ARTICLE IN PRESS

Tribology International 42 (2009) 340352

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Tribology International
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/triboint

Experimental studies on the effects of reduction in gear tooth stiffness and

lubricant lm thickness in a spur geared system
M. Amarnath, C. Sujatha , S. Swarnamani
Machine Design Section, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India

a r t i c l e in f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 11 September 2007
Received in revised form
9 July 2008
Accepted 10 July 2008
Available online 14 October 2008

Gears are one of the most common mechanisms for transmitting power and motion and their usage can
be found in numerous applications. Studies on gear teeth contacts have been considered as one of the
most complicated applications in tribology. Depending on the application, the speed and load
conditions of teeth may change triggering several types of failures on teeth surface such as wear,
scufng, micro-pitting and pitting. The above-mentioned faults inuence changes in vibration and
acoustic signals, due to changes in operating conditions such as increase in temperature and decrease in
lubricant lm thickness and specic lm thickness. These abnormal changes result in cumulative effects
on localised or distributed faults on load bearing surfaces of gears. Such damages cause reduction in
tooth stiffness and severity of damage can be assessed by evaluating the same using vibration-based
signals.
This paper presents the results of experimental investigations carried out to assess wear in spur
gears of back-to-back gearbox under accelerated test conditions. The studies considered the estimation
of operating conditions such as lm thickness and their effects on the fault growth on teeth surface.
Modal testing experiments have been carried out on the same gear starting from healthy to worn out
conditions to quantify wear damage. The results provide a good understanding of dependent roles of
gearbox operating conditions and vibration parameters as measures for effective assessment of wear in
spur gears.
& 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords:
Gear vibration
Gear wear
Gear tooth stiffness
Lubricant lm thickness

1. Introduction
A gear is a machine element designed to transmit power and
motion from one mechanical unit to another. For most of the
modern industrial and transport applications, gears are important
and are frequently used as fundamental components. Typical
applications include large electrical utilities, automotive industries, ships helicopters, etc. Like all mechanical components, gears
do fail in service for a variety of reasons and except for increase in
vibration and noise, there can be often no indication of any
problem until total failure occurs.
The lubricant performs a number of functions in tribological
systems such as reducing friction, cooling components, cleaning
the load bearing surfaces, etc. Over the service time, lubricants
tend to degrade, lose their lubrication properties due to chemical
breakdown and become contaminated by build up particles
caused by wear [1]. In order to predict and overcome the wearrelated damage progression in gear transmission systems, various
condition monitoring techniques have been developed in the past
two decades, which include vibration, acoustic emission, oil/wear

 Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 44 22574682; fax: +91 44 22574652.

E-mail address: sujatha@iitm.ac.in (C. Sujatha).

0301-679X/$ - see front matter & 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
doi:10.1016/j.triboint.2008.07.008

and sound analysis [13]. Drosjack and Houser [2] postulated that
a change in tooth thickness is due to the presence of pits which
cause modications in the Hertzian compliance. Furthermore, it
was suggested that pitting causes instantaneous changes in
Hertzian stiffness, which generate a Hertzian impact due to the
sudden velocity difference between pinion and wheel. In addition,
micro-pitting was also identied as a source for increased
vibrations. In the review by Sung et al. [3], surface fatigue has
been identied as an important component of pitting when small
in scale and occurs in the early stage of gear failure. When pitting
occurs, the load is applied only over a nite region of the gear. At
the same time contact stress increases enormously in the contact
area. According to Tavakoli and Houser [4], Hertzian compliance is
affected by pitting and is closely related to it.
The thickness of the lubricant lm affects the performance of
gear transmission systems, reduced thickness being responsible
for failure modes, viz., macro-pitting or gear staining, scufng
and mild wear [5]. Alternative methods to predict the aforementioned failures are often related specically to lubricant lm
thickness, which is an indication of contact severity or the
possibility of lubricant lm breakdown. In these methods,
physical properties of the lubricant such as viscosity and
temperature play an important role, since they have a strong
inuence on lm thickness. Literature strongly supports the

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M. Amarnath et al. / Tribology International 42 (2009) 340352

Ra
a

Nomenclature

Z0
u
E0
E1, E2
s1, s2

r
d0,1, d0,2

b
w
F
FU
db
M
b

l
R

absolute viscosity
peripheral velocity
combined Youngs modulus, E0 2E1 E2 =E2 1  s21
E1 1  s22 
modulus of elasticity for gear and pinion, respectively
Poissons ration for gear and pinion materials
effective radius of curvature of the two surfaces,
1=r 2= sin b1=d0;1 1=d0;2
diameters of gear and pinion, respectively
mesh angle
normal tooth force per unit width, w F/b
normal tooth force, F FU/cos b
peripheral force, FU 2M/db
pitch circle diameter
torque
tooth width
specic lm thickness
combined surface roughness

dependency of distributed faults in gear transmission systems on

lm thickness, specic lm thickness, stiffness reduction and
increase in vibration parameters. In practice, there are a number
different methods which can be employed for wear assessment of
rotating machinery, viz., vibration signature analysis, oil/wear
particle analysis, acoustic emission technique, etc. In practice
these techniques are applied independently and can diagnose only
about 3040% of faults.
Peng and Kessissoglou [6] investigated and established the
correlation between vibration analysis and wear debris analysis
techniques. They have shown that the integration of the two
techniques will signicantly improve the overall capability of
the condition monitoring program by providing more reliable
information. Experiments were conducted on worm-gearbox to
establish correlation between the two techniques under various
wear conditions; the operating conditions included normal
lubrication, lack of proper lubrication and presence of contaminant particles added to the lubricant oils. Wear source assessment
was carried out by chemical composition analysis and particle
morphology provided knowledge about the wear mechanism.
Vibration data collected regularly was used in conjunction

