A hybrid 3D nite element/lumped parameter model

for quasi-static and dynamic analyses

of planetary/epicyclic gear sets
V. Abousleiman, P. Velex
*
Laboratoire de Me canique des Contacts et des Solides, UMR CNRS 5514, INSA de Lyon, Batiment Jean dAlembert,
20 Avenue Albert Einstein, 69 621 Villeurbanne Cedex, France
Received 9 December 2004; received in revised form 3 August 2005; accepted 7 September 2005
Abstract
A model is presented which enables the simulation of the three-dimensional dynamic behaviour of planetary/epicyclic
spur and helical gears. Deformable ring-gears are introduced by using either beam elements for simple structures, or 3D
brick elements for complex geometries. Based on a modal condensation technique, internal gear elements can be dened by
connecting the ring-gear sub-structure and a planet lumped parameter model via elastic foundations which account for
tooth contacts. Discrete mesh stinesses and equivalent normal deviations are introduced along the contact lines, and their
values are re-calculated as the mating ank positions vary with time. Planetary/epicyclic gear models are completed by
assembling lumped parameter sun-gear/planet elements along with shaft elements, lumped stinesses, masses and inertias.
The corresponding equations of motion are solved by combining a time-step integration scheme and a contact algorithm
for all simultaneous meshes. Several quasi-static and dynamic results are given which illustrate the potential of the pro-
posed hybrid model and the interest of taking into account ring-gear deections.
2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Planetary gears; Flexible ring-gear; Dynamic; Finite elements; Load distribution; Sub-structure
1. Introduction
In comparison with parallel shaft power transmission designs, planetary gear trains oer several advantages
such as, shaft co-axiality, higher power density and increased eciency which have made them very attractive,
especially for aeronautical applications (turboprop engines, helicopter transmissions, etc.). Most of the papers
dealing with planetary/epicyclic gears have focused on dynamic behaviour in order to optimise design, i.e.,
reducing weight using lighter structural elements while ensuring system durability. Cunlie et al. [1] used
lumped parameter models with three dierent mesh stiness descriptions and obtained close correlations
0094-114X/$ - see front matter 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2005.09.005
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 4 72 43 84 51; fax: +33 4 78 89 09 80.
E-mail address: Philippe.Velex@insa-lyon.fr (P. Velex).
Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx
www.elsevier.com/locate/mechmt
Mechanism
and
Machine Theory
ARTICLE IN PRESS
between theory and practice. Although their lumped parameter approach was proved to be acceptable, the
authors stressed the need to account for ring-gear exibility which could introduce additional resonances. Bot-
man [2] studied the modal content of a one-stage epicyclic train and, using a 2D constant stiness model, he
found the axisymetrical modes to be particularly dangerous. Hidaka et al. [37] conducted extensive experi-
mental and numerical analyses on the dynamic behaviour of planetary trains. From a 2D nite element model,
ring-gear deections were found to signicantly inuence tooth loads and load sharing properties. The authors
also pointed out that ring-gear deformations can reduce the distance between adjacent teeth leading to higher
actual contact ratios and possible interferences. Botman and Toda [8] studied the inuence of the planet angu-
lar phasing on dynamic loads induced by planet run-out errors. Signicant dierences were found depending
on planet indexing with certain congurations being less sensitive to manufacturing errors. Ma and Botman [9]
introduced prole and run-out deviations in a 2D model for investigating planet load sharing. Hidaka et al. [6]
found that the phases between the planets could modify sun-gear trajectories, and several studies [1012] con-
rmed the contribution of mesh phasing as well as the possibility of cancelling some frequency components of
the global translational or torsional excitations on sun-gears and ring-gears. August and Kasuba [13] showed
that, at low speeds, sun-gear trajectories are mainly translational because of the time-varying mesh stinesses
while, at high speeds, sun-gear motions become orbital. Their simulated dynamic tooth loads revealed that
oating sun-gears may not be appropriate except in very narrow speed ranges. Saada and Velex [14] proposed
a three-dimensional lumped parameter model with six degrees of freedom for each gear component and stud-
ied the inuence of several design parameters on the system eigenfrequencies. Following this work, Velex and
Flamand [15] analysed the mesh parametric excitations in planetary trains and showed that local resonances
could appear on an individual gear mesh that cannot be detected at a global scale.
However, in the majority of papers on the subject, gears are considered as rigid solids, and only a few stud-
ies limited to 2D spur gear models Hidaka et al. [5], Kahraman and Vijayakar [16], Parker et al. [12] have dealt
with the contributions of deformable parts. The present work attempts to introduce ring-gear elasticity in the
modelling of the quasi-static and dynamic behaviours of spur and helical gear sets with tooth shape deviations
(modications and geometrical errors). It is accepted that time-varying mesh stinesses and manufacturing/
mounting errors are prominent contributions to vibration and noise in geared transmissions. In the context
of multi-mesh systems, the concept of transmission errors as excitation sources is confusing because of the
many interacting gears, so it is replaced by the simulation of the contact conditions in the various tooth
meshes. Based on this approach, two original hybrid nite element-lumped parameter dynamic models using
beam and brick elements are proposed and their results, as well as those delivered by the classical lumped
parameter models, are compared for various gear geometries.
2. Models of internal gears with deformable ring-gears
Two dierent modelling strategies are presented: (a) a ring-gear model based on straight beam nite ele-
ments and (b) a more sophisticated technique using three-dimensional 20 node brick elements. The rst option
is suited for simple architectures and accounts mainly for the radial deections of the ring-gear while the sec-
ond one is aimed at simulating complex mechanical arrangements like those in aeronautical applications. For
both methods, the ring-gear model is reduced by using a modal condensation technique [17,18]. Following
[19], tooth contacts are considered as line contacts on theoretical base planes which are discretised in indepen-
dent cells of stiness k(M
i
) and equivalent normal deviation de(M
i
) to simulate tooth shape deviations and
mounting errors. Planets are assimilated to rigid cylinders with all six degrees of freedom characterised by
screws of innitesimal displacements whose co-ordinates in the frame xed to the sun-gear/planet j centre-line
are
fs
j
g
u
R
j
!
O
j
v
j
S
j
!
w
j
T
j
!
u
j
Z
!
x
j
!
uS
j
!
w
j
T
j
!
h
j
Z
!
8
<
:
1
with O
j
, centre of planet j; S
!
j
; T
!
j
; Z
!
j
are the unit vectors shown in Fig. 1; v
j
, w
j
, u
j
are the translational degrees
of freedom; u
j
, w
j
, h
j
are the rotational degrees of freedom (a list of symbols is given in Appendix).
2 V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx
ARTICLE IN PRESS
2.1. Beam element model
A ring-gear is discretised into several classical two-node beam elements having a rectangular cross-section
(Fig. 2). The degrees of freedom at each node comprise three translations; v, w and u and three rotations; u, w
and h as described in Fig. 3. For planetary gears, i.e., a ring-gear moving with respect to the inertial frame, the
gyroscopic moments and centrifugal eects caused by the rotation of the ring-gear have been neglected. The
minimum number of beam elements is set to be the number of teeth on the ring-gear in order to associate a
node with every tooth (Fig. 4). According to the classical hypotheses in beam theory, all cross-sections are
supposed to remain straight after deection and the elastic displacement eld for one cross-section can be
modelled by a screw fs
N
ck
g of the form
j j
w ,
j j
u ,
j j
v ,
S
j T
j
Z
j
Planet j
O
j
Sun-gear
Planet 1
T
1
j
O
Z
1
O S
1
1 S
Fig. 1. Degree-of-freedom and frame denition.
Sc
Neutral line of the
ring-gear
Beam elements
Tc
R
nc
Z
Fig. 2. Ring-gear model (beam elements).
V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx 3
ARTICLE IN PRESS
fs
N
ck
g
u
R
c
!
N
ck
v
N
ck
S
c
!
w
N
ck
T
c
!
u
N
ck
Z
!
x
c
!
u
N
ck
S
c
!
w
N
ck
T
c
!
h
N
ck
Z
!
8
<
:
2
where N
ck
represents the node at the centre of the cross-section as illustrated in Fig. 4.
The deection at any potential point of contact M
i
on tooth anks is the normal approach with respect to
rigid-body conditions minus the total initial separation de(M
i
). Using the shifting property of screws, one
obtains in a matrix form
dM
i

