Design and experimental study of the rolling-enhanced acoustic system for gear tooth surface

Abstract

Parameters of gear flanks, such as roughness, hardness, and residual stress, impact their working performance. Therefore, it is essential to optimize these parameters for increasing gears' life. Thus, this study combined the meshing theory and the ultrasonic surface rolling technology, and presented an innovative design to realize ultrasonic burnishing. First， the dimensions of the ultrasonic burnishing device with two nodes integrated with a gear at the bottom were calculated using frequency equations by a numerical method. Second the correctness of the calculating results was verified by simulations and experiments. Third, the influence of the ratio between the width and diameter of the gear on the acoustic system was studied. Finally, experimental platform of the rolling enhanced acoustic system for gear tooth surface is built successfully. A series of experiments were conducted, and the results showed that the roughness decreased and the hardness and the residual stress improved. Therefore, this design provided a new theory and technology to machine complicated surfaces such as gear flanks.