Electric motor

Slave gear box

341

root mean square surface roughness

half of the dynamic distance between two suspended
teeth
mass of the frame and test gear
mass moment inertia of the frame and gear
equivalent translational spring effects of the two
points of suspension
contact stiffness
equivalent translational spring effects of the two
points of suspension
torsional spring effects of the two points of suspension
axial stiffness of the pre-load screw
allowable contact stress
0.25 HB
Brinell hardness number
module of gear
number of teeth on gear and pinion, respectively
elastic moduli of pinion and gear materials, respectively

Mf, Mg
Ig, If
k1, k2
kcon
ks
ktor
kscr
kc
kc
HB
m
Z1, Z2
E1, E2

with these techniques. Investigations on comparison of vibration

and oil debris parameters for detection of gear pitting failure [7]
showed that both these parameters increased signicantly
when pitting damage began to occur. Threshold limits were
dened to quantify the damage. Performance of both parameters were improved and were combined into an intelligent
system that could investigate the vibration and oil debris
data to interpret the damage severity and make an accurate
decision.
Tan and Mba [8] in their experiments established a general
relationship between vibration and acoustic emission indicators
and the gearbox operating conditions such as oil lm thickness,
load and speed. The authors have postulated that various
indicators within a monitoring technique must be used simultaneously in order to establish and explain the phenomenon
observed. The most ideal situation is to use various techniques
simultaneously to monitor health status of the gearbox. In the
present work the experimental quantication of results such as
change in stiffness, vibration, lm thickness and specic lm
thickness of spur gears were investigated. Experiments were
carried out under accelerated test conditions.

Test gear box

Flexible coupling

Torque shaft
Driving pulley

Torque locking nut

Torque adjustment coupling

Fig. 1. Back-to-back gearbox.

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M. Amarnath et al. / Tribology International 42 (2009) 340352

The aim of the experiment was to initiate and propagate wear

under accelerated test conditions. Lubricant temperature, lubricant lm thickness, vibration acceleration and tooth stiffness
analyses were used in the detection and quantication of
advancement of wear incurred by spur gear teeth. The experimental setup used for this study was designed in standard backto-back arrangement as shown in Fig. 1.
The arrangement consists of two parallel steel shafts and four
gears (two pinions with 25 teeth and the other two gears with 50
teeth) and a pair of pinions; gears have been assembled on either
side of the shafts. In order to initiate surface pitting in a relatively
short time span, the gear sets used in this experiment are made of
En 19 steel without any heat treatment. The gears with 25 and 50
teeth had a module of 4 mm and pressure angle of 201 and surface

Temperature C

2. Experimental setup

0 Nm
59 Nm
118 Nm
177 Nm
236 Nm
295 Nm
360 Nm
413 Nm

85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
0

Table 1a
Dimensions, specications and test conditions of the gears

3
4
Time (Hours)

Fig. 3. Effect of load on oil temperature.

Pinion

Wheel

Centre distance (mm)

Pitch diameter
Module (mm)
Number of teeth
Face width (mm)
Addendum modication
Pressure angle
Hardness
Gear ratio

150
100
4
25
25
mx1 0
201
790 Hv
2

150
200

Material properties of gears

Youngs modulus
Poissons ratio
Material (steel)
Brinell hardness number (BHN)

2  105 N/mm2
0.3
En 19, 0.35% carbon
130

Test conditions
Pinion speed
Static load
Lever arm
Torque on gear wheel shaft

N 2100 rpm
W 0690 N
L 600 mm
0413 N m

0 Nm
59 Nm
118 Nm
177 Nm
236 Nm
295 Nm
354 Nm
413 Nm

50
25
mx1 0

Lubricant film thickness (microns)

Table 1b
Chemical composition of steel En 19
Min

Max

Carbon
Silicon
Manganese
Phosphorous
Sulphur
Chromium
Molybdenum

0.36
0.10
0.70

0.90
0.25

0.44
0.35
1.00
0.04
0.04
1.20
0.35

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

3
Time (Hours)

180

216

Fig. 4. Effect of load on oil lm thickness.

3.5
Combined surface roughness

Element

360 Nm
413 Nm

3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0

Fig. 2. Test gear of spur gear train.

36

72

108
144
Time (Hours)

Fig. 5. Combined surface roughness as function of time.

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M. Amarnath et al. / Tribology International 42 (2009) 340352

roughness Ra of the order of 23 mm. Table 1(a) gives the

dimensions and specications of the gearbox used for the present
study, as well as the test conditions. Table 1(b) gives the chemical

Specific film thickness ''

14
Accelerated Test 1 (360Nm)
max At initial stage of operation
min At final stage of operation

12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0

18

36
54
72
Operating Time (Hours)

90

108

Fig. 6. Accelerated Test 1specic lm thickness vs. time.