fV
j
M
i
g
fV
N
ck
M
i
g
( )
T

fX
j
g
fX
N
ck
g
( )
deM
i

3
Cross-section centered in N
ck
M
i
Beam elements connected in Nck
S
c
Z
T
c
N
ck
Ring-gear
One tooth
Fig. 4. Detail of the ring-gear model based on beam elements and positions of potential points of contact on tooth anks.
Fig. 3. Beam element and its degrees of freedom.
4 V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx
ARTICLE IN PRESS
with
fV
j
M
i
g
sin b
b
cos b
b
sin a
p
e cos b
b
cos a
p
e R
bj
sin b
b
sin a
p
e p
1
sin b
b
g cos a
p
R
bj
sin b
b
cos a
p
p
1
sin b
b
g sin a
p
e R
bj
cos b
b
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
fX
j
g
u
j
v
j
w
j
u
j
w
j
h
j
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
fV
N
ck
M
i
g
sin b
b
cos b
b
sin c
e cos b
b
cos c
e R
bc
sin b
b
sin c e p
2
sin b
b
g cos c y
N
ck
sin b
b
R
bc
sin b
b
cos c p
2
sin b
b
g sin c x
N
ck
sin b
b
e R
bc
cos b
b
e x
N
ck
cos b
b
cos c y
N
ck
cos b
b
sin c
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
fX
N
ck
g
u
N
ck
v
N
ck
w
N
ck
u
N
ck
w
N
ck
h
N
ck
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
e = +1 and c = a
p
U
j
+ h
c
, for a counter-clockwise rotating planet; e = 1 and c = a
p
+ U
j
h
c
, for a clock-
wise rotating planet; a
p
, apparent pressure angle; b
b
, base helix angle; U
j
S
1
!
; S
j
!
, phase shift between the
frame R
1
S
1
!
; T
1
!
; Z
!
associated with planet 1 (conventional) and the frame R
j
S
j
!
; T
j
!
; Z
!
associated with
planet j; x
N
ck
; y
N
ck
; z
N
ck
, co-ordinates of node N
ck
in the frame R
c
S
c
!
; T
c
!
; Z
!
associated with the ring-gear
(further information about the geometrical parameters can be found in Fig. 5a and b).
In order to minimise computational times, the ring-gear nite element model is reduced by using a Ritz
method based on a truncated basis of mode shapes of the undamped ring-gear with its actual conditions of
support. Displacements are then sought under the form
fX
N
ck
/
N
N
ck
g fqg 4
where [/
N
(N
ck
)] is made of the lines of the total modal matrix corresponding to the degrees of freedom at node
N
ck
and {q} is the vector of the modal degrees of freedom.
Combining (3) and (4), the deection at any potential point of contact M
i
is nally expressed as
dM
i
fV
G
M
i
g
T
fX
G
g deM
i
5
with
fV
G
M
i
g
T

