing period. The vibration and

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 6. The mesh surface of a two-order phasing gear pair.

noise caused by the mesh impact is almost eliminated.

3. Realization of near zero fluctuation in the mesh stiffness of phasing gear

3.1. Time-varying mesh stiffness of spur gear pair

Time-varying mesh stiffness is the main excitation source that results in gear vibration and noise. A n-order phasing gear pair is
composed of n spur gear pair. Thus, the time-varying mesh stiffness of a spur gear pair is studied at the first. Variational mesh stiffness
of a spur gear pair can be approximately equivalent to the rectangular square wave [30], as shown in Fig. 9.
In Fig. 9, Kmin is the minimum value of time-varying stiffness and Kmax is the maximum value of time-varying stiffness. λ is the
proportion coefficient of contact ratio as previously mentioned. The time-varying mesh stiffness is given as

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 7. The diagram of contact line contrast.

Fig. 8. The contact line of n-order phasing gear pair.

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 9. Time-varying mesh stiffness of spur gears.

K(t) = K + ΔK(t) (6)

where K is mean value of time-varying mesh stiffness and ΔK(t) is the time-varying part of mesh stiffness. The mean value of time-
varying mesh stiffness can be expressed as

K = (1 − λ)Kmin + λKmax (7)

In order to study the fluctuation of time-varying mesh stiffness, the time-varying mesh stiffness of spur gear is given via Fourier series.
The time-varying part of mesh stiffness is given as
∑
∞
(
ΔK(t) = ak cos kωt + bk sinkωt) (8)
k=1

where ak and bk are given as

1
ak = (Kmax − Kmin ){sin(2kπλ)cos(kΦ0 ) + [1 − cos(2kπ λ)]sin(kΦ0 )}
kπ
(9)
1
bk = (Kmax − Kmin ){[1 − cos(2kπλ)]cos(kΦ0 ) − sin(2kπλ)sin(kΦ0 )}
kπ

where Φ0 is can be seen as initial mesh phase: Φ0 = ωt0.

3.2. Optimization calculation of time-varying mesh stiffness of high-order phasing gear

The n-order phasing gear pair can be regarded as the composition of n spur gear pairs. Based on the time-varying mesh stiffness of a
spur gear pair, the mesh stiffness of each order gear pair can be expressed as
⎧
⎪
⎪ K (t) = K + ΔK1 (t)
⎨ 1
K2 (t) = K + ΔK2 (t)
(10)
⎪
⎪
⎩
Kn (t) = K + ΔKn (t)

where Kn(t) is the mesh stiffness of the nth order gear pair, ΔKn(t) is the time-varying part of the nth order and K is mean mesh stiffness
of each order gear pair. When adding the mesh stiffness of each order gear pair up at the same time [31], the time-varying mesh
stiffness of the n-order phasing gear pair can be given as
∑
n
K(t) = nK + ΔKm (t) (11)
m=1

∑n
where nK is the mean value of the whole time-varying mesh stiffness, the invariant part, and m=1 ΔKm (t) is the time-varying part. The
time-varying part is derived by Eqs. (8) and (11) as
( )
∑n ∑∞ ∑n ∑
n
ΔK(t) = ΔKm (t) = akm coskωt + bkm sinkωt (12)
m=1 k=1 m=1 m=1

