There are many reasons why gears produce noise. In most applications, the noise from gear rotation and vibration is acceptable. However, at high loads and speeds, noise can become a significant issue. If you have encountered this problem, here are some suggestions for you.
It’s important to understand that reducing gear noise should not be an afterthought; it should be addressed during the design and manufacturing stages to avoid issues later on.
1. Improve Gear Accuracy
Reduce pitch errors, tooth profile errors, runout errors, and tooth alignment errors by using grinding to increase precision.
2. Enhance Tooth Surface Smoothness
Methods like gear grinding and honing can be used, or you can run the gears in an abrasive gear oil for a while to improve surface smoothness and reduce noise.
3. Improve Tooth Contact Patterns
Using crowning and tip relief can improve the meshing at the ends of the teeth and during entry and exit of meshing at the tooth tips and roots. Proper tooth profile adjustment is also effective. These modifications can eliminate impacts on the tooth surface. (Read more: 3 Ways To Do Gear Tooth Modification)
4. Design Proper Backlash
Smaller backlash helps reduce transmission pulsation, decrease backlash errors, and reduce impacts. However, backlash should not be too small as it can cause transmission issues, increased wear due to poor lubrication film formation, and even gear jamming due to thermal expansion or deformation, resulting in more noise.
5. Increase Contact Ratio
Higher contact ratio results in lower noise. This can be achieved by increasing the number of teeth, reducing the pressure angle, and increasing the tooth height. Helical gears are quieter than spur gears, and helical bevel gears are quieter than straight bevel gears.
6. Reduce Burrs and Nicks
After gear hobbing and grinding, burrs typically form around the edges of the teeth. Small burrs can cause noise during meshing and should be removed. Additionally, gears may get nicked during processing or transport if not handled properly. Small nicks are hard to detect but can cause noise, so careful handling throughout the process is important.
7. Use High-Rigidity Gears
Increasing tooth width or shaft diameter can improve rigidity and help reduce noise. Strengthening the gearbox casing can also increase overall rigidity.
8. Use High-Damping Materials
Plastic gears are quieter during light load and low-speed operation. Cast iron gears are quieter than steel gears.
9. Use Proper Lubrication
Ensure adequate lubrication for gear transmission. High-viscosity lubricants can help reduce noise.
10. Lower Load and Speed
Reducing speed and load as much as possible can help minimize gear noise.
Do you have other methods to reduce gear noise? Feel free to share them in the comments.
Thank you for reading. Looking forward to serving you with our exceptional gear solutions. #BeyondGears