fV
j
M
i
g
T
fV
N
ck
M
i
g
T
/
N
N
ck

( )
global structure vector associated with the node N
ck
in the meshing zone fX
G
g
fX
j
g
fqg

; global degree-of-
freedom vector made of the degrees of freedom of planet j, {X
j
} and of the modal degrees of freedom {q}.
2.2. Ring-gear 3D nite element modelling
Ring-gears and their supports are modelled by 20 node brick elements which are connected to the 6 degrees
of freedom associated with one given planet. Examples of FE models are shown in Fig. 6 and the details of the
geometrical parameters of the ring-gear model are given in Fig. 7. One major dierence with the previous
beam model is that one tooth of the ring-gear cannot be associated with a single node of the ring-gear FE
model, but it is linked to several nodes of the rst layer of elements at the root cylinder as shown in Fig. 8.
In order to connect all the potential points of contact on tooth anks and the ring-gear, each tooth is assim-
ilated to a series of thin-slices in the apparent plane (Fig. 9), with their stinesses transferred to the base plane.
The displacements at the potential point of contact M
i
can be expressed in terms of the displacements at a
point M
p
of the same thin slice located at the intersection of the thin slice centre-line and the root cylinder.
V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx 5
ARTICLE IN PRESS
The position of M
p
does not necessarily correspond to a node of the FE grid but, thanks to the thin slice
approximation, the displacements in M
i
and M
p
can be related in a simple way and the deection at any poten-
tial point of contact is expressed as
dM
i
u
R
j
O
j

!
M
i
O
j
!
x
R
j
!
u
R
c
M
p

!
M
i
M
p
!
x
R
c
!
n o
n
i
!
deM
i

fV
j
M
i
g
fV
M
p
M
i
g

T

fX
j
g
fX
M
p
g

deM
i
6
with
fV
j
M
i
g
sin b
b
cos b
b
sin a
p
e cos b
b
cos a
p
e R
bj
sin b
b
sin a
p
e p
1
sin b
b
g cos a
p
R
bj
sin b
b
cos a
p
p
1
sin b
b
g sin a
p
e R
bj
cos b
b
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
fX
j
g
u
j
v
j
w
j
u
j
w
j
h
j
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
Fig. 5. (a) Geometrical parameters in the base plane. (b) Beam model of ring-geargeometrical parameters.
6 V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx
ARTICLE IN PRESS
fV
M
p
M
i
g
sin b
b
cos b
b
sin c
e cos b
b
cos c
e R
bc
sin b
b
sin c e p
2
g sin b
b
cos c sin b
b
y
M
p
sin b
b
R
bc
sin b
b
cos c p
2
g sin b
b
sin c sin b
b
x
M
p
sin b
b
e R
bc
cos b
b
e x
M
p
cos b
b
cos c y
M
p
cos b
b
sin c
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
fX
M
p
g
u
M
p
v
M
p
w
M
p
u
M
p
w
M
p
h
M
p
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
where x
M
p
R
fc
cos m
M
p
; y
M
p
R
fc
sin m
M
p
are the co-ordinates of M
p
in the frame R
c
S
c
!
; T
c
!
; Z
!
xed to
the ring-gear.
Unlike in the beam model, the components u
M
p
; v
M
p
; w
M
p
; u
M
p
; w
M
p
and h
M
p
do not correspond to nodal dis-
placements of the FE model and, moreover, the three angles u
M
p
; w
M
p
; h
M
p
are not even considered as degrees
Fig. 6. Examples of ring-gear 3D FE models.
V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx 7
ARTICLE IN PRESS
of freedom for iso-parametric 20 node brick elements. For the three translational degrees of freedom
u
M
p
; v
M
p
; w
M
p
, the correspondence with the displacements at some nodes of the grid is established via the
restrictions of the FE shape functions Q
p
to the lower face of the element [20]. The rotational degrees of free-
dom u
M
p
, w
M
p
, h
M
p
are expressed using the partial derivatives of the displacement eld (rigid-body rotations in
M
p
[21]) leading to the form
u
M
p
v
M
p
w
M
p
u
M
p
w
M
p
h
M
p
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
QM
p

u
1
v
1
w
1
u
2

w
8
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
7
Fig. 7. 3D nite element model of ring-gear.
interface between one tooth and
the ring-gear FE model
Face width
3D brick element
S
c
T
c
Z
Fig. 8. Interface between the ring-gear FE model and one tooth.
8 V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx
ARTICLE IN PRESS
with the transformation matrix [Q(M
p
)] being dened from the shape functions Q
p
, p = 1, 8 and their partial
derivatives associated with the eight nodes of the lower face of the brick element.
As for beam element modelling, ring-gear FE models are reduced using a set of dynamic mode shapes of the
undamped system and the displacements at any node N
k
are written as
dM
i
fV
G
M
i
g
T
fX
G
g deM
i
8
with
fV
G
M
i
g
T

