Straight Bevel Gear

Generation Using the Dual

Yi-Pei Shih1
Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
National Taiwan University of
Science and Technology,
No. 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Road,
Taipei 106, Taiwan
e-mail: shihyipei@mail.ntust.edu.tw
Hsin-Yen Hsieh
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
National Taiwan University of
Science and Technology,
No. 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Road,
Taipei 106, Taiwan
Interlocking Circular Cutter
Cutting Method on a Computer
Numerical Control Bevel
Gear-Cutting Machine
The dual interlocking circular cutter (DICC) cutting method, used to produce straight
bevel gears (SBGs), employs two interlocked cutters to generate tooth surfaces with a
combination of profile and lengthwise crowning. The gear pairs produced have the
advantage of low assembly sensibility. However, the cutting method can only be carried
out on a dedicated machine with complicated mechanisms, which are not only difficult to
setup but also reduce stiffness and accuracy. Gleason recently applied this cutting method
on the modern CNC bevel gear-cutting machine to increase productivity and accuracy in
manufacturing SBGs; however, they revealed no details of this application because of com-
mercial considerations. The main goal of this work, therefore, is to establish a mathemati-
cal model of an SBG produced by the DICC method on a virtual machine. The work gear
is cut by an imaginary generating gear that enables derivation of the SBG tooth surface.
Ease-off and tooth contact analysis (TCA) are applied to confirm the correctness of the
proposed model. A cutting method is also proposed that can be transformed from a specific
traditional machine to a modern CNC bevel gear-cutting machine. Conversion from the
virtual machine enables derivation of the five-axis nonlinear machine coordinates and sub-
sequent programming of the NC data. Finally, the correctness of NC data for machining is
confirmed using the VERICUT NC verification software. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4030937]

Keywords: straight bevel gear, dual interlocking circular cutter cutting method, imaginary
generating gear, CNC bevel gear-cutting machine

1 Introduction capability for precise simultaneous movements, enabling imple-

mentation of the DICC method on modern CNC machines [2].
SBGs have been widely used to transmit power between inter-
Nevertheless, the extensive research on SBGs makes clear the
secting shafts at low because they are simpler than spiral bevel or
limitations in their manufacture. For example, Al-Daccak et al.
hypoid gears in both design and manufacture. SBGs have straight
[3] showed that although SBG tooth surfaces modeled using the
teeth formed on a conical surface and are manufactured using one
exact spherical involute can be a design basis for mold gears, such
of two methods: forming or cutting [1]. The forming processes—
a tooth surface cannot be achieved using current mass cutting
which include forging, casting, and sintering—although suitable
methods. Ichino et al. [4] did produce SBGs using quasi-
for mass production, require expensive dies and yield gears with
complementary crown gears as virtual cutters, a method that
less accuracy. The cutting processes, in contrast—which include
involves a profile modification to attain a better tooth bearing con-
formate processes like milling and Revacycle broaching or gener-
dition. Fuentes et al. [5] also proposed modifications to an SBG
ating methods like two-tool generation and DICC machining—
tooth surface produced by amending an imaginary crown gear to
provide higher accuracy and flexibility. They are especially suita-
obtain a localized bearing contact. Chang and Tsay [6] then used
ble for producing small and medium batches. The SBGs produced
the two-tool generating cutting method to develop a mathematical
by DICC machining, particularly, have lengthwise-crowning gear
model of an SBG with an octoid form. Gleason Works [7] has
teeth that ensure good contact bearing and low assembly sensitiv- R
R also provided a calculation summary of straight bevel ConiflexV
ity. Referred to by Gleason as the ConiflexV cutting method, this
gears, which includes blank parameters, the cutter parameter, and
process normally uses cutting but can be a grinding process that
the machine settings. However, none of these studies include a
uses wheel instead of a cutter. It is one of several popular ways to
mathematical model of the DICC method. More recently, Stadt-
produce SBGs. All such cutting processes, however, not only
feld [2] showed the feasibility of applying the DICC method on
require a dedicated machine but also produce totally different
the modern CNC bevel gear-cutting machine by deriving the coor-
SBG tooth geometries. The recent rapid development of computer
dinate transformation from the cutter’s coordinate system to that
numerical control (CNC) technology, however, has resulted in the
of the workpiece. However, he offered no mathematical model of
the tooth surface. In related work, Shih and Fong [8] outlined the
machine setting conversion from a cradle-style machine to a six-
1
Corresponding author. axis Cartesian-type bevel gear-cutting machine by using inverse
Contributed by the Manufacturing Engineering Division of ASME for publication kinematics to determine the six coordinates of a Cartesian-type
in the JOURNAL OF MANUFACTURING SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. Manuscript received
December 26, 2014; final manuscript received June 12, 2015; published online CNC machine. Simon [9] proposed an optimization methodology
September 9, 2015. Assoc. Editor: Guillaume Fromentin. for minimizing the tooth contact pressures and transmission errors

