Abstract
The accuracy of previously published thermal analyses of machine tools has been severely limited by imprecise thermal boundary conditions, in particular the values and distribution of heat inputs and heat-transfer coefficients. This paper describes an attempt to overcome some of the difficulties by determining the thermal boundary conditions for calculating the temperatures in a gearbox using the finite element method.
A spur gearbox test rig has been designed and constructed, and a finite element model of the test gearbox developed. Temperature measurements and lubricant flow observations from experimental work have been combined with relevant theory to derive the boundary conditions. In the first part of this paper the experimental work and finite element steady state results are described. Sufficient agreement is evident between the two sets of results to indicate that the approach adopted here could be usefully extended to the analysis of other similar problems.
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