Abstract

The progressing electrification of vehicle drive systems focuses more and more on efficient high-speed concepts. Increasing the motor speed leads to a higher power density of the electrified power train and thereby to an increased range for battery electric vehicles. The high rotational speeds cause new challenges in designing gearboxes regarding the efficiency and the acoustical behavior. Most present gearings in conventional vehicles are designed with high tooth depths to ensure low noise excitation behavior combined with the best possible efficiency. By changing the gear geometry to smaller tooth depths with higher pressure angles, it is possible to further decrease gear losses. However, the loss-optimized gear geometry must not jeopardize the beneficial acoustical behavior. In theoretical studies, the acoustical behavior of loss-optimized gears are investigated and compared to gearings designed according to the state of the art. Design calculations of the excitations of all ideal gears without deviations are on similar levels. However, application of such gear geometries faces severe challenges because the sensitivity to manufacturing deviations may be high. In this paper, simulation results and test results between low-NVH gears and loss-optimized gears are documented and analyzed.