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C 2016 by ASME
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 Fig. 1 Imaginary generating gears and work gears: (a) pinion and (b) gear

ðsÞ ðsÞ
The position vector rc and surface normal vector nc of the
ðsÞ
tooth surface in the generating gear coordinate system Sc can be
represented by the following equation:
8 h iT
> ðsÞ ðsÞ ðsÞ ðsÞ
>
> r c ðu; bÞ ¼ x c y c zc 1
>
>
>
> ðsÞ ðsÞ
< @rc ðu; bÞ @rc ðu; bÞ
 (1)
> ðsÞ @u @b
>
> nc ðu; bÞ ¼  @rðsÞ ðu; bÞ @rðsÞ ðu; bÞ

>
>  
>
> 
c

c

:  
@u @b
Fig. 2 Standard imaginary generating gear where 8 ðsÞ
>
> xc ðu; bÞ ¼ b cosðaa =2Þ
>
>
< ðsÞ
of the bevel gear pair based on a CNC hypoid generator. They yc ðu; bÞ ¼ u cos a0
offer schemes for solving the cutting coordinates on a CNC bevel >
> ðsÞ
gear-cutting machine. >
> zc ðu; bÞ ¼ 6ðu sin a0 þ b sinðaa =2ÞÞ
:
The main goal of this present paper is to establish a mathemati- 0  u  2:25mn ; rt  b  rh
cal model of an SBG produced by the DICC method. Because the
Here, u and b are the parameters along the tooth height direction
positions and orientations of the cutter and work gear can be
and face width direction. Parameters rt and rh are the toe radius
determined on a virtual machine using the relative position
and heel radius, respectively. The two angles aa and a0 can be cal-
between the imaginary and work gear, a mathematical model of
culated based on the gear parameters
the tooth surface can be derived based on the cutter locus and
equation of meshing. The correctness of the proposed model is 8
confirmed using ease-off and TCA. A solution is also proposed < a ¼ se  2ha tan an
a
for implementing the cutting method on the CNC bevel gear- Re = cos dd (2)
:
cutting machine. The conversion from the virtual machine enables a0 ¼ tan1 ðtan an = cosðaa =2ÞÞ
derivation of the five coordinates of a CNC bevel gear-cutting
machine, which can be used to program the numerical control where an is the pressure angle of the gear, dd is the dedendum
(NC) data. Finally, machine positioning correctness is confirmed angle, Re is the outer cone distance, and se is the outer circular
using the VERICUT NC verification software. thickness. These parameters can be obtained using formulas listed
in the AGMA standards [10].
2 Standard Imaginary Generating Gear
The concept of an imaginary generating gear is commonly 3 Equations for a Dual Interlocking Circular Cutter
R
employed to explain the cutting process of bevel gears. This gen- ConiflexV SBGs are manufactured by large-size plate cutters
erating gear is a virtual gear whose teeth are formed by the locus whose design details are described in Ref. [11]. In the dual inter-
of the cutter blades, although its tooth number is not necessarily locking cutters shown in Fig. 3, a plurality of blades is peripher-
an integer. In addition, whereas its rotation axis coincides with the ally arranged on the cutter, thereby enabling higher productivity.
rotation axis of the machine cradle, the rotation angles of the cra- To simultaneously cut both gear flanks, two identical cutters must
dle and the work gear are relatively timed in the generating be positioned in an interlocking arrangement. During the cutting
method but not in the nongenerating method. In this present study, process, each cutter group cuts only one slot at a time and then
both pinion and gear, being cut by the same planar-generating indexes to the next slot until all teeth are finished in what is
gear that results in conjugated tooth surfaces, are produced by the termed a single indexing process. The cutters are inclined at a spe-
generating method (Fig. 1). Hence, if the cutters are arranged in cific angle (e.g., 22 deg) to the generating plane, forming a tooth
the same position as the generating gear, they will produce a con- of the imaginary generating gear, whose cutters then infeed to the
jugated gear pair. Here, the generating gear is a planar gear with a required tooth depth and generate the work gear. This cutting pro-
pitch angle small than 90 deg, which gives the produced gear a lit- cess, however, has no lengthwise movement along the gear’s face
tle relief in the profile direction. width. When the profile angle is such that the rotating cutting
In the standard planar-generating gear shown in Fig. 2, the right blades by the cutter axis form a cone, however, a generating gear
and left blades move along lines oc P and oc Q, respectively, which with concave teeth is produced that is used to cut convex work
are located on the machine plane and past the apex point. The loci gear teeth. This observation implies that lengthwise crowning can
of the blades form the teeth of the generating gear. The parameters be achieved based on the design of the blade profile angle.
of the standard planar-generating gear are the pressure angle a0 , Figure 4 illustrates the geometry of the cutter blade, which includes
ðlÞ ðf Þ
the addendum at heel ha , and the thickness angle at tip aa . a straight line (rl ) and a circular-arc tip fillet (rl ). The cutter