V
j
M
i

V
M
p
M
i
QM
p

/
N
N
1

/
N
N
8

2
6
4
3
7
5
8
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
:
9
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
;
T
Fig. 9. Thin slice model of one tooth.
V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx 9
ARTICLE IN PRESS
global structure vector associated with the point M
p
. [/
N
(N
k
)] is made of the lines of the total modal
matrix corresponding to the three translational degrees of freedom at node N
k
. fX
G
g
fX
j
g
fqg

, global
degree-of-freedom vector made of the degrees of freedom of planet j, {X
j
} and of the modal degrees of
freedom {q}.
2.3. Stiness and mass matrices
The strain energy associated with the internal gear element is determined as the sum the strain energy of the
ring-gear sub-structure, plus all individual energies stored in the independent stinesses k(M
i
) of the Winkler
foundation model used for mesh elasticity. For beam and 3D FE models, the elemental time-varying stiness
matrix and forcing term vector are deduced by applying Lagrange equations in the form of
K
gear
t; X
G

X
Nc
i1
kM
i
fV
G
M
i
g fV
G
M
i
g
T
9a
fF
e
t; X
G
g
X
Nc
i1
kM
i
deM
i
fV
G
M
i
g 9b
where Nc represents the instantaneous number of loaded cells (or stinesses in compression) on the base plane
at time t.
Submitted to the contact condition
kM
i
0 if dM
i
6 0 10
In case of contact at cell i, the associated local mesh stiness k(M
i
) is calculated from the quasi-analytical
formulae of Weber and Banascheck [22]. The time-variations of mesh stiness are determined step-by-step
in time by moving all contact lines according to rigid-body kinematics and re-calculating all k(M
i
) accordingly
as described in Section 4.
The mass matrix of the internal gear element is made of the assembly of the mass matrix of the sub-struc-
ture generated by the nite element code and that of the planet. Several tests were conducted on the inuence
of ring-gear teeth on mode shapes and eigenfrequencies. A model combining 3D FE for the structural parts
with lumped additional masses for the teeth was shown to give good results [23] and will be used for all the
examples in this paper. The mass matrix (diagonal) along with the gyroscopic and centrifugal components are
deduced assuming that u
j
, w
j
, h
j
are small angles and keeping main order terms only.
3. Model of external gears
Following Velex and Maatar [19], the sun-gear and the planets are assimilated to rigid cylinders with 6
degrees of freedom expressed in the frame linked to planet 1 (conventional) for the sun-gear, to the sun-
gear/planet j centre-line for planet j in accordance with the denition used for internal gear elements. The
corresponding mesh stiness matrix and forcing terms read
K
gear
t; X
S
j

X
Nc
i1
kM
i
fV
ext
M
i
g fV
ext
M
i
g
T
11a
fF
e
t; X
S
j
g
X
Nc
i1
kM
i
deM
i
fV
ext
M
i
g 11b
10 V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Submitted to the contact condition (10) with
fV
ext
M
i
g
sin b
b
cos b
b
sin c
e cos b
b
cos c
e R
bS
sin b
b
sin c e p
1
sin b
b
g cos c
R
bS
sin b
b
cos c p
1
sin b
b
g sin c
e R
bS
cos b
b
sin b
b
cos b
b
sin a
p
e cos b
b
cos a
p
e R
bj
sin b
b
sin a
p
e p
2
sin b
b
g cos a
p
R
bj
sin b
b
cos a
p
p
2
sin b
b
g sin a
p
e R
bj
cos b
b
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
fX
S
j
g
u
S
v
S
w
S
u
S
w
S
h
S
u
j
v
j
w
j
u
j
w
j
h
j
8
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
<
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
:
9
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
=
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
;
where the geometrical parameters are dened in Fig. 10 and e = +1 and c = a
p
U
j
, for a counter-clockwise
rotating sun-gear; e = 1 and c = a
p
+ U
j
, for a clockwise rotating sun-gear.
S
j
P
j
O
j
O
S S
1
T
1

