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At least 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2016

Advanced Face Gear Surface Durability Evaluations

The surface durability life of helical face gears and isotropic super-finished (ISF) face gears was investigated. Experimental fatigue tests were performed at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Endurance tests were performed on 10 sets of helical face gears in mesh with tapered involute helical pinions, and 10 sets of ISF-enhanced straight face gears in mesh with tapered involute spur pinions. The results were compared to previous tests on straight face gears. The life of the ISF configuration was slightly less than that of previous tests on straight face gears. The life of the ISF configuration was slightly greater than that of the helical configuration.

fatigue↗
NASA NTRS2017

Evaluation of a Variable Thickness Hybrid Composite Bull Gear

For several years, NASA Glenn Research Center and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory have been investigating hybrid (composite/steel) gear technology for use in vertical lift drive systems. The hybrid gear concept replaces the structural portion of a gear between the shaft and the gear rim with a lightweight carbon fiber composite, in an effort to reduce the overall weight of a gear and increase the drive system power density. Past research includes both small-scale and large-scale hybrid gear concepts, all of which have a constant composite thickness throughout. The design described in this paper is of a variable thickness, such that the composite is thickest at the inner diameter and this thickness is gradually reduced toward the outer diameter. The resulting "stair stepped" design stems from dropping plies of the braided carbon fiber prepreg composite fabric gradually with increased radius. Additionally, the interlock pattern at the inner metallic adapter was adjusted slightly from previous designs to obtain a better stress distribution on the inner metallic adapter. The manufactured variable thickness web was tested both in static torsion tests and operationally in a relevant gearbox environment. The results of these experiments will be presented and compared to a baseline steel configuration.

Gears; Drive Systems; Rotorcraft Propulsion;↗
NASA NTRS2019

Lessons Learned in Fabrication of a High-Specific-Torque Concentric Magnetic Gear

Magnetic gearing is being investigated at NASA as a replacement to conventional mechanical gearing in aerospace applications. Some key benefits of magnetic gears over mechanical gearing are torque transmission without mechanical contact, decreased transmission noise, less frequent maintenance, and lack of lubrication. In order to take advantage of these benefits in aerospace applications, magnetic gearing must be shown to provide high enough specific torque (torque per unit mass). Prototype 2 (PT-2), developed to maximize specific torque, and fabricated at NASA Glenn Research Center, has shown promising specific torque comparable to low torque mechanical gears. This work will briefly review the electromagnetic and structural design of PT-2, provide detailed information on fabrication and assembly, examine build errors, walk through rebuild efforts to improve operation, and conclude with remarks on build difficulties and opportunities for improvement in future prototypes.

Electrified Vertical Take Off and Landing↗
NASA NTRS2019

Lessons Learned in Fabrication of a High-Specific-Torque Concentric Magnetic Gear

Magnetic gearing is being investigated at NASA as a replacement to conventional mechanical gearing in aerospace applications. Some potential benefits of magnetic gears over mechanical gearing are torque transmission without mechanical contact, decreased transmission noise, and no required lubrication. However, in order to be a viable alternative for aerospace applications, magnetic gearing must be shown to provide high enough specific torque (torque per unit mass). NASA's second magnetic gearing prototype (PT-2) was able to achieve promising specific torque on par with low torque mechanical gearboxes. This work will briefly review the electromagnetic and structural design of PT-2, provide detailed information on fabrication and assembly, examine build errors, walk through rebuild efforts to improve operation, and conclude with remarks on build difficulties and opportunities for improvement in future prototypes.

Magnetic Gearing↗
NASA NTRS1969

Gear design considerations

This paper discusses the parameters of gears and gear lubrication that affect wear, pitting, and scoring. Formulas for sliding and rolling velocities and for relative radii of profile and lengthwise curvatures between gear teeth are listed. The effects of load sharing between teeth are considered, and formulas for contact stress are developed. The duration of tooth contact and the variation in coefficient of friction are considered. The aspects of oil film thickness and critical temperatures are presented in relation to gear tooth wear and scoring. A discussion of gear testing and simulated gear testing by means of rollers emphasizes the advantages of each.

Coleman, W.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Pitting fatigue characteristics of AISI M-50 and super nitralloy spur gears

Two groups of 3.50-in. pitch-diameter spur gears, without tip relief, made from consumable-electrode vacuum-melted (CVM) AISI M-50 steel and CVM super nitralloy (5Ni-2A1) were tested under conditions which produced fatigue pitting. The M-50 gears had fatigue lives approximately 50 percent longer than the super nitralloy gears. Both groups of gears failed by classical rolling-element fatigue at the pitch circle. When the gears were overrun past initial spall formation, the spalled M-50 gear teeth failed by fatigue fracture. The M-50 material had higher wear than the super nitralloy material. Differences in fatigue life and wear were not considered statistically significant.

