SBIR-STTR Award

Advanced Numerical solutions has built a 2D multi-body dynamic contact analysis code capable of simultaneously modeling multiple gear meshes in transmissions. It uses many innovations to make this possible. A specially developed hierarchical solver is used to carry out implicit time integration in under 2- seconds per step for a model with 50,000 degrees for freedom. An efficient contact solver is used to solve the contact problem with multiple rigid body modes and friction in a fixed number of iterations. A special purpose programming language hasbeen implemented to allow maximum flexibility in building complex transmission models. Preliminary tests on 2D model of a planetary system have shown that this computer program has sufficient speed to make dynamic analysis practical. It is now possible to predict vibration levels with sufficient precision to resolve the effects of tooth surfacemodifications. Bearing stiffness, rim geometry and other design considerations. The objective here is to verify the accuracy of the predictions made by the code. Comparisons with other methods like the boundary element method will be made. Noise and vibration comparisons willbe made with experimental results available in the open literature.

Benefits:
The multi-body contract analysis tool will enable designers to improve predictions of noise and stress levels in complex geared transmissions.

Advanced Numerical Solutions has built a 2D multi-body dynamic contact analysis code capable of simultaneously modeling multiple gear meshes in transmissions. It uses many innovations to make this possible. A specially developed hierarchical solver is used to carry out implicit time integration in less than 20 seconds per step for a model with 50,000 degrees of freedom. An efficient contact solver is used to solve the contact problem with multiple rigid body modes and friction in a fixed number of iterations. A special purpose programming language has been implemented to allow maximum flexibility in building complex transmission models. The Phase I feasibility study has demonstrated a friendly and easy to use code for the analysis of planetary gear systems based on this technology. Comparisons with experiment have verified the accuracy of stress predictions and dynamic transmission error predictions made by the code. In Phase II, it is proposed to build a commercial quality 2D dynamic and 30 static code for multi-mesh geared system analysis.

Benefits:
The multi-body contact analysis tool will enable designers to improve predictions of noise and stress levels in complex geared transmissions such as planetaries