The five appended papers all deal with gearbox noise and vibration. The first paper presents a review of previously published literature on gearbox noise and vibration. The second paper describes a test rig that was specially designed and built for noise testing of gears. Finite element analysis was used to predict the dynamic properties of the test rig, and experimental modal analysis of the gearbox housing was used to verify the theoretical predictions of natural frequencies. In the third paper, the influence of gear finishing method and gear deviations on gearbox noise is investigated in what is primarily an experimental study. Eleven test gear pairs were manufactured using three different finishing methods. Transmission error, which is considered to be an important excitation mechanism for gear noise, was measured as well as predicted. The test rig was used to measure gearbox noise and vibration for the different test gear pairs. The measured noise and vibration levels were compared with the predicted and measured transmission error. Most of the experimental results can be interpreted in terms of measured and predicted transmission error. However, it does not seem possible to identify one single parameter, such as measured peak-to-peak transmission error, that can be directly related to measured noise and vibration. The measurements also show that disassembly and reassembly of the gearbox with the same gear pair can change the levels of measured noise and vibration considerably. This finding indicates that other factors besides the gears affect gear noise. In the fourth paper, the influence of bearing endplay or preload on gearbox noise and vibration is investigated. Vibration measurements were carried out at torque levels of 140 Nm and 400 Nm, with 0.15 mm and 0 mm bearing endplay, and with 0.15 mm bearing preload. The results show that the bearing endplay and preload influence the gearbox vibrations. With preloaded bearings, the vibrations increase at speeds over 2000 rpm and decrease at speeds below 2000 rpm, compared with bearings with endplay. Finite element simulations show the same tendencies as the measurements. The fifth paper describes how gearbox noise is reduced by optimizing the gear geometry for decreased transmission error. Robustness with respect to gear deviations and varying torque is considered in order to find a gear geometry giving low noise in an appropriate torque range despite deviations from the nominal geometry due to manufacturing tolerances. Static and dynamic transmission error, noise, and housing vibrations were measured. The correlation between dynamic transmission error, housing vibrations and noise was investigated in speed sweeps from 500 to 2500 rpm at constant torque. No correlation was found between dynamic transmission error and noise. Static loaded transmission error seems to be correlated with the ability of the gear pair to excite vibration in the gearbox dynamic system. / QC 20100923

Ausgangspunkt der hier vorgestellten Entwicklungen ist eine am ICM – Institut Chemnitzer Maschinen- und Anlagenbau e.V. entwickelte adaptronische Werkzeugmaschinen-Hauptspindel zur variablen Einstellung der Lagervorspannkräfte. Diese neuartige Werkzeugmaschinenspindel bietet Anwendungspotentiale in den Bereichen: verbessertes Hochdrehverhalten, erhöhte Flexibilität des Bearbeitungsspektrums, Lebensdauererhöhung der Wälzlager durch verbessertes Bohr-Roll-Verhältnis sowie einer optimierten Spindeldynamik durch gezielte Verschiebung der Eigenfrequenzen. Ziel war die Entwicklung einer möglichst dynamischen und genauen Ansteuerung des in der Hauptspindel enthaltenen hydraulischen Vorspannelementes. Dieser Beitrag fasst das Vorgehen und die bisherigen Ergebnisse zusammen. Auf die Eigenentwicklung eines hydraulischen Aktuators sollte verzichtet werden, sodass die Ansteuerung über ein direktgesteuertes Regelventil erfolgt. Mit einer einfachen Druckregelung mit PID-Regler konnten nur unzureichende Ergebnisse hinsichtlich Dynamik und Regelkreisstabilität erzielt werden. Hinzu kommt die geringe Genauigkeit der Krafteinstellung bei Anwendung einer einfachen Druckregelung. Zur Verbesserung der Ansteuerungsdynamik und -genauigkeit des Vorspannelementes sollten erweiterte Regelungsstrukturen zur Anwendung kommen. Im Projekt wurde hierzu ein modellbasierter Regler entwickelt und in einer dem Experiment vorgelagerten Untersuchung an einem Systemsimulationsmodell getestet und optimiert. Ausgangspunkt für die simulationsgestützte Reglerauslegung war die Entwicklung eines Regelstreckenmodells in SimulationX. Die Modellentwicklung umfasste den Vergleich zweier grundlegender Modellierungsansätze, eines bidirektionalen Modells mit einem linearen Signalflussmodell hinsichtlich Modellgenauigkeit und Rechenperformance. Zur Untersuchung der Reglerfunktionalität sowie zur Optimierung der Reglerparameter wurde die in SimulationX vorhandene COM-Schnittstelle genutzt und eine vereinfachte Optimierungsfunktion in Matlab umgesetzt. Für die experimentelle Validierung des Ansteuerungssystems wurde die entwickelte modellbasierte Reglervorsteuerung in der Programmierumgebung LabView umgesetzt. Erste Tests erfolgten zunächst an der stehenden Hauptspindel. Diese zeigten ein sehr dynamisches und stabiles Regelungsverhalten, sodass neben einfachen Sprungvorhaben auch Trajektorienvorgaben mit hoher Dynamik geregelt werden können. Es konnte eine deutliche Verbesserung gegenüber der zu Beginn vorhandenen einfachen Druckregelung erzielt werden. Umfangreichere experimentelle Untersuchungen an der drehenden Spindel für unterschiedliche Regelungs- und Bearbeitungsszenarien sollen in Zukunft durchgeführt werden. Dabei stehen vor allem die Verkürzung der Hochdrehzeiten für Bearbeitungsprozesse mit geringer Lagervorspannung sowie die anwendungsspezifische Optimierung der Spindeldynamik durch Eigenfrequenzverschiebungen im Vordergrund. / The starting point of the developments presented here is an adaptronic machine tool main spindle developed at the ICM - Institute Chemnitz Machine and Plant Construction e.V. for variable adjustment of the bearing preload forces. This new type of machine tool spindle offers application potential in the areas of: improved high-speed behavior, increased flexibility of the machining spectrum, increased service life of the roller bearings through improved drilling-rolling ratio and optimized spindle dynamics through targeted shifting of the natural frequencies. The aim was to develop the most dynamic and precise control possible for the hydraulic pretensioning element contained in the main spindle. This article summarizes the procedure and the results so far. The in-house development of a hydraulic actuator should be avoided, so that the control takes place via a directly controlled control valve. With a simple pressure control with a PID controller, only insufficient results could be achieved in terms of dynamics and control loop stability. Added to this is the low accuracy of the force setting when using a simple pressure control. Extended control structures should be used to improve the control dynamics and accuracy of the preload element. For this purpose, a model-based controller was developed in the project and tested and optimized on a system simulation model in an investigation prior to the experiment. The starting point for the simulation-based controller design was the development of a controlled system model in SimulationX. The model development included the comparison of two basic modeling approaches, a bidirectional model with a linear signal flow model in terms of model accuracy and computational performance. The COM interface available in SimulationX was used to examine the controller functionality and to optimize the controller parameters, and a simplified optimization function was implemented in Matlab. For the experimental validation of the control system, the developed model-based controller pre-control was implemented in the LabView programming environment. The first tests were initially carried out on the stationary main spindle. These showed a very dynamic and stable control behavior, so that in addition to simple jump projects, trajectory specifications can also be controlled with high dynamics. A clear improvement could be achieved compared to the simple pressure control that was available at the beginning. More extensive experimental investigations on the rotating spindle for different control and processing scenarios are to be carried out in the future. The main focus here is on reducing the ramp-up times for machining processes with low bearing preload and the application-specific optimization of the spindle dynamics through natural frequency shifts.