Abstract: The tooth contact pattern is a very important indicator for checking the meshing performance of gears. In the actual installation of spiral bevel gears, the unreasonable axial mounting distance of the large and small wheels often affects the correct meshing of the gears, leading to tooth surface damage and reduced transmission efficiency. Therefore reasonable adjustment of the gear axial misalignment is necessary. In this paper, under the conditions of considering the axial misalignment of the large wheel, the axial misalignment of the small wheel and the simultaneous existence of both, the finite element analysis method is adopted to simulate the meshing process of the spiral bevel gears at different mounting positions by adjusting the axial misalignment of the spiral bevel gears, so as to obtain the instantaneous contact patterns on the tooth surface of the large wheel for the three meshing states (meshing in, meshing in, and meshing out). The accuracy of the obtained contact patterns was verified using a rolling inspection machine. Then, the influence of the axial misalignment of the spiral bevel gears on the variation of tooth contact impressions was summarized, providing theoretical guidance for the actual installation and adjustment of the gears.

Key words: spiral bevel gear, axial misalignment, tooth contact pattern, installation adjustment