Ultrasonic lapping of hypoid gear: System design and experiments

Gear lapping is an economically applicable method of tooth surface finishing for hardened spiral bevel and hypoid gears. Traditional gear lapping has its limitations such as poor material removal rate, non-uniform lapping over tooth surface, low inefficiency in improving tooth profile accuracy and so forth. Ultrasonic gear lapping is a non-traditional fine finishing method that produces better tooth surface quality and higher material removal rate than the traditional means. It is the purpose of this paper to propose an ultrasonic lapping system design methodology for middle module hypoid gear. The size and resonance frequency of lapping system are calculated using mode and harmonic analysis in ANSYS. This paper also attempts to carry out tooth flank measurement, tooth contact pattern test and vibration experiments. The experimental results show that it is possible to minimize gear flank deviations, improve tooth contact pattern, reduce vibration of gear pair and decrease surface roughness through implementing ultrasonic lapping of gear.