Suppression of Planet Mode Response in Planetary Gear Dynamics Through Mesh Phasing

This work analytically derives design rules to suppress certain harmonics of planet mode response in planetary gear dynamics through mesh phasing. Planet modes are one of three categories of planetary gear vibration modes. In these modes, only the plantes deflect while the carrier, ring, and sun gears have no motion (Lin, J., and Parker, R. G., 1999, ASME J. Vib. Acoust., 121, pp. 316-321; J. Sound Vib, 233(5), pp. 921-928). The dynamic mesh forces are not explicitly modeled for this study; instead, the symmetry of planetary gear systems and gear tooth mesh periodicity are sufficient to establish rules to suppress planet modes. Thus, the conclusions are independent of the mesh modeling details, Planetary gear systems with equally spaced planets and with diametrically opposed planet pairs are examined. Suppression of degenerate mode response in purely rotational degree-of-freedom models achieved in the limit of infinite bearing stiffness is also investigated. The mesh phasing conclusions are verified by dynamic simulations of various planetary gears using a lumped-parameter analytical model and by comparisons to others' research.