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 Fig. 5 Cutter position in the coordinate system of the generat-
ing gear

Fig. 3 Dual interlocking circular cutters

Fig. 4 Cutter blade

parameters are the profile angle ab , the cutter radius r0 , the angle of
tip ac , and the fillet radius qb . Rotating the cutter blade around the z
axis forms the cutter surface. Its position vector can be represented in
the cutter coordinate system St by the following equation: Fig. 6 Coordinate systems between the cutter and generating
gear on the virtual machine
rt ðu; bÞ ¼ ½ yl sin b yl cos b zl 1 T (3)
here cutter is moved into the position whose reference point M coin-
( ðlÞ
( ðfÞ cides with the mean point of the generating gear, and the surface
yl ðuÞ ¼ r0  u cos ab yl ðuÞ ¼ y0 þ qb cos u normals of both cutter and gear are aligned. Because the cutter
ðlÞ ðfÞ
zl ðuÞ ¼ u sin ab zl ðuÞ ¼ z0 þ qb sin u surface is conical, it produces a lengthwise-crowning tooth (see
Fig. 5). The relative position between the cutter, the generating
and gear, and the work gear is simulated using a virtual machine. The
 coordinate systems between the cutter and the generating gear on
y0 ¼ r0  qb secðab  ac Þðcos ab  sin ac Þ
the virtual machine are as described in Fig. 6, which shows three
z0 ¼ qb secðab  ac Þðcos ab þ sin ac Þ translatory ðCx ; Cy ; Cz Þ and two rotational axes ðua ; ub Þ for the
where u and b are the parameter of the cutter profile and rotation cutter position. Here, ua is the cutter tilt angle and ub is the spiral
angle of the cutter. angle. The coordinate systems St ðxt ; yt ; zt Þ and Sc ðxc ; yc ; zc Þ are
rigidly connected to the cutter and generating gear, respectively,
while the auxiliary coordinate systems Sa and Sb describe the rela-
4 Cutter Position in the Coordinate System of the tive position between the two.
Using coordinate transformation, the cutter’s position vector can
Imaginary Generating Gear be represented in the coordinate system Sc as Eq. (4), which con-
Using the same standard planar-generating gear to cut pinion structs the generating gear tooth surface. Using differential geome-
and gear produces a conjugated gear pair. As shown in Fig. 5, the try, the unit normal of the tooth surface can then be represented by

