Bending fatigue testing of gear teeth under random loading

TLDR: In this article, a gear box fitted in an armoured tracked vehicle for the purpose of power transmission and positioning of rotating heavy mass to the desired angle with high accuracy is subjected to fluctuating loads that are random in nature.

Abstract: The gears in a gear box fitted in an armoured tracked vehicle for the purpose of power transmission and positioning of rotating heavy mass to the desired angle with high accuracy are subjected to fluctuating loads that are random in nature. One of the important modes of failure in cyclic loading conditions including random loads is fatigue failure. It is thus important from the design point of view to estimate the life of the gears under these conditions. The fatigue life of components subjected to sinusoidal loading can be estimated by using cumulative damage theories. Their extension to random load fatigue, though straightforward, may not be very accurate owing to inherent scatter exhibited by the fatigue phenomenon. It is therefore necessary experimentally to determine the fatigue life of randomly loaded components and establish the validity of the theoretical model. An electrohydraulic test rig has been designed and fabricated that is capable of generating different types of load pattern by ad...