Simulating Fatigue Crack Growth in Spiral Bevel Gears Using Computational Fracture Mechanics

Development of practical and accurate numerical tools for evaluating gear performance and life assists in the design of new and better gears. This paper summarizes new results for predicting crack trajectory and fatigue life for a spiral bevel pinion using the parallel finite element method (FEM) and computational fracture mechanics. The predictions presented are based on linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) theories combined with FEM, and incorporating plasticity-induced fatigue crack closure and moving loads. The analyses are carried out using a parallel FEM solver, which calculates stress intensity factors (SIF) using the equivalent domain J-integral method. We show that we can simulate arbitrarily shaped fatigue crack growth in a spiral bevel gear more accurately and efficiently than with a previous boundary element based approach [1] using the parallel FEM along with a better representation of moving loads.Copyright © 2003 by ASME

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