Citation: Duta, A.; Geonea, I.-D.;
Popa, D.-L.; Sass, L. Influence of
Contact Surfaces’ Impact on the Gear
Profile during Hobbing Process. Appl.
Sci. 2022, 12, 8027. https://doi.org/
10.3390/app12168027
Academic Editors: Paolo Renna and
João Carlos de Oliveira Matias
Received: 17 February 2022
Accepted: 8 August 2022
Published: 10 August 2022
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Article
Influence of Contact Surfaces’ Impact on the Gear Profile during
Hobbing Process
Alina Duta , Ionut-Daniel Geonea , Dragos-Laurentiu Popa * and Ludmila Sass
Faculty of Mechanics, University of Craiova, 200585 Craiova, Romania
* Correspondence: dragos.popa@edu.ucv.ro
Abstract:
This work is the result of research on the dynamic process that occurs during milling
machining, namely, the influence of the contact surfaces’ impact on the gear and the hob and the
influence of their displacements on the resulting profile of the tooth. An acquisition system was
placed on the final elements of the milling machine chain to determine the torque moments and
displacements during gear milling. The experimental analysis proves that the displacements are
within admissible limits and have no major influence on the quality of the processing surfaces. A
dynamic simulation of the hobbing process with the finite element method (ANSYS) was performed
for a limited period of time, and the values of deformation, equivalent strain, and stress have been
determined; the time at which the chips come off and the corresponding value of the equivalent stress
that occurs at their break were determined based on the maximum distortion energy von Misses
theory. It is required to simulate the entire hobbing process, even if it can be time-consuming to
differentiate the influence of the dynamic behavior of the machine’s kinematic supplementary chains
on the hob wear and the tooth profile. A modal analysis will be able to support the comparative
study related to the obtained experimental data.
Keywords:
hobbing process; gear profile; experimental method; dynamic analysis simulation; finite
element method
1. Introduction
In order to solve the problems of productivity and economic efficiency, as well as
to achieve the precision of the gear, efficient machining methods have been developed.
According to [
1
], machining is still the unsurpassed method of producing gears of all types
and sizes with high accuracy. Numerous studies have been carried out regarding the
machining of gears by the milling process and the effect on the geometry of the processed
wheel [
2
,
3
]. The rolling generating process is used to produce the most high-quality gears,
taking into account the advantages in terms of productivity and profitability [
4
,
5
]. Hobs
are used for obtaining spur gears, spiral gears, and worm wheels. The FD320A milling
machine is one of the most commonly used tool–machine used for gear machining.
Some studies refer to the influence of cutting-edge preparation on the wear resistance
of gear hobs on a five-axes milling machine (e.g., [
6
]). Other studies cover the design, modal
analysis, and experimental tests of gearboxes already machined (e.g., [7]).
Numerical and experimental investigations on the dynamics and stability of the system
workpiece–tool associated with milling operations have been presented, too (e.g., [
8
,
9
]). An
analytical method for the computation of the cutting-edge geometry of a gear hob based on
vector calculus and matrices in the tool-in-use reference system, useful in the optimization
process, was reported in [10].
Review papers of various models of the milling process were written to illustrate the
wide range of applicability (e.g., [11]).
Dynamic models of the milling process have been developed that consider the defor-
mation of the cutting tool during machining and the dynamic compliances of the workpiece
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 8027. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12168027 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci