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Assuming initial mesh phase of the first order gear pair is zero and the staggered phase angle is 2π/(nz), initial mesh phase of each order
gear pair: Φi = 2π(i-1)/n (with i = 1, 2, …, n). Each coefficient of Fourier series is derived as
⎧
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ (Kmax − Kmin )
⎪
⎪ k
sin(2kπ λ)
⎪ a1 =
⎪
⎪
⎪ kπ
⎪
⎪ { }
⎪
⎪ (Kmax − Kmin ) 2π k 2πk
⎪
⎪ a k
= sin(2k π λ)cos + [1 − cos(2k π λ)]sin
⎪ 2
⎪ kπ n n
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ ⋮
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ { }
⎪
⎪ an = (Kmax − Kmin ) sin(2kπλ)cos 2π k(n − 1) + [1 − cos(2kπλ)]sin 2π k(n − 1)
⎪
⎪
k
⎨ kπ n n
(13)
⎪
⎪ (Kmax − Kmin )
⎪
⎪ b k
= [1 − cos(2k π λ)]
⎪
⎪ 1
kπ
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ { }
⎪
⎪ (Kmax − Kmin ) 2kπ 2kπ
⎪
⎪ bk2 = [1 − cos(2kπλ)]cos − sin(2kπλ)sin
⎪
⎪ kπ n n
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ ⋮
⎪
⎪ { }
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ (Kmax − Kmin ) 2kπ(n − 1) 2kπ(n − 1)
⎪
⎪ bkn = [1 − cos(2kπλ)]cos − sin(2kπλ)sin
⎪
⎪ kπ n n
⎪
⎪
⎩

On the basis of triangle transform, the time-varying part of mesh stiffness is derived by Eq. (12) as
[( )2 ( )2 ]1/2
∑
n ∑
∞ ∑
n ∑
n
( )
ΔK(t) = ΔKm (t) = akm + bkm sin kωt + Πk (14)
m=1 k=1 m=1 m=1

where Πk is given as
∑
n
bkm
k
Π = arctan m=1
∑n (15)
akm
m=1

k
The amplitude A is given as
[( )2 ( )2 ]1/2
∑
n ∑
n
Ak = akm + bkm (16)
m=1 m=1

Substituting Eqs. (13) into (16), the amplitude Ak can be expressed as

{[ ]2 [ ]2 }1/2
(Kmax − Kmin ) ∑
n
2π(m − 1)k ∑
n
2π(m − 1)k
Ak = [2 − 2cos(2kπλ)]1/2 cos + sin (17)
kπ m=1
n m=1
n

Eq. (17) shows that the amplitude is not only affected by the phasing order n, but also affected by the proportion coefficient of
contact ratio λ. Each factor value of the amplitude is analyzed as follows. For any positive integer k and n, the value of last factor can be
expressed as
∑ n {
2π(m − 1)k = 0 k/n ∕
= integer
cos (18)
m=1
n =0
∕ k/n = integer

∑
n
2π(m − 1)k
sin =0 (19)
m=1
n

If the proportion coefficient λ = c/n, the value of the second factor can be expressed as
{
=0 k/n = integer
2 − 2cos(2kπλ) (20)
=0
∕ k/n =
∕ integer

In this case, the amplitude Ak is equal to zero, so that the time-varying part of mesh stiffness is also equal to zero (ΔK(t) = 0). And the
time-varying mesh stiffness of the n-order phasing gear pair can be given as

K(t) = nK (21)

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Table 1
Basic parameters of a spur gear pair.
Gear parameters Driving wheel Driven wheel

Number of teeth 36 36
Modulus /mm 2 2
Pressure angle /◦ 20 20
Tooth width /mm 40 40

Fig. 10. The sum of amplitude with different phasing order.

It may be briefly summarized in the following words. When a pair of spur gears is given, its contact ratio ε can be calculated. At the
first, its proportion coefficient λ is simplified as the simplest fraction c/n. Then, the spur gear pair is transformed into a n-order phasing
gear pair, of which staggered phase angle is 2π/(nz). As mentioned, the time-varying mesh stiffness of this n-order phasing gear pair
keeps almost constant.
Whereas for practical applications, the proportion coefficient of contact ratio is hardly simplified as the simplest fraction. It can be
seen that the simplest true fraction close to the value in order to obtain high-order phasing gear pair with the minimal fluctuation of
mesh stiffness. For instance, some basic parameters of a spur gear pair are shown in Table 1. The contact ratio of the spur gear pair is
about 1.6924. Then, the proportion coefficient can be obtained: λ = ε - 1 = 0.6924 ≈ 2/3. If the spur gear pair is transformed into a
three-order phasing gear pair, the fluctuation of mesh stiffness will be minimal according to the above analysis. For comparison, the
spur gear pair is transformed into two-order phasing gear pair and three-order phasing gear pair, respectively. As the basis of com­
parison, the amplitudes of the first eighteen items are added up (k = 1–18) according to Eq. (17). Fig. 10 shows that the sum of
amplitude is the smallest when the phasing order is three.