Specific film thickness ''

6
Accelerated Test 2(413Nm)
max At initial stage of operation
min At final stage of operation

3
2
1
0
18

36
54
72
Operating Time (Hours)

90

composition of steel En 19. The torque adjustment coupling

connects the two shafts onto one axle. The ends of the axle are
connected to the two pinions. Another axle that has two gears on
the ends is connected to a 10 HP three-phase induction motor
which was used to transmit power to the main shaft with a
reduction ratio of 0.7. The simplest way of introducing static
torque into the system is to include a special torque coupling
connected between the input shafts.
This coupling is such that its halves can be clamped together
in any relative angular position by bolts, the heads of which
are located in circular T-Slots in the face of one half coupling.
Thus, when the clamping bolts are released, one half is held
stationary, while on the other half the torque is applied through a
lever arm. The torque applied is measured and the coupling is
then clamped. In conventional gear test experiments, the torque
on gears is given by external loading, such as a magnetic brake
and the motor has to be carefully controlled for different shaft
speeds under the specied torque. In torque coupling, on the
other hand, the anges are locked in the shaft loop and the
applied torque remains constant for any motor speed. This
arrangement does not need any external load and reduces
the complexity of designing the driving system. It has been
the most reliable approach for investigating and testing a gear
system.
2.1. Instruments and sensors

343

108

Fig. 7. Accelerated Test 2specic lm thickness vs. time.

A commercial data acquisition system DACTRON model

FCS-100 was used to acquire the vibration data from the gearbox
housing. B&K 4332 accelerometer was mounted on the bearing
housing in the axial direction since there was no provision for
mounting the pick-up in the horizontal or vertical (radial)
directions. The signals from the accelerometer in the frequency
range from 0.3 to 8 kHz were conditioned using B&K 2626 signal
conditioning amplier and these signals were sampled at 20 kHz
before being fed into a personal computer for further processing.
The oil bath temperature was measured and recorded throughout
the test at every half hour interval. A k-type (chromelalumel)
thermocouple was employed to measure oil temperature for
computation of oil lm thickness. The oil bath temperature was
measured through an opening on the top of the gearbox casing

Torque - 360 Nm

Healthy gear

Initial micro pitting

after 20 hours

Increase in pit size

(after 36 hours)

Macro pitting
(atfer 72 hours)

Abrasive wear (after

108 hours)

Torque - 413 Nm

Progressive pitting on
Tooth (after 144 hours)

Scuffing (after 198hours)

Spalling (after 162 hours)
Fig. 8. Pitting growth on gear teeth.

Increase in pit size

(after 216 hours)

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M. Amarnath et al. / Tribology International 42 (2009) 340352

using the specied thermocouple probe. The location for acquiring

oil temperature was adjacent to the gear mesh position.

2.2. Operating conditions

In the present experiment, the gearbox was operated at
2100 rpm under accelerated load conditions, i.e. Accelerated
Test 1 at 360 N m and Accelerated Test 2 at 413 N, these torques

being about 45 times the allowable load, where allowable load

is 118 N m. This allowable load is the value prior to pitting. In a
normal gearbox, an anti-wear lubricant is usually employed to
prevent wear of the teeth. In order to initiate surface pitting in a
relatively short time span, the lubricant oil SAE 40 without anti
wear properties was employed. Oil bath lubrication of approximately 4 l was used in the experiments. The test gear pair is
shown in Fig. 2.
The expression for allowable load Fc is given by Ishibashi and
Tanaka [20]:


K 2 sin 2b
Z1 Z2
1
1
mb

,
(1)
Fc c
1:4
Z 1 Z 2 E1 E2
where Fc (N) is the allowable load on the gear prior to pitting.

 For the test gears a 201, module m 4 mm, E1, E2 2  105




N/mm2.
The allowable load Fc is found to be 112.8 N.
The applied load during the test is 706.3 N.

3. Lubricant lm thickness
Effective lubrication is critically important because it prevents
direct tooth contact, reduces friction, prevents high vibration
levels, removes heat generated in meshing and protects the gear
from corrosion. The analysis of lm thickness between lubricated
contacts is very complex. It involves two rough surfaces in relative
motion separated by a lubricant lm. This lm, when subjected to
high contact pressure and sliding, due to difference in surface
velocities and increase in temperature, undergoes a change in its

Fig. 9. Gear frame assembly.

Mf, If
f (t)

kf

k1
kscr
kf

kt1

ks

k2

ktor
kcon
g (t)

Xf (t)
kt2
Mg, Ig

Xg (t)

Fig. 10. Dynamic model of gear frame combination.

