Simulation and Optimization of Gear Form Grinding

Nowadays, the basic requirements of gear transmissions are not limited only to the more usual ones (like resistance, reliability …), but often include also good efficiency and low vibration and noise emissions. Supporting structures, gear macro and micro geometry and textures are the key-points in the design of a geared system that fulfil the latter two requirements. The expected results can be obtained only if the gears actually meet the design specifications: this is one of the main reasons for the improvement and the optimization of the finishing processes, like shaving and grinding. A great deal of work has been done on defining the gear tooth flank topology that minimizes gear transmission error and consequently its noise emission, but usually, the practical realization of this micro-geometry is not taken into account. The actually available axes of the grinding machines and their laws of motion limit, in fact, the obtainable flank topology, and then it is often difficult to determine the optimal machine tool settings. In the paper, first it is presented a method to simulate gear form grinding with a disk tool; then a strategy to determine the combination of tool geometry and axes’ motions that best fulfil the gear design geometrical requirements is presented and discussed.