8
> rc ðCx ; Cy ; Cz ;ua ;ub ; u;bÞ ¼ Mct ðCx ; Cy ; Cz ;ua ;ub Þrt ðu; bÞ
>
>
>
< @rt ðu; bÞ @rt ðu; bÞ

 @u @b  (4)
>
> nc ðC x ; Cy ; C z ;u a ;u b ; u;bÞ ¼ L ct ðC x ; Cy ; C z ;ua ;ub Þ @rt ðu; bÞ @rt ðu; bÞ
>
>  
:  @u  @b 

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 where Lct is the rotational matrix which is the upper left 3  3 ðsÞ ðsÞ ðsÞ ðsÞ
The position rc ðxc ; yc ; zc Þ and unit normal nc ðnxc ; nyc ; nzc Þ
ðsÞ ðsÞ ðsÞ ðsÞ
submatrix of Mct . of the mean point of the standard generating gear are given. The
The corresponding coordinate transformation matrix from coor- position rt ðxt ; yt ; zt Þ and unit normal nt ðnxt ; nyt ; nzt Þ of the cutter
dinate system St to Sc as follows: are obtained by selecting point M of the cutter as a reference
2 32 3 point, which yields parameters ðuM ;bM Þ. The cutter, however,
1 0 0 Cx cos ub 0 sin ub 0 must be moved to allow its reference point to coincide with the
6 76 7 mean point of the standard generating gear and ensure that the
60 1 0 Cy 7 6 0 1 0 07
Mct ¼ 6
6
7:6
76
7
7 alignment of both the gear and the cutter’s unit normals satisfies
40 0 1 Cz 5 4  sin ub 0 cos ub 05 the following relative equations:
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 (
ðsÞ
2 3 Mct ðCx ; Cy ; Cz ;ua ;ub Þrt ðuM ;bM Þ ¼ rc
1 0 0 0 ðsÞ (5)
Lct ðCx ; Cy ; Cz ;ua ;ub Þnt ðuM ;bM Þ ¼ nc
6 7
6 0 cosua sinua 07
:6
6
7
7 The above two vector equations involve five independent scalar
4 0 sinua cosua 05
equations, so the two rotational coordinates and three translatory
0 0 0 1 coordinates can be solved as Eqs. (6) and (7), respectively,

8 0 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi1
>
> n þ n2yt þ n2zt  nyc
ðsÞ2
>
> 1 @
zt
>
> u ¼ 2 tan A
>
< a ðsÞ
nyc þ nyt
0 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi1 (6)
>
> ðsÞ2
>
> nyt sin ua þ n zt cos u a þ n2xt  nxc þ ðnyt sin ua þ nzt cos ua Þ2
> ub ¼ 2 tan1 @
> A
>
: ðsÞ
nxc þ nxt