j
R
bc
R
bj

p
T
2
C
Planet j
Sun-gear
Z
P
j
T
1 T
1
T
2
Line of contact
p
2
C

M
i

b
p
1
T
2
Fig. 10. Parameters for external gear models.
V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx 11
ARTICLE IN PRESS
After neglecting second-order terms and gyroscopic components, the sun-gear mass matrix is reduced to a
classical diagonal matrix.
4. Simulation of time-varying meshing conditions
4.1. Mesh phasing
The stiness of the meshes varies as the gears rotate because of the changing contact length on tooth anks.
Past research has shown that mesh phasing has a powerful impact on the dynamic response and that a clear
understanding of the relations governing mesh phasing is essential [11]. The solution methodology in this
paper is based on the approach of Velex and Flamand [15] and is particularly suited for time-step procedures.
In a rst phase, the initial positions of all contact lines on all base planes are dened. Conventionally, the
meshing conditions for the sun-gear and planet 1 are such that one tooth pair is about to engage, from which
the positions of the other contact lines for all the meshes are deduced from geometrical considerations. In a
second phase, the sun-gear speed is specied and the nominal rigid-body motions of all the components are
determined according to basic planetary/epicyclic gear kinematics, which makes it possible to derive the
instantaneous positions of potential contacts step by step in time from the initial state dened at the end of
the rst phase. For perfect geometries, the contact length variations and phasing agree well with those
obtained by the method of Parker and Lin [28]. However, in contrast to the analytical approach in [28],
the proposed procedure directly accounts for the inuence of gear errors and deviations since it is coupled with
the iterative solving of the contact problem as described in Section 5.
4.2. Tooth shape deviations
Tooth shape deviations, introduced via equivalent normal deviations de(M
i
) in the equations, are known as
key parameters which can control gear dynamic excitations. Moreover, in the case of planetary gearing, exper-
imental evidence has shown that uneven planet load sharing can occur as a result of geometrical errors, and
some authors [9,24] have stressed the need to simulate gear errors for understanding tooth loading as a func-
tion of time and space. Associated with each cell of the discretised contact lines is an equivalent normal devi-
ation de(M
i
) which accounts for pinion plus gear errors, and which is dened as the dierence between the
actual normal deviation at M
i
and the maximum instantaneous deviation for all potential points of contact
on the same base plane [19]. The equivalent normal deviations are functions of space and time and, as for mesh
stinesses k(M
i
), they are re-calculated at each time-step based upon the position and motion of the lines of
contact.
5. Numerical solution
After the assembly of all elemental matrices and vectors generated by the lumped parameter elements and
the sub-structures, the equations of motion are of the form
Mf