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M. Amarnath et al. / Tribology International 42 (2009) 340352

physical properties. Under typical operating conditions, the

lubricant lm separating the contacts is very thin, usually of the
same order of magnitude as the surface roughness, which may
cause breakdown of the lubricant lm. This drastic fall in lubricant
lm thickness is responsible for gear failure modes, viz., micropitting, macro-pitting, gear staining, scufng and mild wear.
Alternative methods to predict gear failure is often related to lm
thickness and specic lm thickness, which are an indication of
contact severity or of possibility of lubricant breakdown. In these
methods, lubricant properties play an important role, since they
have strong inuence on lm thickness.
The criterion for possible scoring damage can be explained
under three conditions. The oil lm thickness hmin and specic
lm thickness l can be calculated [9,10] as shown in Eqs. (2) and
(3). If the specic lm thickness which is calculated as the ratio of
combined roughness to lubricant lm thickness using Eq. (3) is
found as lX3, it indicates that the gear is operational under ideal
full lm or elastohydrodynamic (EHD) lubrication. If specic lm
thickness is found to be 1.4olo3, it indicates mixed wear
lubrication and some wear is predicted. The range lo1.4 shows
that the gear is operating under boundary lubrication and severe
wear can be predicted in this regime. Hence, if specic lm
thickness is sufciently large, scoring wear is unlikely or even
impossible [811]:
hmin

1:6a0:6 Z0 u0:7 E0 0:03 r0:44

,
w0:13

(2)

hmin
,
R

(3)

where a is pressure viscosity coefcient, Z0 is the absolute

viscosity in centiPoise, u is peripheral velocity, E0 is modulus of
elasticity, r is effective radius of curvature and w is normal tooth
force per unit width.
The combined roughness R is calculated as R (R1+R2)/2,
where R1 and R2 are root mean square (RMS) values of pinion and
gear ank surfaces roughness. The surface roughness was
measured using perthometer. These values are multiplied by a
factor 1.3 to get corresponding combined surface roughness value
Table 2
Properties of gear and frame used in the modal testing
Mass of test gears
Mass moment inertia of gear
Mass of the frame
Mass moment inertia of the frame
Axial stiffness of the pre-load screw
Torsional spring effect of the pre-load screw

Mg 1.008 kg
Ig 1.3  103 kg m2
Mf 4.77 kg
If 0.04 kg m2
kscr 234 MN/m
ktor 625.607 N/rad

[9,10,12]. Surface roughness was measured in radial direction.

Measurement length is 1.750 mm, and cutoff length is
0.250 mm. Absolute type pick-up was used to measure surface
roughness.
Tooth surface failures are progressive failure mechanisms and
can be detected if inspected visually. In some cases, surface
fatigue occurs in plastically deformed regions under excessive
contact stress and these can also be caused by scufng or wear
failure. Once initiated, crack propagation is accelerated by the
hydroulicing effect of gear lubricant and tangential reactive force.
In general, tooth damage causes a reduction in gear tooth stiffness.
If the contact region is completely contained in the surface fault,
tooth contact is lost and stiffness reduces gradually. Obviously the
connection between pitting, stiffness and vibration signal provides the possibility of monitoring gear defects. If surface
deterioration is not corrected in the early stage of development,
catastrophic failure may result [3,13,14].

4. Experimental results on lubricant parameters

Oil temperatures are of decisive importance in predicting
surface failures as well as vibration level of gear transmission
system. Results for eight operating load conditions, i.e. 0, 59, 118,
177, 236, 295, 360 and 413 N m, are plotted in Fig. 3 to observe oil
temperature versus operating time for different loads. The wear
on spur gear is a continuous failure under thin separating lm
conditions, typically at higher load, speeds and temperatures,
where asperity interaction can occur. This leads to material
removal from the mating surfaces with each load cycle. Pitting are
often related to the specic lm thickness, which is an indication
of the contact severity or of possibility of lubricant lm breakdown [5]. Lubricant lm thickness has been estimated from
Eq. (2). Fig. 4 shows a plot of lm thickness as a function of
operating time for different load conditions. The lm thickness is
at the pitch point between two rolling tooth anks. Shear thinning
effect was not taken into account. From Figs. 3 and 4 and from
Eq. (3), it can be seen that an increase in load and temperature
leads to reduction of oil lm thickness. Surface roughness, is a
critical parameter in specic lm thickness measurement. Hence,
surface roughness measurements have been carried out and
combined surface roughness is calculated.
Fig. 5 shows the effect of combined surface roughness over
operating time. For these experiments, the gearbox was operated
6 h a day for 18 days for each of two load conditions. The gears
were dismounted every 18 h for measuring surface roughness.
Mass loss was not measured. The same oil was used throughout
the tests. The results shown are with a load of 360 N m for 108 h

90

MAG dB

MAG dB

90

0
0

1000 2000 3000 4000 5000

Frequency (Hz) X = 3996 Hz

345

0
3500 3600 3700 3800 3900 4000 4100
Frequency (Hz) X: 3996 Hz

Fig. 11. FRF of gear and frame system: (a) healthy gear and (b) zoomed at translational frequency.

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M. Amarnath et al. / Tribology International 42 (2009) 340352

and 413 N m after the rst 108 h up to the end of 216 h. Further,
specic lubricant lm thickness l was computed to keep track of
distributed faults.