3.3. Design of optimal staggered phase angle of high-order phasing gear

In order to verify that the 1/n of the angular pitch is optimal staggered phase angle for the n-order phasing gear, the two-order
phasing gear is taken as an example for further study. According to Eq. (11), the time-varying mesh stiffness of the two-order
phasing gear pair is given as

K(t) = 2K + ΔK1 (t) + ΔK2 (t) (22)

where ΔK1(t) is the time-varying part of the first order, ΔK2(t) is the time-varying part of the second order and K is mean mesh stiffness
of each order gear pair. According to Eq. (12), the time-varying part of mesh stiffness is given as
∑
∞
[( ) ( ) ]
ΔK(t) = ΔK1 (t) + ΔK2 (t) = a1 k + a2 k coskωt + bk1 + bk2 sinkωt (23)
k=1

Assuming initial mesh phase of the first order gear pair is zero, initial mesh phase of the second order gear pair: Φ2 =φz. Each co­
efficient of Fourier series is derived as

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 11. Amplitude of mesh stiffness components.

Fig. 12. Amplitude of mesh stiffness.

⎧
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ (Kmax − Kmin )
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ a1 k = sin(2kπλ)
⎪
⎪ kπ
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ (Kmax − Kmin )
⎪
⎪ k
{sin(2kπλ)coskφz + [1 − cos(2kπλ)]sinkφz}
⎨ a2 =
kπ
(24)
⎪
⎪ (Kmax − Kmin )
⎪
⎪ bk1 = [1 − cos(2kπ λ)]
⎪
⎪ kπ
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪
⎪ k (Kmax − Kmin )
⎪
⎪
⎪ b = {[1 − cos(2kπλ)]coskφz − sin(2kπλ)sinkφz}
⎪
⎪ 2 kπ
⎩

On the basis of triangle transform, the time-varying part of mesh stiffness is derived by Eq. (23) as
∑∞ [√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ ]
( )2 ( )
ΔK(t) = (a1 k + a2 k )2 + bk1 + bk2 sin kωt + Πk (25)
k=1

where Πk is given as

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Table 2
Basic parameters of gear.
Gear parameters The first group The second group The third group

Number of teeth 16 17 32 32 49 49
Module /mm 2 2 2
Pressure angle /◦ 20 20 20
Tooth width /mm 40 40 40
ε0 1.506 1.66 1.75
λ 1/2 2/3 3/4

Fig. 13. Stiffness comparison diagram of different orders phasing.

bk1 + bk2
Πk = arctan (26)
a1 k + a2 k

The amplitude Ak is given as

√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
( )2
Ak = (a1 k + a2 k )2 + bk1 + bk2 (27)

Substituting Eqs. (24) into (27), the amplitude Ak can be expressed as

2(Kmax − Kmin )
Ak = [1 − cos(2kπλ)]1/2 [1 + cos(kφz)]1/2 (28)
kπ
The amplitude Ak can be treated as a function with staggered phase angle φ as its independent variable. When φ = 2mπ/kz (m = 0, 1,
2…), the amplitude Ak reaches its maximum value. When φ = π/kz + 2mπ/kz (m = 0, 1, 2…), the amplitude Ak reaches its minimum

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 14. Test bench and gearbox.

Fig. 15. Overall structure of the test bench.

value of zero.
For instance, the spur gear pair is transformed into two-order phasing gear pair with the same basic parameters in Table 1. Ac­
cording to Fourier series, the low order component of the time-varying mesh stiffness has a greater influence, so that staggered phase
angle φ is π/z which is a half of angular pitch. In this case, the first order component of the time-varying mesh stiffness is equal to zero.
For comparison, Fig. 11 shows the amplitudes of the first seven items (k = 1–7) with different staggered phase angle (φ = 0, π/2z, π/z,
3π/2z). As the basis of comparison, the amplitudes of the first seven items are added up according to Eq. (28). Fig. 12 shows that the
sum of amplitude is the smallest when the staggered phase angle φ is π/z.
By extension, for n-order phasing gear, the fluctuation of time-varying mesh stiffness is minimal when the staggered phase angle φ
is 2π/(nz).