Townsend, D. P.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Liquid rocket engine turbopump gears

Design and fabrication of gear drives for rocket engine turbopumps are described in the sequence encountered during the design process as follows: (1) selection of overall arrangement; (2) selection of gear type; (3) preliminary sizing; (4) lubrication system design; (5) detail tooth design; (6) selection of gear materials; and (7) gear fabrication and testing as it affects the design. The description is oriented towards the use of involute spur gears, although reference material for helical gears is also cited.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1975

Dynamic Capacity and Surface Fatigue Life for Spur and Helical Gears

A mathematical model for surface fatigue life of gear, pinion, or entire meshing gear train is given. The theory is based on a previous statistical approach for rolling-element bearings. Equations are presented which give the dynamic capacity of the gear set. The dynamic capacity is the transmitted tangential load which gives a 90 percent probability of survival of the gear set for one million pinion revolutions. The analytical results are compared with test data for a set of AISI 9310 spur gears operating at a maximum Hertz stress of 1.71 billion N/sq m and 10,000 rpm. The theoretical life predictions are shown to be good when material constants obtained from rolling-element bearing tests were used in the gear life model.

Coy, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Analysis of dynamic capacity of low-contact-ratio spur gears using Lundberg-Palmgren theory

A concise mathematical model is developed for surface fatigue life of low-contact-ratio spur gears. The expected fatigue life of the pinion, gear, or gear sets may be calculated from the model. An equation for the dynamic capacity of the gear set was also derived in terms of the transmitted tangential tooth load which will give a 10-percent fatigue life of one million pinion revolutions. The theoretical life was compared with experimental data for a set of VAR AISI 9310 gears operating at a Hertz stress of 1.71X10 to the 9th power newtons per square meter (248,000 psi) and 10 000 revolutions per minute. Good agreement was obtained between the experimental and theoretical surface fatigue life of the gears.

Coy, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Life analysis of helical gear sets using Lundberg-Palmgren theory

A mathematical model is developed for surface fatigue life of helical gears. The expected fatigue life of a pinion, gear, or gear set may be calculated from the model. An equation for the dynamic capacity of a gear set was also derived. Dynamic capacity is the transmitted tangential load which gives a 90 percent probability of survival of the gear set for one million pinion revolutions. The equations, when simplified by setting the helix angle to zero, reduce to the results which were previously developed for spur gears. A sample calculation is given which illustrates the use of the new fatigue life model.

Coy, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Geared-elevator flutter study

An experimental and analytical study was made of the transonic flutter characteristics of a supersonic transport tail assembly model having an all-movable, horizontal tail with a geared elevator. Two model configurations, namely, one with a gear-elevator (2.8 to 1.0 gear ratio) and one with locked-elevator (1.0 to 1.0 gear ratio), were flutter tested in the Langley transonic dynamics tunnel with an empennage cantilever-mounted on a sting. The geared-elevator configuration fluttered experimentally at about 20% higher dynamic pressures than the locked-elevator configuration. The experimental flutter dynamic pressure boundaries for both configurations were nearly flat over a Mach number range from 0.9 to 1.1. Flutter calculations (mathematical models) were made for the geared-elevator configuration using three subsonic lifting-surface methods. In one method, the elevator was treated as a discrete surface, and in the other two methods, the stabilizer and elevator were treated as a single warped-surface with the primary difference between these two methods being in the mathematical implementation used. A comparison of the experimental and analytical results shows that the discrete-elevator method predicted best the experimental flutter dynamic pressure level. However, the single warped-surface methods predicts more closely the experimental flutter frequencies and Mach number trends.

Ruhlin, C. L.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Dynamic capacity and surface fatigue life for spur and helical gears

A mathematical model for surface fatigue life of gear, pinion, or entire meshing gear train is given. The theory is based on the statistical approach used by Lundberg and Palmgren for rolling-element bearings. Also equations are presented which give the dynamic capacity of the gear set. The dynamic capacity is the transmitted tangential load which gives a 90 percent probability of survival of the gear set for one million pinion revolutions. The analytical results were compared with test data for a set of AISI 9310 spur gears operating at a maximum Hertz stress of 1.71 billion N per sq m (248,000 psi) and 10,000 rpm. The theoretical life predictions were very good when material constants obtained from rolling-element bearing tests were used in the gear life model.