8 ðsÞ The primary goal of this present work is to implement the

>
> C ¼ xc  xt cos ub  yt sin ua sin ub  zt cos ua sin ub
< x
ðsÞ
Cy ¼ yc  yt cos ua þ zt sin ua
>
> can cut only a single flank in one operation. The proposed virtual
: ðsÞ
Cz ¼ zc þ xt sin ub  yt sin ua cos ub  zt cos ua cos ub
5 Equations for an SBG Using the DICC Method
The traditional SBG cutting machine (e.g., Gleason No. 104)
has two cutter spindles that enable a pair of interlocking circular
cutters to cut the right and left flanks of the work gear simultane-
ously. During SBG cutting, the generating gear is placed on the
cradle and its rotation axis aligns with the cradle axis yc , so that
the cutters are specifically positioned to form a tooth of the gener-
ating gear. First, in a formate cutting process, the cradle is fixed
and the cutters slowly infeed into the work gear tooth depth.
Then, the cradle and work gear rotate in a timed relation to enable
a generating process in which the work gear teeth are cut one by
one until all teeth are finished.
DICC method on a modern CNC bevel gear-cutting machine,
which, unlike the traditional machine, has only a cutter spindle and
(7)
machine must simulate this gear-cutting process. As Figs. 7(a) and
7(b) show, the cutter is placed in the upper and lower positions for
cutting right and left flanks, respectively. The coordinate systems of
these two positions are as shown in Figs. 7(c) and 7(d). The root
line of the work gear is aligned with the tip line of the cutter at
machine root angle cm , and the cutting depth is controlled using the
sliding base feed setting DB. When the generating process begins,
the generating gear and work gear rotate at angles /c and /1 in a
timed relation. Here, /c is also termed the cradle angle.
The mathematical model of the tooth surface can be derived by
using a generating gear to produce an envelope surface on the gear
blank. The surface locus of the generating gear in coordinate system S1
can be obtained by a coordinate transformation from coordinate system
Sc to S1 . Its position and unit normal can then be represented as

(
r1 ðu;b;/c Þ ¼ M1f ð/1 ÞMfe ðcm ÞMed ðDBÞMdc ð/c Þrc ðu; bÞ ¼ fx1 ; y1 ; z1 ; 1g
(8)
n1 ðu; b; /c Þ ¼ L1c nc ðu;bÞ

Here, the coordinate transformation matrices are and

2 3
1 0 0 0 2 3
coscm sincm 0 0
6 7
6 0 cos/1 6sin/1 07 6 6sinc coscm 0 07
M1f ð/1 Þ ¼6 7 6 m 7
6 0 sin/ Mfc ð/c Þ ¼ Mfe Med Mdc ¼ 6 7
4 1 cos/1 07
5 4 0 0 1 05
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

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 Fig. 7 Coordinate systems between the generating gear and work gear on the virtual machine:
(a) upper position for cutting right flank, (b) lower position for cutting left flank, (c) coordinate
systems for cutting right flank, and (d) coordinate systems for cutting left flank