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 16. Gear sets with different staggered phase angle.

3.4. Theoretical verification of near zero fluctuation of time-varying mesh stiffness

In order to verify that the application of high-order phasing gear can effectively decreases fluctuation of time-varying mesh
stiffness, the mesh stiffness of three gear pairs is analyzed, of which basic parameters are shown in Table 2.
The axial phasing method is applied on these three pairs of gears and the time-varying mesh stiffness of different phasing gear pairs
is given as shown in Fig. 13. For the first group, the proportion coefficient λ is about 1/2, and the two-order phasing method makes
fluctuation of mesh stiffness minimal. For the second one, the proportion coefficient λ is about 2/3, and the three-order phasing method
makes the fluctuation of mesh stiffness minimal. For the last group, the proportion coefficient λ is about 3/4, and the four-order
phasing method makes the fluctuation of mesh stiffness close to zero.
The above results validate that n-order phasing method can make fluctuation of mesh stiffness minimal even close to zero when the
proportion coefficient λ is close or equal to the simplest fraction c/n.

4. Experimental research on phasing gear transmission

4.1. Design of test bench and gearbox

The test bench and gearbox are shown in Fig. 14. The test bench consists of a servo drive motor (1), four clamping diaphragm
couplings (2/4/12/14), two torque speed sensors (3/13), two bearing support seats (5/11), two grating sensors (6/10), two bearing
seat couplings (7/9), a gear box (8), a servo loading motor (15), drive end adjustment platform (16), high precision stage (17) and
loading end adjustment platform (18) as shown in Fig. 15.
The specific implementation scheme of the phasing gear is as follows. Two identical spur gears are connected together through
spline. In other words, the staggered phase angle of the phasing gear is achieved through splines. When the number of spline teeth and
the number of gear teeth satisfy a certain relationship, the phasing gear with the target staggered phase angle can be obtained. The
derivation process of the number of spline teeth is as follows. For the two adjacent layers in the phasing gear, one layer keeps still and
the other layer rotates p angular pitches of the spline in the circumferential direction. The corresponding rotation angle of the gear
teeth is equal to q angular pitchs of the gear plus the target staggered phase angle. Assuming that the number of spline teeth is zs, the
angular pitch of the spline is 2π/zs. When gear parameters are given, the best phase order n and the best staggered phase angle 2π/(nz)
can be obtained according to the method in this paper. Above can be expressed as
2π 2π 2π
p =q + (29)
zs z nz
Where p, q, zs, z and n are integers. The value of p is between 0 and zs, while the value of q is between 0 and z. The number of spline
teeth is derived as
pnz
zs = (30)
1 + qn
It can be proved that for any certain n and z, there is at least one solution of zs that can satisfy the above formula. That is to say, it is
theoretically possible to achieve the target staggered phase angle of the phasing gear through splines. To verify optimal staggered
phase angle of the two-order phasing gear, four two-order phasing gear sets are given as 0◦ phasing, 1/4 angular pitch phasing, 2/4
angular pitch phasing and 3/4 angular pitch phasing. In order to obtain four different phasing gear sets, the number of spline teeth and
gear teeth are designed to be 32 and 36, respectively. By adjusting the number of misaligned spline teeth, the phasing gear sets with

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Table 3
Relevant parameters of experimental gearbox.
Modulus Number of teeth Transmission ratio The experiment of power (kW) Range of speed (rpm)
Driving gear 2 36 1 5.2 100–600
Driven gear 36 100–600

Table 4
Basic performance parameters of the test bench.
Input Output
Motor torque 0–140 N m
Motor power 11kW
Torque sensor range 20 N m/4 N m 100 N m/20 N m
range of speed 0–8000r/min 0–2500r/min

Table 5
Basic parameters of vibration sensor.
Model Sensitivity Range
Signal acquisition card PBC 8 mV/um 2 mm
Eddy current displacement sensor WT0182-A50-B00-C00 8 V/mm ± 10 V

Fig. 17. Vibration displacement test system.

different staggered phase angle are obtained as shown in Fig. 16.