Figs. 6 and 7 show specic lubricant lm thickness l under

the two accelerated test conditions, i.e. 360 and 413 N m, for the
entire time duration of 0108 h each. In these gures, lmax refers
to the specic lm thickness values at the beginning of each day
and lmin the value at the end of the day after 6 h of operation. Both
these gures show decreasing values of l w.r.t. running hours.
This is due to increase in temperature and consequent changes in
viscosity. The values at higher load (413 N m) as shown in Fig. 7
are much smaller as compared to those in Fig. 6 (360 N m). Fig. 7
shows lmin values much lower than 1.4 for the entire 108 h with
higher load of 413 N m. This shows that for the lighter load of
360 N m the specic lm thickness is much larger compared to
that with of 430 N m as explained. The larger decrease in Fig. 7 at
load of 413 N m is due to cumulative damage that has occurred
at higher loads.
The detailed observations of scoring and pitting rates in
relation to the gear face area such as addendum, pitch and
dedendum as a function of time are as shown in Fig. 8. For normal
torque condition (0177 N m), the pitting growth shows much
slower rates and is localised over a few teeth only, whereas for
higher applied torque conditions and prolonged operating time
(360413 N m over 216 h), pitting is seen to spread across to other
teeth. The effects of these damages on the teeth surface on
stiffness and vibration characteristics of the transmission system
are discussed in the next section.
In Fig. 8, signs of wear were observed both on dedendum and
addendum (after 36 and 216 h). In general, the initiation of pitting
is conned to three areas of tooth prole, i.e. (1) pitch line, (2) the
area above or below the pitch line and (3) tip contact [15]. In the
present work, pitting was found on the above-mentioned areas, a
few important photographs are shown in Fig. 8. Various forms of
wear are seen as a consequence of using non-heat-treated gears
and lubricant without additives.

MAG dB

90

3500

3600

3700
3800
3900
Frequency (Hz) X = 3941 Hz

4000

4100

Fig. 12. FRF of the system with additional.

Table 3
Measured translational frequencies and estimated reduction in stiffness for
Accelerated Test 1 (N 2100 rpm, T 360 N m)
Operating
hours (h)

Measured frequency (Hz)

Averaged
frequency (Hz)

Stiffness
reduction (%)

0 (healthy)
18
36
54
72
90
108

4002
3988
3968
3954
3948
3928
3906

3996
3984
3974
3962
3948
3932
3912

0.0
1.0
1.4
1.7
2.2
3.2
3.8

3992
3982
3976
3961
3940
3936
3914

3990
3990
3970
3966
3938
3934
3918

5. Gear tooth stiffness

Table 4
Measured translational frequencies and estimated reduction in stiffness for
Accelerated Test 2 (N 2100 rpm, T 413 N m)
Operating
hours (h)

Measured frequency (Hz)

Averaged
frequency (Hz)

Stiffness
reduction (%)

126
144
162
180
198
216

3908
3880
3864
3836
3814
3802

3900
3881
3868
3838
3818
3802

4.1
4.7
5.2
5.6
5.9
6.2

3896
3876
3864
3842
3822
3794

3894
3888
3872
3834
3820
3808

Gear tooth stiffness is a key parameter in gear dynamics and in

determination of the factors such as load carrying capacity of
gears, dynamic tooth loads and vibration characteristics of geared
systems. Pitting is on a small scale and is one type of surface
fatigue that often occurs in early sages of failure. When pitting
occurs, the load is applied on only a nite region of the gear. At the
same time, contact stress increases enormously in the contact
area. Hertzian compliance is the most signicant part of the total
compliance around pitch line. Since pitting affects Hertzian
compliance signicantly, it is closely related to it. The resulting
stiffness variation is the main reason for the impact in the pitted

90

MAG dB

MAG dB

90

0
0
3500 3600 3700 3800 3900 4000 4100
Frequency (Hz) X = 3996 Hz

3500 3600 3700 3800 3900 4000 4100

Frequency (Hz) X = 3916 Hz

Fig. 13. FRF of the systemAccelerated Test 1: (a) FRF of the healthy pinion and (b) FRF of the system after 108 h.

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M. Amarnath et al. / Tribology International 42 (2009) 340352

mass centre of gravity as shown in Fig. 10. Table 2 gives details of

the properties of gear and frame used in the modal tests.
The bodies can be considered to be connected to each other by
four springs k1, k2, ks and ktor, where k1, k2 represent the equivalent
translational spring effect of the two points of suspension,

4100

Translational Frequency (Hz)

areas. If a contact region is completely contained in the surface

fault, tooth contact is lost and stiffness will reduce gradually,
changing the vibration signal also. Obviously connection between
pitting, stiffness and vibration signal provides possibility of
monitoring gear defects [3,7,16,17]. In summary, the surface
fatigue faults, i.e. localised or distributed faults, will modify the
stiffness and in turn the impulsive reaction, between gears which
have lost the original involute prole, thus leading to change the
vibration levels of the system [18].

5.1. Stiffness measurement of gear using modal testing

Yesilyurt et al. [19] carried out theoretical calculation of
stiffness by considering bending, shear and rim deformations on
a spur gear tooth; and measurements made to validate the
analytical ndings. The effectiveness of modal analysis highlighted in the study was used to assess the severity of faults by
considering both simulated faults as well as uniform wear in
accelerated test conditions.
In the present work the authors have continued with the
experimental procedure suggested by Yesilyurt et al. [19] for
accelerated tests in the presence of lubricating oil. The authors
have also simultaneously monitored the operating conditions
such as temperature, viscosity, lm thickness and specic lm
thickness in order to integrate and assess fault severity and
operating conditions of the gearbox.