2 3
1 0 0 0 Substituting the solved variables ðu; b; /c Þði;jÞ into Eq. (8) gives
6 0 1 0 6DB 7 the positions and unit normals of the topographical points. The
6 7
:6 7 contact performance of the designed SBG pair can then be eval-
40 0 1 0 5
uated using ease-off and TCAs as detailed in Refs. [12,13],
0 0 0 1 respectively. Both analyses take into account a nonloaded condi-
2 3
cos/c 0 sin/c 0 tion. Their results are well known as effective tools to confirm the
6 0 1 0 07 correctness of the proposed mathematical model in the design
6 7 stage.
6 7
4 sin/c 0 cos/c 05
0 0 0 1
6 Modern CNC Bevel Gear-Cutting Machine
where the upper and lower signs indicate the right and left flanks, The latest bevel gear generators are built in CNC Cartesian-
respectively. M1f is the coordinate transformation matrix for type structures and are far simpler than those of the traditional
workpiece rotation, and Mfc is the coordinate transformation ma- bevel gear-cutting machines. Not only do these new CNC
trix from coordinate system Sc to Sf . The angles /c and /1 satisfy machines have a minimum number of movable axes for bevel
the generating process relation /1 ¼ Ra  /c , where Ra is the roll gear cutting but also they offer precision up to six axes, meaning
ratio equal to the ratio of the tooth numbers of the generating gear that they can perform both face milling and face hobbing of spiral
and the work gear (zg =z). The remaining parameters are cm ¼ df bevel and hypoid gears. They also allow sufficient degrees-of-
(root angle of the work gear) and DB ¼ 0. freedom to enable implementation of the DICC method to pro-
ð1tÞ
The relative velocity v1 between the work gear and duce SBGs. However, since the cutter axis is a spindle, such
the cutting tool is obtained by the partial derivative of the cutter implementation only requires simultaneous five-axis machining.
locus with respect to /c , after which the equation of meshing for Due to the lack of a cradle mechanism, the three translate axes
the work gear can be derived as follows: and the machine root angle of CNC machine should be nonli-
  nearly driven to allow the generating gear to roll with the work
ð1tÞ @r1 ðu; b; /c Þ  gear. The CNC machine coordinates must therefore be determined
f1 ðu;b;/c Þ ¼ n1  v1 ¼ n1 ðu; b; /c Þ  /c ¼ 0 (9)
@/c before machining. If two machines cut an identical tooth surface,
their coordinate transformation matrices from the cutter axis to
Based on the planar topographical points ðPði;jÞ ði;jÞ the work gear axis should be the same. These nonlinear coordi-
x ; Pz Þ determined
from the gear blank, the variables ðu; b; /c Þ at the topographical nates can be obtained by conversion from the virtual machine.
points can be solved using one equation of meshing and two Figure 8 shows the CNC bevel gear-cutting machine, whose coor-
boundary equations of the planar grid point dinate systems, together with the coordinate transformation matri-
ces between the cutter and work gear, are described in Ref. [12].
8 This machine is a Cartesian-type structure with six axes that
> f1 ðu; b; /c Þ ¼ 0
>
< include three translatory motions ðXp ; Yp ; Zp Þ and three rotational
x1 ðu; b; /c Þ ¼ Pði;jÞ x (10) motions ðwA ; wB ; wC Þ. Its coordinate systems St ðxt ; yt ; zt Þ and
>
> p
: ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi S1 ðx1 ; y1 ; z1 Þ are rigidly connected to the cutter and work gear,
y1 ðu; b; /c Þ þ z21 ðu; b; /c Þ ¼ Pði;jÞ
2
z whose relative positions are described by auxiliary coordinate

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 Fig. 8 Coordinate systems of the CNC bevel gear-cutting machine

systems from Sa to Se . Here, wA and wC are the rotation angles of Here, the rotation matrices of the cutter and work gear are the
the work gear and cutter, respectively, and wB denotes the same as for the virtual machine. Et and Tt are machine constants
machine root angle. DwA and DwC are the increments of wA that indicate the distance between the workpiece axis and the B
and wC . Cutter positioning is achieved using the horizontal axis, and the distance between the datum plane of the rotary table
motions Xp and Zp , while cutting depth is controlled by the verti- and the B axis, respectively. Md is the mounting distance, and Ht
cal motion Yp . and Ct are the cutter height and workpiece fixture height,
The coordinate transformation matrices from St to S1 are repre- respectively.
sented as follows: Because the relative spatial positions of the cutter axis with
respect to the work gear axis should be the same whether the
ðCÞ ðCÞ ðCÞ
M1t ðb; /1 Þ ¼ M1e ð6/1 ÞMðCÞ
ea ðXp ; Yp ; Zp ;DwA ; wB ; DwC ÞMat ðbÞ
work gear is cut on a virtual or a Cartesian-type machine, the
ðCÞ
coordinate transformation matrices Mft ð/c Þ and Mea are identi-
(11)
cal. Given that Mft is a function of cradle angle /c , this matrix
may be expressed in general form as Eq. (12). The angle posi-
The coordinate transformation matrix from coordinate system Sa tions of the Cartesian-type machine can be derived as Eq. (13)
to Se is as follows: based on inverse kinematics by comparison with the 3  3 rota-
2 32 3 tion matrices
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Cd
6 76 7 2 3
6 0 cos DwA sin DwA 0 76 0 1 00 7 e11 ð/c Þ e12 ð/c Þ e13 ð/c Þ e14 ð/c Þ
6 76 7
MðCÞ
ea ¼ 6 76 7 6
6
7
7
6 0  sin DwA cos DwA 0 76 0 0 1 Et 7 6 e21 ð/c Þ e22 ð/c Þ e23 ð/c Þ e24 ð/c Þ 7
4 54 5 6 7
Mft ð/c Þ ¼ 6 7 (12)
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 6 e ð/ Þ e ð/ Þ e ð/ Þ e ð/ Þ 7
2 32 3 6 31 c 32 c 33 c 34 c 7
cos wB 0 sin wB 0 1 0 0 0 4 5
6 76 7 0 0 0 1
6 0 1 0 07 6 7
6 7 60 1 0 0 7 8
:6 7:6  7 >
> DwA ð/c Þ ¼ tan1 ðx; yÞ ¼ tan1 ðe33 ; e23 Þ
6  sin wB 0 cos wB 0 7 6 0 0 1  Zp þ Ce 7 >
>
4 54 5 >
<
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 wB ð/c Þ ¼ sin1 ðe13 Þ (13)
2 32 3 >
>
>
>
1 0 0 Xp þ Et cos DwC  sin DwC 0 0 >
:
6 76 7 DwC ð/c Þ ¼ tan1 ðe11 ; e12 Þ
60 1 0 Yp 7 6 cos DwC 0 0 7
6 76 sin DwC 7
 6 76 7
60 0 1 0 7 6 0 0 1 07 Comparing the translation vectors in both transformation matrices
4 54 5
and substituting the above angles yields the following solution for
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 the translational positions:

8
>
> Xp ð/c Þ ¼  sin wB ðe34 cos DwA þ e24 sin DwA  Et Þþ cos wB ðe14  Cd Þ  Et
>
<
Yp ð/c Þ ¼ e24 cos DwA  e34 sin DwA (14)
>
>
>
:
Zp ð/c Þ ¼  cos wB ðe34 cos DwA þ e24 sin DwA  Et Þ  sin wB ðe14  Cd Þ  Ce

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 Table 1 Basic and manufacturing parameters for the SBG

Pinion Ring gear

Items Right flank Left flank Right flank Left flank

(A) Basic gear data

Number of teeth z — 20 40
Outer module me mm 5.080
Pressure angle an deg 20.000
Shaft angle R deg 90.000
Outer cone distance Re mm 113.592
Dedendum angle dd deg 1.938 4.142
(B) Gear blank data
Pitch angle d deg 26.565 63.435
Outer diameter dae mm 114.606 205.784
Face width b mm 35.000
Mounting distance Md mm 110.000 70.000
(C) Assembly data
Shaft angle R deg 90.000
Offset V mm 0.000
Axial setting H mm 0.000 0.000
(D) Cutter data
Profile angle ab deg 2.000 2.000
Tip angle ac deg 22.000 22.000
Cutter radius r0 mm 190.500 190.500
Fillet radius qb mm 0.800 0.800
(E) Imaginary generating gear data
Number of teeth zg — 44.721
Addendum at heel ha mm 6.035 6.035
Outer circular thickness se mm 8.061 8.061
Pressure angle a0 deg 20.002 20.002
Thickness angle at tip aa deg 1.850 1.845
(F) Machine constants of the bevel gear-cutting machine
Distance b/w the table datum plane and the B axis Tt mm 217.500
Distance b/w the A axis and the B axis Et mm 120.000
(G) Fixtures
Reference height for the cutter Ht mm 140.000
Fixture height for the work gear Ct mm 120.000 100.000