4.2. Experimental equipment and sensor layout

The specific parameters of the phasing gear transmission are shown in Table 3, and the main performance parameters of the test
bench are shown in Table 4. Vibration displacement test instruments mainly include: eddy current displacement sensor, SP-DSA test
system and corresponding connection data line. The specific models and parameters are shown in Table 5.
Since the eddy current sensor is a detachable sensor, this type of sensor is generally deployed on site. The arrangement of the
measuring points for the vibration displacement test is shown in Fig. 17(a). The vibration signal is collected into the computer through
a signal acquisition card as shown in Fig. 17(b).

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 18. Transmission errors of phasing gears with different staggered phase angle.

4.3. Experimental results and analysis

4.3.1. Transmission errors

The transmission errors of the phasing gear with different staggered phase angle under one of the experimental conditions (load
torque is 10 N m and input speed is 60 rpm) are shown in Fig. 18.
The peak-to-peak values of transmission errors of the phasing gears with different staggered phase angle are 0.6232◦ , 0.5834◦ ,
0.4773◦ and 0.5771◦ , respectively, shown in Fig. 18(a). When the staggered phase angle is π/z, the peak-to-peak value of transmission
error is reduced by 20.4% compared with spur gears. The fs and fm represent shaft frequency and meshing frequency, respectively as

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 19. Peak-to-peak values of transmission errors.

shown in Fig. 18(b). It can be seen that the amplitudes of shaft frequency and meshing frequency components are minimum when the
staggered phase angle is π/z. Moreover, while φ=π/2z and φ=3π/2z, the amplitudes of shaft frequency and meshing frequency
components are also smaller than that of spur gear.
The peak-to-peak values of transmission errors under different working conditions are shown in Fig. 19. Under these working
conditions, the peak-to-peak value of transmission errors is always the smallest when the staggered phase angle φ is π/z. In addition,
while φ=π/2z and φ=3π/2z, the peak-to-peak value of transmission errors is smaller than that of a spur gear under three working
conditions. In conclusion, the optimal staggered phase angle is π/z for two-order phasing gear.

4.3.2. Vibration displacements

The experiments of variable load torque at fixed speed and variable load torque at fixed load are carried out for the phasing gears
with different staggered phase angle. The vibration displacement under one of the experimental conditions (load torque is 14 N•m and
input speed is 600 rpm) is shown in Fig. 20. The peak-to-peak values of vibration displacement of the input x at different staggered
phase angle are 0.0711 mm, 0.0718 mm, 0.0636 mm and 0.0722 mm, respectively as shown in Fig. 20(a). When the staggered phase
angle is π/z, the peak-to-peak value of vibration displacement is reduced by 10.5% compared with the spur gear. The peak-to-peak
values of vibration displacement of the input y at different staggered phase angle are 0.0721 mm, 0.0818 mm, 0.0620 mm and
0.0715 mm, respectively as shown in Fig. 20(b). When the staggered phase angle is π/z, the peak-to-peak value of vibration
displacement is 14% lower than that of a spur gear. The peak-to-peak values of vibration displacement of the output x at different
staggered phase angle are 0.0432 mm, 0.0468 mm, 0.0376 mm and 0.0470 mm, respectively as shown in Fig. 20(c). When the
staggered phase angle is π/z, the peak-to-peak value of vibration displacement is 12.96% lower than that of the spur gear. The peak-to-
peak values of vibration displacement of the output y at different staggered phase angle are 0.0633 mm, 0.0605 mm, 0.594 mm and
0.0616 mm, respectively as shown in Fig. 20(d). When the staggered phase angle is π/z, the peak-to-peak value of vibration
displacement is reduced by 6.16% compared with the spur gear.
Fig. 20 shows that under the same working condition, the peak-to-peak value of the vibration displacements at different measuring
points is the minimum when the staggered phase angle φ is π/z. The peak-to-peak value of different measuring points under one of the
experimental working conditions is shown in Fig. 21.
Fig. 21 shows that for different measuring points, when the staggered phase angle φ is π/z, the peak-to-peak value of vibration
displacements reaches the minimum. It means that the optimal staggered phase angle is π/z for two-order phasing gear.
(1) Fixed load torque changing speed
In order to study the effect of vibration attenuation of the phasing gear at different speeds, the vibration displacements of the
phasing gear under different speeds is tested. The effect of vibration attenuation of the different measuring points is shown in Fig. 22.
Fig. 22 shows that for measuring point input x and measuring point input y, as the rotation speed increases, the attenuation of the
peak-to-peak value of the vibration displacement gradually increases, that is, the effect of vibration attenuation becomes better with
the increase of rotational speed. For the measuring point output x and measuring point output y, although there is no obvious reg­
ularity at the input end, the peak-to-peak value of the vibration displacements of the phasing gear is reduced by more than 5%
compared with the spur gear under each working condition, indicating that the phasing gear has a better effect of vibration
attenuation.
(2) Fixed speed changing load torque
In order to study the effect of vibration attenuation of the phasing gear at different load torques, the vibration displacement of the
phasing gear at different load torques is tested. The effect of vibration attenuation of the different measuring points is shown in Fig. 23.
Fig. 23 shows that for the measuring point input x, the attenuation of the peak-to-peak value of the vibration displacements

