The new generation of gear theory.

The digital models were created on ZAKGEAR software with geometrical accuracy of 0.00001 mm.
Spiral bevel gear. Back.Spiral bevel gear. Left.
Spiral bevel gear. Top.Spiral bevel gear

The new generation of gear theory bases on direct digital simulation (DDS) and provides simple solution for any kinds of gears. DDS speeds up gear development up to 1000 times. You can find digital models for almost all of gears on this web site. Worm face , double enveloping worm face , flat worm face, worm, high ratio hypoid, Helical, crown, hyperbolic, globoidal gears and variable ratio rack and pinion, The background of the new solution does not need gear theory at all. All it takes for gear tooth and contact simulation is a PC and widely used software.

The new method works for any kind of gears and it is extremely simple. By playing with 3D gear simulation programs you can create anything. The visible representation is perfect. It helps to understand the geometry and allows to discover new possible options. As an example of such discovery was geometry of worm face gears with tapered and cylindrical pinion. The analyze of 3d cad worm face tapered pinion gear model made it simple to find mathematical equations for the tooth surfaces. The geometrical simulation can be done on almost any CAD software with simple 10-20 lines programs or by writing new generation of gear software based on DDS.

The digital gear models on the pictures are created in AutoCAD and Mechanical Desktop. Visual Basic program based on DDS calculates surface data and exports surface file it to AutoCAD. The pictures in this article are true 3D CAD digital gear models with real gear tooth surfaces. Short AutoLISP routines can be also used for generating of gear tooth surfaces in Mechanical Desktop. Such kind of digital gear models provides all the gear data. The CAD file is perfect for CMM inspection as well as for plastic gear mold design. Driving efficiency, loading distribution, sliding velocities and transmission error now can be easily found by using inexpensive software such as Dynamic Designer/Motion or Working Model 3D. It is very simple to make 3D gear mesh animations for presentations or for teeth contact analyses.

The new digital gear solution makes everything easier and less expensive. For example a million dollars and 2 tons weight composite gear inspection machine can be replaced by almost desk based $100,000.00 CMM with $2,000.00 PC. The picture shows 3D digital model of real gear in the mesh with digital master pinion. The data for the gear were taken on CMM from real gears. The master pinion data was calculated by DDS ZAKGEAR method. A computer program does all of composite gear inspection. PC based software uses CMM data to build digital gear models. It meshes gears, applies loading, calculates contact pattern, contact pass and transmission error. Special software makes also vibration and noise analyses. Finally it evaluates the quality of the mesh. The computer program rotates digital models of real gears as well as the real gear with a digital master. The all of inspection is happening inside a PC with no human interaction. Computer simulated mesh uses digitized surfaces. It calculates contact mapping with highest accuracy inside PC without any mechanical devices.

The new generation of gear technology is coming. The digital approach to gear design and manufacturing allows to design and manufacture gears that could not even exist a year ago. The cost reduction and performance are catastrophic. Universal digital solution covers all existed and not existed types of gears.

Dr. Boris V. Zak.

Stepan V. Lunin Ph. D.

Home page.