General Meshing Modeling and Dynamic Characteristics Analysis of Helical Gear Pair with Tooth Surface Deviation

Pitch error and tooth surface error are inevitable in the machining of helical gears, which will directly impact the time-varying meshing stiffness (TVMS) and transmission error (TE), thereby altering the vibration response of the gear. However, these errors are often ignored or replaced by simplified meshing errors in previous research, which cannot accurately reflect the specific effects of different errors. In this work, the distribution of various errors on the meshing surface of helical gears is fully considered, and a nonlinear contact model for helical gears with errors is established. The influence mechanisms of different errors on meshing excitation are elucidated through quasi-static meshing analysis. By incorporating the deformation coordination relationship of the meshing unit at each time sub-step, the corresponding TVMS and TE are coupled to the gear transmission in real-time, and a dynamic model influenced by tooth surface deviation is established. Finally, the time–frequency domain and dynamic load characteristics of the system under different errors are explored and the influence of mixed modification on the dynamic response of helical gears is analyzed. The findings reveal that the modification has a notable suppression effect on load fluctuation, underscoring the generality of the model for unconventional gears.