4000
3900
3800
3700

360 Nm
413 Nm

3600
3500
0

18

36

54
72
Time (Hours)

Tooth Stiffness Reduction (%)

5
4
3
2
load 360 Nm
load 413 Nm

1
0
0

20

40

60
Time (Hours)

80

100

Fig. 16. Reduction in tooth stiffness at different stages of wear.

90

90

MAG dB
3500 3600 3700 3800 3900 4000 4100
Frequency (Hz) X = 3897 Hz

108

Severity of defect can be assessed by the information of

stiffness reduction in gear teeth. In the modal test setup, the test
pinion was clamped with a specially designed frame in which a
pair of diametrically opposing teeth was machined to accommodate the test pinion. Fig. 9 shows the photograph of pinion and
frame assembly used in the modal test assembly.
The steel rectangular section was fabricated as a frame in
which two tapered slots were machined at the mid span of the
inner faces of the two vertical sides, which enabled the pinion to
be held rmly by its two opposite teeth. The gear teeth were
supported across their entire face width, so that the measured
vibration responses were due to stiffness of both the teeth. The
suspended teeth in the frame were excited by an impact hammer,
causing the frame assembly to vibrate in a direction perpendicular
to a plane passing through the pinion body.
The gear frame assembly is considered as being made up of
rigid bodies having lumped masses and inertias located at their

90

Fig. 15. Change in translational frequency at different stages of wear.

5.2. Description of modal testing procedure to measure the stiffness

of spur gear teeth

MAG dB

347

0
3500 3600 3700 3800 3900 4000 4100
Frequency (Hz) X = 3799 Hz

Fig. 14. FRF of the systemAccelerated Test 2: (a) FRF of the system after 126 h and (b) FRF of the system after 216 h.

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M. Amarnath et al. / Tribology International 42 (2009) 340352

ks represents the equivalent stiffness of the pre-load xing 0

screw, ktor represents the torsional spring effect of the pre-load
screw during the relative rotational motion of the bodies.
The equation of motion of the system can be expressed in terms
of the relative displacement, X(t) Xf(t)Xg(t) and relative

rotation y(t) yf(t)yg(t) between the rigid bodies. The force

equilibrium equations for relative displacement are obtained as
follows:
Mg X g k1 k2 ks X g  X f k2  k1 ay 0,

Acceleration (m/s2)

10
8
6
4
1fm

2
0
0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

Frequency (Hz)

Acceleration (m/s2)

10
8
6
4

1fm
2fm

2
0
0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

8000

10000

Frequency (Hz)

Acceleration (m/s2)

10
8
1fm

6
4

4fm
2fm

3fm

2
0
2000

4000

6000

Frequency (Hz)

Acceleration (m/s2)

10
8

1fm

6
4

2fm

3fm

4fm

2
0
0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 17. Frequency spectra at 360 N m for Accelerated Test 1: (a) 0 h, (b) 36 h, (c) 72 h, and (d) 108 h.

(4)

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M. Amarnath et al. / Tribology International 42 (2009) 340352

M f X f k1 k2 ks X f  X g k1  k2 ay 0.

(5)

349

Mg Mf X M g M f k1 k2 ks X M g M f k1 a  k2 ay 0.
(8)

By multiplying Eq. (4) by Mf and Eq. (5) by Mg:

M f M g X g M f k1 k2 ks X g  X f M f k2  k1 ay 0,

(6)

The moment equilibrium equations for relative rotation are

obtained from

M g M f X f M g k1 k2 ks X f  X g M g k1  k2 ay 0,

(7)

Ig y g k2 aX  k1 aX k2 a2 y  k1 a2 y ktor r 2t y 0,

Acceleration (m/s2)

10
1fm

8
6

2fm

3fm

4fm

2
0
0

Acceleration (m/s2)

10

2000

4000
6000
Frequency (Hz)

8000

10000

1fm

2fm

6
3fm

4fm

2
0
0

Acceleration (m/s2)

10

2000

4000
6000
Frequency (Hz)

8000

10000

1fm
2fm

3fm

4fm

4
2
0

Acceleration (m/s2)

2000

1fm

10

2fm

4000
6000
Frequency (Hz)

8000

10000

3fm
4fm

6
4
2
0
0

2000

4000
6000
Frequency (Hz)

8000

10000

Fig. 18. Frequency spectra at 413 N m for Accelerated Test 2: (a) 0 h, (b) 36 h, (c) 72 h, and (d) 108 h.

(9)

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M. Amarnath et al. / Tribology International 42 (2009) 340352

If y f k1 aX  k2 aX k1 a2 y  k2 a2 y ktor r 2t y 0.

