The Mechanism and Solution of Harmonic Gear Whine Noise in Automotive Transmission Systems
Since gear noise in automotive is one of the most unpleasant noises for passengers, various solutions, such as gear design optimization, tooth modification and transfer path reformations in the vehicle have been developed. But, these attempts are mainly focused on the fundamental mesh excitation of the gear set without any consideration of their harmonic noise (1st, 2nd or higher). Harmonic gear whine noise is easily audible in the vehicle because of their high frequency characteristics in spite of low sound pressure level. This annoying pure-tone noise is usually issued in the transmission system composed of the gears produced by grinding process. This paper will present the main sources of this harmonic gear whine noise with the test results of gears with identical design parameters but having different surface structure (roughness parameters, wave patterns). Additionally, manufacturing guidelines of gear surface structure will be proposed at the end of this paper.