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 20. Vibration displacements at different staggered phase angle (600 rpm).

gradually increases with load torque increasing, that is, the effect of vibration attenuation becomes better with the increase of load
torque. For the measuring point input y, the measuring point output x and measuring point output y, although there is no obvious
regularity, the peak-to-peak value of the vibration displacements of the phasing gear is reduced by more than 5% under each working
condition, indicating that the phasing gear has a better effect of vibration attenuation.

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 20. (continued).

5. Conclusion

In this study, a novel method is proposed to reduce the fluctuation of mesh stiffness by high-order phasing gear sets. Aiming to
achieve the near zero fluctuation of mesh stiffness, the mesh stiffness of the high-order phasing gear pair is derived, and key parameters
of high-order phasing gear transmission are optimally designed. The optimal staggered phase angle and vibration reduction of high-
order phasing gear sets are studied by experiments. Main conclusions are summarized as follows:
(1) If the proportion coefficient λ = c/n (c/n is the simplest true fraction) of the high-order phasing gear, it is a constant value (1+c/
n) b (b is the overall tooth width) for the contact line length of n-order phasing gear with the staggered phase angle φ=2π/(nz).

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Fig. 21. Peak-to-peak values of vibration displacements at different test points.

Fig. 22. Variation trend of vibration displacements.

Fig. 23. Variation trend of vibration displacement.

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X. Chen et al. Journal of Sound and Vibration 524 (2022) 116752

Therefore, the mesh impact of n-order phasing gear is near to zero. In this case, the fluctuation of the time-varying mesh stiffness is
close to zero, when the n-order phasing gear is used.
(2) Experimental results from high-order phasing gear show that the peak-to-peak value of transmission error and vibration
displacement are the smallest, when the staggered phase angle is φ=π/z of two-order phasing gear, under all experimental conditions.
Compared with traditional spur gears, the peak-to-peak value of vibration displacement can be reduced significantly and the best
staggered phase angle of the n-order phasing gear is 2π/ (nz).

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Xiangqian Chen: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft. Jing Wei: Supervision, Project administration.
Jiaxiong Zhang: Investigation, Writing – review & editing. Chunpeng Zhang: Data curation, Formal analysis. Chang-lu Wang:
Validation, Resources. Ziyang Xu: Visualization, Software. Hao Gao: Software, Data curation. Aiqiang Zhang: Writing – original
draft. Guangbin Yu: Validation.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51775058), the National Key R&D
Program of China (No.2018YFB2001602/2019YFE0121301) and Innovation Group Science Foundation of Chongqing Natural Science
Foundation (No. cstc2019jcyj-cxttX0003).

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