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The power loss of bearings is a significant factor in the overall efficiency in a drive unit system. Such bearings are subject to combined radial and axial loading needed to support the gear mesh forces. An experimental methodology has been developed to perform sets of power loss measurements on TRB, 4PCBB and DGBB. These measurements were performed under a variety of speed, load, temperature, and lubrication conditions. The loss behaviors of these types of the bearings are discussed, along with the tradeoff of different bearing arrangements for the fuel economy cycles. Several power loss models are employed to assess the accuracy of the estimations as compared to the experimental measurements. At low speed some models showed good correlations for TRB and DGBB, while at higher speed, they start deviating from the testing results. A higher fidelity model for estimating the losses at high speed, especially speed around 20krpm and beyond, needs to be developed. For 4PCBB, the models showed under prediction for the losses within the testing range.

Gear tooth bending fatigue failures are instantaneously catastrophic to gear drive power transmission systems. For this reason, gear designers must understand the limits of their design with respect to the desired application and service time. Fatigue testing on gear specimens has been preferred metric on which to base future designs. Single Tooth Bending test (STB) or a Rotating Gear (RG) test methodologies have been used for this purpose. STB type tests generally form the large majority of gear fatigue testing due to cost and availability but does not fully simulate the actual operating conditions of rotating gears in service. As RG evaluations are costly and time-consuming, it is desirable to quantify how a stress-life (SN) relationship regressed through STB testing compares to that produced in RG testing. In this study, both STB and RG test methodologies are employed to test the same specimen design. Matrices of fatigue tests are executed and statistical regression techniques are used to estimate bending fatigue lives as a function of stress for both sets of data. The resultant SN curves are compared to determine any differences in allowable stress. Techniques are then employed using single set data (STBF or RG individually) to demonstrate the calculation of correlation coefficients, which can approximate the total difference determined between the two data sets.

This study presents a unique experimental methodology that synchronously measures various quasi-static responses of a simple four-planet planetary gear set, namely, planet load sharing, overall transmission error (OTE), and floating sun gear orbits. Strain gauges mounted directly on the planet pins were used to monitor the load shared among the planets, which is a crucial design criterion for durability and performance. High-precision optical encoders were used to measure the OTE of the gear set to explore its diagnostic value in identifying system errors. Radial motions of the floating sun gear, which are critical to the self-centering and load sharing behavior of the gear set, were monitored using magnetic proximity probes. The influence of various design parameters and operating conditions such as planet mesh phasing, carrier pin position errors, gear tooth modifications, and input torque on the system’s response will be investigated by performing an extensive set of experiments in a repeatable and accurate manner. Finally, these experimental results will be recreated theoretically using the static planetary load distribution model of Hu et al. (2018, “A Load Distribution Model for Planetary Gear Sets,” ASME J. Mech. Des., 140(5), p. 53302) to not only validate the model but also comprehend the measured behavior.

High-cycle gear tooth bending fatigue lives of spur gears under fully reversed and fully released loading conditions are compared in this experimental study. The experimental methodology described in an earlier publication, (Hong et al. 2020, “A Rotating Gear Test Methodology for Evaluation of High-Cycle Tooth Bending Fatigue Lives Under Fully Reversed and Fully Released Loading Conditions,” Int. J. Fatigue, 133, p. 105432. 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2019.105432), is employed to perform two sets of rotating, gear tooth bending fatigue tests. Statistical analyses are performed to regress stress versus life (S–N) curves under both loading conditions. These curves indicate that a gear under fully reversed loads has a shorter bending life at the same maximum tooth root stress as a gear under fully released loads. Various planetary gear set kinematic conditions with different stationary members are considered to determine the equivalent number of tooth loading cycles per revolution of the sun gear. They are combined with established S–N curves under both loading conditions to determine the ratios of allowable maximum tooth root stresses amongst the gear components of a P-planet gear set such that each gear in the set has the same bending fatigue life. A “stress-balanced” gear set designed to these stress ratios is expected to have the same bending fatigue life for its sun, ring, and planet gears, ensuring that the planetary gear set life is the longest.

Power losses of load carrying gear and bearing components of automotive transmissions have become a major research area in recent years. Measurement of power loss of a gearbox is a routine task where losses from rolling element bearings, gear meshes and seals collectively define the total loss. However, separating bearing and gear mesh losses is not possible, as a gear mesh cannot be operated without support bearings. This study aims at developing a methodology for measuring power losses of rolling element bearings of different types operated under realistic load, speed and temperature conditions. A test machine concept is implemented to apply combined radial and axial loads to a pair of test bearings in a stable and repeatable manner, with rotational speed and lubrication parameters controlled tightly during tests. The proposed test methodology is employed to evaluate power loss for three different types of bearings. Load-dependent and load-independent components of power loss are separated, and influence of speed and load values on bearing mechanical loss are quantified. A repeatability study of the machine and methodology is also presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed setup.

Gear bending fatigue life is a primary consideration in gear design. Each gear tooth is subjected to cyclic root stresses that may cause fatigue fracture. A gear in a transmission is subjected to either fully released or fully reversed loading conditions, with different fatigue lives. This study develops an experimental methodology for evaluation of high-cycle tooth bending fatigue lives of gears under both loading conditions. Unique specimens for tooth bending fatigue and an adaptive diagnostics method for test termination are designed while root strains under high-speed conditions are quantified. Example fatigue tests are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.