A measurement and testing method for lubrication regimes in gear transmissions

This paper describes the measurement and test results on oil film thickness conducted with a self-contained gear testing machine, with pandimensional power flow, using an improved method of discharge voltage measurement. A series of experiments were conducted in an attempt to measure and analyse the lubrication regimes of involute and double circular arc gear with different lubricants under various working conditions. A formula is provided for calculating oil film discharge voltage following the recorded output of a level recorder. Experimental results show that such an improved method for discharge voltage is suitable for measurement of film thickness, and that the results are in keeping with the minimum film thickness formula for a double circular arc gear deduced by the authors. The relations between film voltage and the gear parameters of load, rotation speed, lubricant and oil temperature, are also discussed. It is asserted that such a test system has more reliable performance and is more suitable for measuring and analysing the lubrication regimes of gear transmissions than are ordinary experimental systems.