Xg Cf
_
Xg Kt; fXgfXg fF
0
g fF t; fXgg 12
where [K(t, {X})] is the global stiness matrix which is time-dependent because of the contact length variations
on tooth anks and non-linear because of the normal contact condition (10) which introduces a dependency
between mesh stiness and contact deections, i.e., the degree of freedom vector {X}. {F(t, {X})} represents
the contributions of tooth deviations (from (9b) and (11b)). [C] is the global damping matrix determined
via the pseudo-modal basis [U] of the undamped linear time-averaged system using, in this paper, a unique
modal damping factor of 0.05.
Contact positions and lengths as well as mesh stiness for every internal or external mesh cannot be deter-
mined before solving the equations of motion (12), mostly because of the non-linearities possibly caused by
time-varying load-dependent contact extents and/or contact losses. The solution procedure in [19,25] which
combines a time-step scheme and a unilateral contact algorithm is extended to planetary/epicyclic gear sets.
A rst loop checks that the contact forces at all potential points of contact are compressive and adjusts mesh
12 V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx
ARTICLE IN PRESS
stinesses accordingly, a second loop veries that there is no interference between the mating anks outside
the contact zone determined at the end of the rst test on contact forces (Table 1). In contrast to the typical
Table 1
Numerical process
Positions of the points of contact in rigid-body conditions
Definition of equivalent normal deviations
Positions of all contact lines Mesh phasing
k(Mi)=0
YES
YES
Gear data
Definition of deviations and errors
Condensation of sub-structures
Static solution Initial conditions
Integration of (12) by Newmark scheme
Stiffness matrix and forcing terms
Contact forces at all discrete cells on contact lines Fi
Contact deflection i
Is there a point M
i
such that F
i
< 0 ?
Define a tentative contact area L
C
Is there a point M
i
L
C
with i > 0 ?
k(Mi)0
results T=t+dt
V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx 13
ARTICLE IN PRESS
gear models, stinesses and excitations are internally calculated quantities and the simulation code does not
require a priori specications of mesh stinesses and transmission errors as dynamic excitations.
6. Applications
6.1. Example system
The three-planet gear set dened in Table 2 will be used as the example system to study the inuence of
various exible ring-gears. Spur and helical gears will be considered (helix angle of 0 or 20).The three planets
are equally spaced, the sun-gear is the input member with a torque of 750 N m and the output can either be on
the carrier (epicyclic gear set) or on the ring-gear (planetary gear set). The sun-gear is supported by the iso-
tropic stinesses dened in Table 3 and the connections with the planets are made by three lumped parameter
external gear elements as described in Section 3. The carrier is modelled by the set of stinesses in Table 4
placed at the three planet centres. Various ring-gear shapes are considered with a baseline geometry corre-
sponding to a ring of prismatic cross-section (width of 36 mm, thickness of 8.65 mm) whose FE model is
shown in Fig. 6a. The support conditions for the beam and 3D FE models are equivalent and detailed in Table
5. Finally, 50 dynamic modes have been retained for ring-gear condensations.
6.2. Quasi-static results
6.2.1. Deformed shapes
The rst series of results deals with the static deection of the helical gear set (b = 20). Fig. 11a represents
the deformed shape in the plane of the epicyclic train X
!
; Y
!
whereas Fig. 11b shows the displacements in the
Table 4
Stinesses at planet centres (all identical)
K
u
(N/m) (axial) 2.0 10
8
K
v
(N/m) (radial) 2.0 10
8
K
w
(N/m) (radial) 2.0 10
8
K
u
(N m/rad) (bending angle) 1.0 10
7
K
w
(N m/rad) (bending angle) 1.0 10
7
Table 3
Stinesses at the sun-gear centre
K
u
(N/m) (axial) 1.0 10
8
K
v
(N/m) (radial) 1.0 10
8
K
w
(N/m) (radial) 1.0 10
8
K
u
(N m/rad) (bending angle) 1.0 10
6
K
w
(N m/rad) (bending angle) 1.0 10
6
Table 2
Gear data
Sun-gear Planet Ring-gear
Module (mm) 3
Tooth number, Z 14 28 70
Pressure angle a
0
() 22.5
Helix angle b () 0/20
Face width (mm) 30 30 36
Addendum coecient 0.9 0.9 0.9
Dedendum coecient, yf 1.25 1.25 1.25
Mass of one tooth (kg) 0.01
14 V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx
ARTICLE IN PRESS
axial direction. For comparison purposes, the displacements of the ring-gear are those at 70 equally spaced
nodes located along the ring-gear central circle for both the beam and the 3D FE models. It is observed that
there is an excellent agreement between the two approaches (beam/brick nite elements) and that the ring-gear
takes a triangular deformed shape under load. It can be noticed that the maximum displacements are not at
the position of the meshes but slightly downstream as reported by Hidaka et al. [5]. Because of the combina-
tion of thrusts by the helical gears, the ring-gear deects also in the axial direction (Fig. 11b). The sun-gear
displacements in the plane X
!
; Y
!
are negligible, and its motion is almost purely axial in the direction opposed
to that of the ring-gear. The planets move tangentially with no axial component since the axial forces from the
sun-gear are counterbalanced by the axial forces from the ring-gear.
Table 5
Stinesses on ring-gear
Beam model FE 3D
Node number 140 7280
Number of nodes with suspension stinesses 140 700
Axial and radial stinesses K
u
/K
v
/K
w
(N/m) 1.0 10
6
/1.0 10
6
/1.0 10
6
2.0 10
5
/2.0 10
5
/2.0 10
5
Fig. 11. Deformed shape of the train.
V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx 15
ARTICLE IN PRESS
The time histories of the tangential and radial displacements at one node of the ring-gear are represented in
Fig. 12 for the two models of helical gear epicyclic train. The curves indicate that the displacements are made
of the superposition of low-frequency components associated with the passing of the planets and high-fre-
quency components of lower amplitudes related to the mesh frequency and its harmonics. The spectrum in
Fig. 13a shows that the low-frequency range is mostly dominated by the third and sixth harmonics of the car-
rier rotational speed. The higher frequency domain is in Fig. 13b, and is characterised by asymmetric side-
bands about the tooth meshing frequency and by the complete suppression of the meshing frequencies. This
phenomenon has been explained and experimentally veried by Macfadden and Smith [26] and is a conse-
quence of the relative motion between the planets and the ring-gear. It does not depend on non-linear behav-
iour or on frequency modulation but appears as a normal outcome of the vibration produced by the planets as
they move relative to a point of the ring-gear. Similar results have been obtained in the case of spur gears.
Finally, the large deection amplitudes of low-frequency contributions in Figs. 12 and 13 suggest that care
must be taken in the design of ring-gears to avoid resonances with the planet passing frequency and its
harmonics.
Fig. 13. Spectrum of quasi-static displacements at one node of the ring-gear (helical gear example).
-2.0E-04
-1.0E-04
0.0E+00
1.0E-04
2.0E-04
3.0E-04
4.0E-04
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Normalized time t/Tm
D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
)
FE 3D Beam model
tangential
radial
axial
Fig. 12. Quasi-static displacements at one node of the ring-gear (helical gear example).
16 V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx
ARTICLE IN PRESS
6.2.2. Inuence of the ring-gear on tooth loading
Considering the spur gear set with unmodied errorless bodies, the inuence of the ring-gear on tooth load-
ing has been analysed for 3 ring-gears of dierent cross-sections (Fig. 14). The resulting load diagrams on ring-
gear/planet meshes are shown in Fig. 15 and clearly indicate that ring-gear deformability can play a prominent
role especially in the face width direction. For a prismatic ring-gear, the axial load distribution is uniform and
a slight asymmetry between engagement and recess is noticed in the prole direction. The second example with
a non-uniform T-shaped cross-section shows that the tooth central part is overloaded in comparison with the
tooth edges. The third geometry corresponds to thin ring-gears that can be used in planetary gears (the ring-
gear being the output member). In this case, the tooth load is unevenly distributed across the face width with
severe overloading on one tooth edge, possibly leading to surface failures. The deformed shape of the output
member in Fig. 16 shows that the ring-gear annulus bends outwards near the planet/ring-gear meshes so that
deections tend to unload the front side of the mating teeth.
6.3. Dynamic behaviour
6.3.1. Inuence of a deformable ring-gear on dynamic tooth loads
Dynamic tooth loads are characterised by using the dynamic deviations from static tooth loads averaged
over one mesh period dened as
(a) for external meshes (sun-gear/planets)
S
ext