(10)

By multiplying Eq. (9) by If and Eq. (10) by Ig:

If Ig y g If k2 aX  If k1 aX If k2 a2 y  If k1 a2 y If ktor r 2t y 0,

(11)

Ig If y f Ig k1 aX  Ig k2 aX Ig k1 a2 y  Ig k2 a2 y Ig ktor r 2t y 0,

(12)

Ig If y Ig If k1 a k2 aX
Ig If k1 a2 k2 a2 ktor r 2t y 0,
"

Mg Mf
0
"

0
Ig If

#(

X
y

(13)

M g M f k1 k2 ks

Ig If k1 a  k2 a
( ) ( )
0
X
,


0
y

Mg Mf k1 a  k2 a

Ig If k1 a2  k2 a2 ktor r 2t
(14)

where a represents half of the dynamic distance between two

suspended teeth, Mg, Ig and Mf, If denote the mass and mass
moment of inertia of the test gear and the frame, respectively
[13,19].

from Fig. 13 that the peaks in the FRFs corresponding to the

translational frequency had shifted from 3996 to 3916 Hz after
108 h of operation with a load of 360 N. From Fig. 14 it is seen that
this peak further shifts from 3897 Hz after 108 h of operation to
3799 Hz after 216 h of operation, the load being maintained at 413
during this time duration.
The assumptions made in the estimation of stiffness reduction
are as follows: (a) The material removal rate remains the same
throughout the test. (b) Weight of the material removal is small
and negligible. As per the rst assumption the coupling term
(k1ak2a) in Eq. (14) becomes zero. Using this approach the
reduction in stiffness can be estimated, the overall stiffness
reduction estimated during the test being around 6.2% for the
entire test, i.e. Accelerated Tests 1 and 2.
Figs. 15 and 16 show plots of translational vibration frequency
and reduction in estimated stiffness vs. operating time, respectively. After the pinion has undergone wear operating at 2100 rpm
and accelerated torques of 360 and 413 N m, respectively. These
plots are indicative of increase in wear rate at different stages;
hence, it is concluded that wear causes approximately a linear
stiffness reduction with operating time.

6. Vibration trend monitoring

For the modal tests B&K 4344 miniature accelerometer of

weight 2 g was glued on the bore of the gear. Steel tipped impact
hammer RION PH-51 7117 of mass 0.15 kg was used as a means for
exciting the gear frame assembly. The gear was kept in the frame
and the gear-frame assembly was hung by two elastic bands with
negligible stiffness. The accelerometer outputs were conditioned
by using B&K 2323 charge amplier. All signals of applied force
and responses were analysed using Dual channel Aligent FFT
analyser 35670 A which consists of a data acquisition system and
signal processing hardware for further processing.
The experiments involved measuring the severity of wear
through modal tests and evaluating translational frequency to
estimate reduction in stiffness. Two experimental combinations,
i.e. two accelerated tests, were considered for 216 h of operating
hours. The modal tests were carried after every 18 h of operation.
The FRF of the system was obtained as the average of 10 values.
5.4. Experimental results
Fig. 11(a) shows the FRFs of the gear frame combination for
healthy gear teeth. The predominant translational modal frequency is found to be 3996 Hz. Fig. 11(b) shows the same FRF plot
zoomed between 3500 and 4100 Hz for better analysis. To
determine the peak corresponding to the gear natural frequency
in the FRF, a close tting steel cylindrical block weighing 0. 2 kg
was inserted in the centre bore of the gear. The impact test was
repeated a large number of times by maintaining a torque of 1 N m
for all the tests. The FRF of the system with additional mass is
shown in Fig. 12. It can be seen that the peak in the FRF
corresponding to 3996 Hz has shifted to 3941 Hz and hence this
corresponds to one of the expected modes. The modal tests were
repeated at intervals of 18 h over the test period of 216 h for the
two load conditions. Translational frequency measurements and
estimated stiffness reduction of gear teeth are listed in Tables 3
and 4. The FRFs of the system obtained between 0 and 108 h
for the two accelerated test conditions, i.e. 360 and 413 N m, are
shown in Figs. 13(a)(f) and 14(a)(f), respectively.
The resulting FRFs were zoomed around their corresponding
translational frequencies to increase the resolution. It can be seen

As oil lm thickness reduces, the damping effect of the oil lm

between the meshing surfaces reduces resulting in increasing
vibration level. Vibration signals were acquired using accelerometer which was mounted on bearing housing. Figs. 17 and 18
show the vibration spectra for the two accelerated load conditions, i.e. 360 and 413 N m, over the time period of 216 h. During
the wear test, the pinion speed was set to 2100 rpm giving a
fundamental mesh frequency of 875 Hz. The vibration signals
were sampled at 20 kHz and stored in the computer. This
sampling frequency was sufcient to reveal the frequency content
of vibration approximately up to the fth tooth mesh harmonic
frequency. The vibration signals generated by the test gears were
monitored every 6 h. The vibration levels increased with time due
to reduction in the stiffness of the gear resulting from the
modication of the Hertzian contact [3,19]. Figs. 17(a)(d) and
18(a)(d) show the vibration spectra under accelerated test after
every 36 h for loads of 360 and 460 N m, respectively. A gradual
increase in amplitudes of mesh frequencies can be observed from
these gures as wear advances from 36 to 216 h. Vibration RMS
acceleration as a function of operating time is shown in Fig. 19.
From the gure it is clear that the higher applied torque of

10
360 Nm
413 Nm
8
Acceleration (m/s2)

5.3. Description of experimental setup and test procedure

2
0

12

24

36

48
60
72
Time (Hours)

Fig. 19. RMS acceleration vs. time.

84

96

108

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M. Amarnath et al. / Tribology International 42 (2009) 340352

413 N m resulted in the steeper line in vibration RMS level. Thus, it

is expected that higher applied torque produces higher pitting
rates, which will modify the Hertzian contact at faster rates.

