Performance of hypoid gears can be affected by misalignments, defined as deviations from their nominal position. These misalignments alter contact patterns along tooth surfaces, in the process changing tooth contact stress and loaded transmission error. In this study, a methodology to investigate the influence of misalignments on the backlash, contact patterns, and the transmission error of a hypoid gear pair is proposed, and demonstrated using a gear pair example from an automotive rear axle unit. A low-speed hypoid gear test set-up that allows application of various misalignments is adapted, and a test matrix that includes various misalignments, namely pinion and gear position errors, pinion offset error and shaft angle error, is executed within a realistic range of transmitted torque. Impact of the misalignments on overall backlash, unloaded contact pattern, and loaded transmission error is quantified. Results indicate that transmission error and contact pattern are affected significantly by applied misalignments, confirming that misalignments should result in both noise and durability concerns for a hypoid gear pair.
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