1
N
X
N
j1
1
T
m
Z
T
m
0
F ext
dyn
j
t F ext
stat
j

2
dt 13
Fig. 14. Various ring-gear geometries.
V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx 17
ARTICLE IN PRESS
(b) for internal meshes (planets/ring-gear)
S
int

1
N
X
N
j1
1
T
m
Z
T
m
0
F int
dyn
j
t F int
stat
j

2
dt 14
Fig. 15. Tooth load distributions for various ring-gear geometries.
Fig. 16. Deformed shape of ring-gear/shaft assembly.
18 V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx
ARTICLE IN PRESS
with T
m
, mesh period; F ext
dyn
j
t; F int
dyn
j
t, instantaneous dynamic tooth load on external and internal
meshes, respectively; F ext
stat
j
; F int
stat
j
, static tooth load on external and internal meshes, respectively.
Fig. 17 shows the evolutions of S
ext
and S
int
versus the sun-gear speed for the helical gear examples con-
sidering (i) a rigid ring-gear [14], (ii) a beam model and (iii) a 3D FE ring-gear model (simple annulus of pris-
matic cross-section). From these results and those obtained for spur gears [23], the main observations are:
(a) In the absence of errors, ring-gear deections strongly inuence dynamic loading on ring-gear/planet
meshes but do not signicantly alter tooth loads on sun-gear/planet contacts.
(b) A good agreement is observed between the beam and the 3D FE models but response curves deviate
more for helical gears (Fig. 17b), probably because of the contribution of out-of-the-plane displacements
which are not correctly modelled by beam elements.
(c) Tooth load amplitudes are much lower in the case of helical gears.
(d) Critical speed positions depend on ring-gear exibility that cannot be a priori discarded in any realistic
modelling attempt.
0
50
100
150
200
250
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Sun-gear speed (rad/s)
S
e
x
t

(
N
)
Beam FE 3D Lumped parameters
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Sun-gear speed (rad/s)
S
i
n
t

(
N
)
Beam FE 3D Lumped parameters
(a)
(b)
Fig. 17. Dynamic tooth loads versus sun-gear speed (helical gear example).
V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx 19
ARTICLE IN PRESS
6.3.2. Ring-gear vibrations
The waterfall plots of the dynamic radial displacements at one node of the ring-gear over the speed range 0
1000 rad/s on the sun-gear are presented in Fig. 18, for (a) low frequencies about the planet passing frequency
and (b) in the vicinity of the mesh frequency and its rst two harmonics. The planet passing frequency and its
rst harmonic dominate the low-frequency spectrum but no resonance appears. The asymmetric side-bands
already observed in quasi-static conditions are still present and several resonance peaks emerge.
6.3.3. Inuence of tooth modications
The tooth prole reliefs dened in Table 6 are introduced in the numerical simulations of the spur gear
planetary example. The resulting quasi-static load distributions on tooth anks given in Fig. 19 show that
tip reliefs eliminate sharp load variations at engagement and end of recess. The dynamic behaviour of the
transmission is improved too, since dynamic tooth loads (Fig. 20) and displacement amplitudes are greatly
reduced. The sun-gear trajectories in Fig. 21 show that prole modications are also eective for translational
vibrations.
Fig. 18. Waterfall plots of the dynamic displacements at one node of the ring-gear.
Table 6
Denition of linear prole modications (tip reliefs)
Depth of modication
at tooth tips (lm)
Extent of modication on the prole
(% of the active theoretical prole)
Sun-gear 30 0.27
Planet (external meshes) 30 0.27
Planet (internal meshes) 10 0.4
Ring-gear 20 0.4
20 V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Fig. 19. Quasi-static tooth load distributioninuence of prole modications (spur gear example).
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Sun-gear speed (rad/s)
S
e
x
t

(
N
)
No modifications
Modified profiles
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Sun-gear speed (rad/s)
S
i
n
t

