Abstract
This article presents a dynamic model of three shafts and two pair of gears in mesh, with 26 degrees of freedom, including the effects of variable tooth stiffness, pitch and profile errors, friction, and a localized tooth crack on one of the gears. The article also details howgeometrical errors in teeth can be included in a model. The model incorporates the effects of variations in torsional mesh stiffness in gear teeth by using a common formula to describe stiffness that occurs as the gears mesh together. The comparison between the presence and absence of geometrical errors in teeth was made by using Matlab and Simulink models, which were developed from the equations of motion. The effects of pitch and profile errors on the resultant input pinion angular velocity coherent-signal of the input pinion's average are discussed by investigating some of the common diagnostic functions and changes to the frequency spectra results.