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Project

System-level analysis of drivetrains through numerical simulation and experiments

The performance of mechatronic drivetrains is to a large extend governed by the dynamic behavior of its main constituents, being the gears and bearings. The modelling of gears and bearings on a component-level has received considerable attention in recent years, which has led to the development of a number of accurate gear and bearing models based on, among others, three-dimensional semi-analytical techniques, finite element methods, and hybrid approaches. While these models have advanced the design and analysis of gears and bearings on the component-level (e.g. accurate internal force prediction in bearings and dynamic stress recovery in gears), they are in general not optimized for system-level drivetrain analyses and for the interaction with other system component models (electrical motors, combustion engines, clutches, etc) in an accurate and computationally efficient way. In addition, experimental validation of system-level drivetrain models – where the quantities of interest are e.g. overall vibration and noise levels – is even more rare in literature, thereby impeding industrial uptake of these modelling approaches. The objective of this PhD is twofold: first, the development of numerical gear and bearing models that are specifically tailored towards system-level drivetrain analysis [in a port-based simulation environment]; secondly, the experimental validation of these submodels and of the overall system-level modelling approach using a test rig of industrial complexity developed during the course of and in service to this PhD.

Date:15 Feb 2020 →  Today
Keywords:drivetrain, gearboxes, bearing, gear, vibrations, NVH
Disciplines:Numerical modelling and design, Mechanical drive systems
Project type:PhD project