(
N
)
No modifications
Modified profiles
(b)
(a)
Fig. 20. Dynamic tooth loads versus sun-gear speedinuence of tip reliefs (spur gear example).
V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx 21
ARTICLE IN PRESS
7. Conclusions
An original hybrid FE/lumped parameter model of planetary/epicyclic gear sets has been set up. The pro-
posed formulation oers signicant advantages in modelling three-dimensional dynamic behaviour of spur
-4.0E-06
-3.0E-06
-2.0E-06
-1.0E-06
0.0E+00
1.0E-06
2.0E-06
3.0E-06
4.0E-06
-4.0E-06 -2.0E-06 0.0E+00 2.0E-06 4.0E-06
Displacement v (m)
D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

w

(
m
)
No modifications
Modified profiles
(a)
-1.5E-05
-1.0E-05
-5.0E-06
0.0E+00
5.0E-06
1.0E-05
1.5E-05
-1.5E-05 -1.0E-05 -5.0E-06 0.0E+00 5.0E-06 1.0E-05 1.5E-05
Displacement v (m)
D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

w

(
m
)
No modifications
Modified profiles
(b)
-2.0E-05
-1.0E-05
0.0E+00
1.0E-05
2.0E-05
-2.0E-05 -1.0E-05 0.0E+00 1.0E-05 2.0E-05
Displacement v (m)
D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

w

(
m
)
No modifications
Modified profiles
(c)
Fig. 21. Trajectories of sun-gear at three dierent speeds without and with tip reliefs. (a) Sun-gear speed = 0.1 rad/s, (b) sun-gear
speed = 650 rad/s, (c) sun-gear speed = 950 rad/s.
22 V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx
ARTICLE IN PRESS
and helical gears with tooth modications and errors. The contact model allows quasi-static and dynamic
response analyses. Moreover, the load sharing issues for multiple meshes are handled naturally with no a pri-
ori specication of the external and parametric excitations.
The potential of the model has been demonstrated by analysing several realistic planetary and epicyclic
trains. It has been found that ring-gear exibility modies static load distributions and critical tooth speeds
on internal meshes. The eect on external meshes is far lower, and shows that, for the examples treated,
dynamic couplings between sun-gear/planet and planet/ring-gear contacts are not of primary importance.
Ring-gear displacements are characterised by large amplitude low-frequency components associated with
the planet passing frequency, and low-amplitude asymmetric side-bands near the mesh-related frequencies
with complete suppression of the mesh frequencies themselves. The latter comes from the relative motion
of the planets and the ring-gear for both planetary and epicyclic sets and has been experimentally conrmed
[26]. In the case of spur gears, the introduction of tip reliefs dramatically reduces dynamic tooth forces as for
conventional pinion-gear arrangements.
The use of sub-structures for the deformable parts allows precise descriptions of deformable ring-gears or
ring-gear/output shaft assemblies for moderate computational times. The proposed approach can be seen as
an alternative to the complete nite element/contact mechanics models of Parker et al. [12], Kahraman and
Vijayakar [16], Kahraman et al. [27]. The extension to 3D calculations by the present model is certainly more
straightforward; however the computation of stresses within the elements is not as direct. Further research is
under way concerning the possibility of integrating sub-structures for the sun-gear shaft and the carrier while
keeping the time-varying non-linear Winkler foundation model for tooth contacts. The role of planet position-
ing errors and planet indexing in the presence of pitch errors also has to be investigated.
Acknowledgements
The work presented in this paper has been supported by Hispano-Suiza (SNECMA group). The contribu-
tions of Mr. Daniel Ville and Mr. Samuel Becquerelle from the Engineering Department of Hispano-Suiza are
gratefully acknowledged. The authors are also indebted to the ANRT (The French Ministry of Research) for
its nancial support via a CIFRE grant to V. Abousleiman.
Appendix. List of symbols
a
j
sun-gear/planet j centre distance
k(M
i
) mesh stiness associated with the potential point of contact M
i
m
j
mass of planet j
M
p
intersection of one thin-slice central line and the root cylinder (Fig. 9)
m
S
mass of the sun-gear
N number of planets
N
ck
centre of a ring-gear cross-section (beam model)
P
ba
apparent base pitch
{q} modal degree-of-freedom vector
R
as
, R
ac
, R
aj
outer radius of sun-gear, of ring-gear, of planet j, respectively
R
bs
, R
bc
, R
bj
base radius of sun-gear, of ring-gear, of planet j respectively
R
j
S
j
!
; T
j
!
; Z
!
frame xed to sun-gear/planet j centre-line
R
c
S
c
!
; T
c
!
; Z
!
frame xed to ring-gear
{V
ext
(M
i
)} structure vector for external gear elements
{V
j
(M
i
)} structure vector associated with planet j (internal gear elements)
fV
N
ck
M
i
g structure vector associated with the node N
ck
of the ring-gear (internal gear elements with beams)
fV
M
p
M
i
g structure vector associated with the point M
p
(internal gear elements with 3D FE)
Z
s
, Z
c
, Z
j
tooth number of sun-gear, of ring-gear, of planet j respectively
a
p
apparent pressure angle
b
b
base helix angle
V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx 23
ARTICLE IN PRESS
d(M
i
) normal approach with respect to rigid-body conditions at the potential point of contact M
i
de(M
i
) equivalent normal deviation at the potential point of contact M
i
e
S
+1, for a counter-clockwise rotating sun-gear; 1 otherwise
[/
N
] modal basis matrix
h
c
angle describing the relative position between the ring-gear and the carrier. h
c
S
1
!
; S
c
!

X
ch
carrier angular velocity
{s
j
} screw of innitesimal displacements associated with planet j
fs
N
ck
g screw of innitesimal displacements associated with the beam cross-section centred in N
ck
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24 V. Abousleiman, P. Velex / Mechanism and Machine Theory xxx (2005) xxxxxx
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