Power Transmission and Tribology

Mechanical power transmission components are basic elements in mechanical engineering. Components such as gears, bearings, seals, brakes and clutches are used in a wide variety of machines. In Finland, the application of these components is often associated with Finnish worldwide export products, for example, diesel-engines, paper machines, drill rigs, and crushers. Such applications and environments also place special demands on research and development. The basic starting point in the development of components commonly involves the control of contacting surfaces i.e. a knowledge of tribology. Tribology investigates the friction, wear and lubrication of contacting surfaces. Correct contact design in terms of reduced wear, optimized friction, and improved lubrication plays an essential role in the life, efficiency, noise, robustness, reliability and cost of components and machines in industry.

Figure 1: Gear tooth stress behaviour  

Figure 2: Behavior of film thickness and pressure distributions in transient elastohydrodynamic lubrication conditions when a small bump bypasses the cylinder- plane contact.
 

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 Figure 3: Gear profile shifts