Title: Experimental and analytical evaluations of planetary gear trains with different multiple-pinion carrier arrangements

Authors: Y. Gene Liao, Wayne W. Hou

Addresses: Department of Engineering Technology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. ' General Motors Corporation, Warren, MI 48090, USA

Abstract: A planetary gear train typically allows total torque applied to be shared by multiple pinions making a higher power density possible. A potential method to enhance the power density of the planetary gear train without compromising packaging is to increase the number of pinions in the system. However, this simplified estimation may not be feasible due to factors such as carrier stiffness and asymmetry. This paper evaluates the effect of different multiple-pinion carrier arrangements on gear train performance in terms of spin loss, efficiency, noise, and stiffness. Both experimental and analytical methods are applied and their results are correlated.

Keywords: automatic transmission; gear train efficiency; planetary gears; spin loss; power density; multiple-pinion carrier; gear train performance; noise; stiffness; vehicle testing; epicyclic gear trains.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVSMT.2006.009607

International Journal of Vehicle Systems Modelling and Testing, 2006 Vol.1 No.4, pp.301 - 311

Published online: 02 May 2006 *

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