Influence of tooth profile and oil formulation on gear power loss

Abstract Nowadays power losses are a main concern in transmission systems and the friction between gear teeth during the meshing cycle is one of the main sources. The friction losses reduction is mandatory to promote lower energy consumption, lower operating temperatures, lower oil oxidation and lower risk of failures. In this study the power losses reduction is obtained using two different approaches: using lower modulus helical gears and significant positive profiles shifts and using gear oil formulations with different base oils. The adopted geometries proved to reduce the power losses considerably, promoting a reduction of oil operating temperature up to 20 K.