351

Variations of tooth mesh frequency amplitudes with respect to

operating time are shown in Fig. 20. Fig. 21 shows the kurtosis
values for different stages of wear; at initial stages of wear an
increase in trend was observed, but for subsequent stages of wear
this trend does not show signicant increase in kurtosis values.

12
1st GMF

Acceleration m/s2

10

7. Correlation of vibration levels in the frequency band

encompassing translational mode of gear frequency

2nd GMF
3rd

GMF

4th GMF

The estimation of frequencies of translational mode of gear

tooth from modal tests is explained in Section 5.4. The gear frame
combination led to a frequency change from 3996 Hz in healthy
condition to 3799 Hz for defective condition (at the end of 216 h of
accelerated tests). However, this value is likely to differ in the
actual gear in the test rig. This difference may result in the
appearance of one or more peaks in the vibration spectrum of
the gear test rig during the accelerated test.
In order to highlight the specic frequencies of the gear, RMS
acceleration values in ve different frequency bands, i.e. 22.5,
2.53, 33.5, 3.54 and 44.5 kHz, have been computed from the
spectra shown in Fig. 18 and are shown in Fig. 21(ae). These
vibration trends show a distinct increase in vibration levels as a

6
4
2
0
0

36

72

108
144
Time (Hours)

180

216

Fig. 20. Tooth meshing harmonic vs. operating hours.

12

12
2000 Hz - 2500 Hz

8
6
4

360 Nm

2
36

72 108 144
Time (Hours)

180

360 Nm

4
413 Nm

216

36

72 108 144
Time (Hours)

180

216

12

12
3000 Hz - 3500 Hz

8
6

3500 Hz - 4000 Hz

10
RMS ( m/s2)

10
RMS (m/s2)

413 Nm

0
0

2500 Hz - 3000 Hz

10
RMS ( m/s2)

RMS (m/s2)

10

360 Nm

4
413 Nm

360 Nm

6
413 Nm

4
2

0
0

36

72 108 144
Time (Hours)

180

216

36

72 108 144
Time (Hours)

180

216

12
4000 Hz - 4500 Hz

RMS (m/s2)

10
8
6
360 Nm

4
2

413 Nm

0
0

36

72 108 144
Time (Hours)

180

216

Fig. 21. RMS acceleration in different frequency bands vs. operating tine: (a) 20002500 Hz, (b) 25003000 Hz, (c) 30003500 Hz, (d) 35004000 Hz, and (e)
40004500 Hz.

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M. Amarnath et al. / Tribology International 42 (2009) 340352

function of operating time, with maximum increase occurring in

the 3.54 kHz band (Fig. 21d). This indicates that it is this band
which is likely to contain the translational frequency (3996 Hz) as
estimated from the modal test.

8. Summary and conclusions

Experimental investigations have been systematically carried
out on back-to-back gearbox to measure the change in stiffness
along with other parameters such as lm thickness, specic lm
thickness and the vibration levels. The following conclusions were
drawn from the experimental observations.
1. Oil temperature increases with increase in load and operating
time.
2. Minimum lm thickness and specic lm thickness between
gear teeth estimated using Dowsons equation correlate with
damage severity from normal to severe wear condition.
3. Specic lm thickness reduction with respect to load and
operating time triggers tooth surface wear.
4. RMS vibration levels as well as amplitudes of gear mesh harmonic
frequencies provide good diagnostic information to estimate the
wear severity in conjunction with lm thickness analysis.
5. The gear translational frequency was found to be 3996 Hz from
the modal test. RMS acceleration values from the spectra
obtained during the accelerated test are highest in the
3.54 kHz band, conrming that it is this translational mode
which causes increased vibration levels in the test rig during
the accelerated tests.
6. Increase in severity of tooth wear causes reduction in stiffness.
Reduction in teeth stiffness with increasing teeth wear shows a
linear relationship with wear severity.
7. The experimental results of stiffness reduction from modal
analysis were found to correlate well; hence, it can be
concluded that modal analysis method can be used to assess
the reduction in stiffness of spur gear tooth.
8. With accelerated test conditions, i.e. overloaded by 45 times
the normal load, the reduction in stiffness was found to be 6.2%
for 216 h.
9. Decrease in stiffness triggers increase in higher harmonics of tooth
mesh frequencies as can be observed from frequency spectra.

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M. Amarnath received his B.E. degree from Mysore University, India and M.Tech.
degree from Visvesvaraya Technological University, India in 2000 and 2003,
respectively. He is currently working towards a Ph.D. degree in gearbox diagnostics
in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology
Madras, India.

C. Sujatha is with the Machine Design Section of Mechanical Engineering

Department at Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India. She
has around 26 years of experience in teaching and research in the areas of
machine dynamics, vehicular vibration, acoustics, machinery diagnostics, instrumentation and signal processing. She has more than 70 research papers to her
credit and has guided four Ph.D.s. She has been very active in industrial
consultancy projects.

S. Swarnamani is a professor in Mechanical Engineering Department at Indian

Institute of Technology Madras. His areas of research interest are structural health
monitoring, active vibration control, acoustics, smart structures, machine condition monitoring. He has undertaken several industrial consultancy projects.