Coy, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Summary of NASA landing-gear research

This paper presents a brief summary of the airplane landing gear research underway at NASA. The technology areas include: ground handling simulator, antiskid braking systems, space shuttle nose-gear shimmy, active control landing gear, wire brush skid landing gear, air cushion landing systems, tire/surface friction characteristics, tire mechanical properties, tire-tread materials, powered wheels for taxiing, and crosswind landing gear. This paper deals mainly with the programs on tire-tread materials, powered wheel taxiing, air cushion landing systems, and crosswind landing gear research with particular emphasis on previously unreported results of recently completed flight tests. Work in the remaining areas is only mentioned.

Fisher, B. D.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Experimental and analytical transonic flutter characteristics of a geared-elevator configuration

The flutter model represented the aft fuselage and empennage of a proposed supersonic transport airplane and had an all movable horizontal tail with a geared elevator. It was tested mounted from a sting in the transonic dynamics tunnel. Symmetric flutter boundaries were determined experimentally at Mach numbers from 0.7 to 1.14 for a geared elevator configuration (gear ratio of 2.8 to 1.0) and an ungeared elevator configuration (gear ratio of 1.0 to 1.0). Gearing the elevator increased the experimental flutter dynamic pressures about 20 percent. Flutter calculations were made for the geared elevator configuration by using two analytical methods based on subsonic lifting surface theory. Both methods analyzed the stabilizer and elevator as a single, deforming surface, but one method also allowed the elevator to be analyzed as hinged from the stabilizer. All analyses predicted lower flutter dynamic pressures than experiment with best agreement (within 12 percent) for the hinged elevator method. Considering the model as mounted from a flexible rather than rigid sting in the analyses, had only a slight effect on the flutter results but was significant in that a sting related vibration mode was identified as a potentially flutter critical mode.

Ruhlin, C. L.↗
NASA NTRS1979

NASA gear research and its probable effect on rotorcraft transmission design

The NASA Lewis Research Center devised a comprehensive gear technology research program beginning in 1969, the results of which are being integrated into the NASA civilian Helicopter Transmission System Technology Program. Attention is given to the results of this gear research and those programs which are presently being undertaken. In addition, research programs studying pitting fatigue, gear steels and processing, life prediction methods, gear design and dynamics, elastohydrodynamic lubrication, lubrication methods and gear noise are presented. Finally, the impact of advanced gear research technology on rotorcraft transmission design is discussed.

Zaretsky, E. V.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Mathematical models for the synthesis and optimization of spiral bevel gear tooth surfaces

The geometry of spiral bevel gears and to their rational design are studied. The nonconjugate tooth surfaces of spiral bevel gears are, in theory, replaced (or approximated) by conjugated tooth surfaces. These surfaces can be generated by two conical surfaces, and by a conical surface and a revolution. Although these conjugated tooth surfaces are simpler than the actual ones, the determination of their principal curvatures and directions is still a complicated problem. Therefore, a new approach, to the solution of these is proposed. Direct relationships between the principal curvatures and directions of the tool surface and those of the generated gear surface are obtained. With the aid of these analytical tools, the Hertzian contact problem for conjugate tooth surfaces can be solved. These results are useful in determining compressive load capacity and surface fatigue life of spiral bevel gears. A general theory of kinematical errors exerted by manufacturing and assembly errors is developed. This theory is used to determine the analytical relationship between gear misalignments and kinematical errors. This is important to the study of noise and vibration in geared systems.

Litvin, F. L.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Vibration in Planetary Gear Systems with Unequal Planet Stiffnesses

An algorithm suitable for a minicomputer was developed for finding the natural frequencies and mode shapes of a planetary gear system which has unequal stiffnesses between the Sun/planet and planet/ring gear meshes. Mode shapes are represented in the form of graphical computer output that illustrates the lateral and rotational motion of the three coaxial gears and the planet gears. This procedure permits the analysis of gear trains utilizing nonuniform mesh conditions and user specified masses, stiffnesses, and boundary conditions. Numerical integration of the equations of motion for planetary gear systems indicates that this algorithm offers an efficient means of predicting operating speeds which may result in high dynamic tooth loads.

Frater, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A Description of the 64-meter Antenna Elevation Drive Gears and Their Strange Wear

The Deep Space Station (DSS) 64-m antenna elevation axis drive is executed by torquing two bull gears, concentric to the elevation axis, with the output pinions of four gear boxes. These gear boxes have functioned well during the 18 and 11 years, respectively, that the DSS 14, and the DSS 43 and DSS 63 antennas have been in service. A strange wear pattern gradually developed on the bull gears and driving pinions of all three antennas. These patterns were well developed after 8 years and apparently are intensifying in all instances. The elevation drive gears are described and their wear is compared to the wear of other antenna drive gears. The comparison is perplexing and satisfying explanations have not yet been made.

Mcginness, H. D.↗