A multi-body dynamic study of vibration of a planetary gear train with the planetary bearing fault

Local faults including pits and spalls in any planet bearing can greatly affect the vibration of the planetary gear train, as well as the elastic support of the ring gear. However, the dynamic modelling methods in previous work can only formulate the local fault and the elastic support of the ring gear independently. To address this issue, a multi-body dynamic model for a planetary gear train with a local fault in the planet bearing and an elastic ring gear foundation are introduced to analyze the effect of local fault on the vibration. The local fault in the planet bearing is modelled as a rectangular one. Both the planet bearings including the radial clearance and ring gear with an elastic foundation are considered in the multi-body dynamic model. The contact stiffnesses and damping coefficients of gears and bearings are calculated by the methods reported in the literature. A Coulomb friction model is adopted to model the frictions between mating components of the system. In order to validate the proposed multi-body dynamic model, its simulation results are directly compared with those from theoretical methods as well as the experimental methods reported in the literature. Moreover, parameter studies are conducted to discuss the effects of local faults in the planet-bearing races, the sun gear speed, and the carrier moment on the vibration of the planetary gear train. The analyzing results of this study can provide some guidance for detection approaches of local faults in the planet bearings of planetary gear trains through vibration analysis.