Strategies for modeling friction in gear dynamics

Sliding friction between meshing teeth is one of the primary excitations for noise and vibration in geared systems. Yet, there exist very limited studies on this topic. This paper proposes new modeling strategies for incorporating friction in the dynamic analysis of a gear pair First, some tribological issues are discussed for estimation of the friction forces under different operating conditions. Second, modeling procedures and results are compared for linear time-invariant, linear time-varying and non-linear time-varying formulations. Criteria such as energy balance, system complexity and desired solution methodology are discussed. Finally, sample results from the various analyses along with their benefits and limitations are examined.