Table 2 Machine settings for the virtual machine

Pinion Gear

Items Right flank Left flank Right flank Left flank

(A) Mean points

ðsÞ
Mean point M of the rc mm ð95:971; 5:054; 3:388Þ ð95:971; 5:054; 3:388Þ ð96:172; 5:042; 3:384Þ ð96:172; 5:042; 3:384Þ
ðsÞ
standard generating gear nc ð0:015; 0:342; 0:940Þ ð0:015; 0:342; 0:940Þ ð0:015; 0:342; 0:940Þ ð0:015; 0:342; 0:940Þ
Reference point M of the tool rt mm ð0:000; 184:504; 0:209Þ ð0:000; 184:504; 0:209Þ ð0:000; 184:504; 0:209Þ ð0:000; 184:504; 0:209Þ
nt ð0:000; 0:035; 0:999Þ ð0:000; 0:035; 0:999Þ ð0:000; 0:035; 0:999Þ ð0:000; 0:035; 0:999Þ
(B) Machine settings
Tilt angle ua deg 22.000 22.000 22.000 22.000
Spiral angle ub deg 0.924 0.923
Translatory motion X Cx mm 94.853 95.056
Translatory motion Y Cy mm 176.044 176.044 176.032 176.032
Translatory motion Z Cz mm 72.690 72.686
Sliding base feed setting DB mm 0.000 0.000
Machine root angle cm deg 24.627 59.293
Roll ratio Ra — 2.23607 1.11803

The cutter axis locates on spindle, so its angle positions do not
affect the geometry of the generated tooth surfaces; hence, only
angles wA and wB are taken into account

wA ð/c Þ ¼ 6/1 þ DwA ¼ 6Ra /c þ DwA
(15)
wB ð/c Þ ¼ wB
As is evident, the motions of the five axes are functions of the cra-
dle angle /c and are relatively smooth; they can therefore be
approximated in terms of the cradle angle by n-degree Maclaurin
polynomials [8,13].
7 Numerical Examples and Discussion
In the numerical example, the pinion and gear are both pro-
duced by a generating process. First, the pinion and gear are cut
using a 15-in. circular cutter with a 2 deg profile angle, which
results in lengthwise crowning that can be enlarged by increasing

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 Table 3 Positions and normal vectors of topographic points of the pinion and gear (partial)

Pinion Gear

Position Normal Position Normal

J I XP YP ZP XN YN ZN XP YP ZP XN YN ZN
Upper sign: right flank, lower sign: left flank
1 1 71.930 34.071 61.713 0.085 0.225 0.971 39.622 69.147 61.875 0.216 0.150 0.965
1 4 70.707 36.451 62.780 0.188 0.428 0.884 37.278 70.295 62.683 0.276 0.182 0.944
1 7 69.484 38.746 64.444 0.255 0.545 0.799 34.934 71.425 63.677 0.326 0.207 0.922
6 1 87.017 40.787 61.967 0.062 0.180 0.982 48.345 83.235 62.116 0.204 0.143 0.969
6 4 85.364 44.015 63.343 0.187 0.429 0.884 45.079 84.834 63.211 0.275 0.182 0.944
6 7 83.710 47.113 65.635 0.260 0.557 0.789 41.814 86.405 64.608 0.332 0.201 0.920
11 1 101.811 48.083 62.387 0.077 0.215 0.974 56.212 97.744 62.605 0.213 0.148 0.966
11 4 99.873 51.858 64.104 0.192 0.442 0.876 52.453 99.581 63.905 0.281 0.185 0.942
11 7 97.936 55.475 66.863 0.264 0.565 0.781 48.693 101.385 65.541 0.336 0.211 0.918

the profile angle. Table 1 lists the main parameters of the design
SBG pair—the basic gear parameters, gear blank geometry, as-
sembly data, cutter data, imaginary generating gear parameters,
machine constants, and fixture heights—which are either given or
calculated. According to the given mean point of the generating
gear and the reference point of the cutter, the virtual machine set-
tings for cutting right and left flanks of tooth surfaces, as applied
to this case, are as listed in Table 2.
Substituting the cutter parameters and the virtual machine set-
tings into Eqs. (8)–(10) yields the tooth surface positions and nor-
mals of the pinion and gear listed in Table 3. Once solved, the
topographical points are used to build the 3D models (created in
SOLIDWORKS) shown in Fig. 9. The correlation between the gener-
ated lengthwise crowning and the blade profile angle is shown in
Fig. 10: The amount of crowning is almost proportional to the
blade profile angle. The contact performance of the numerical
gear pair is further assessed using ease-off and TCA, whose
results are shown in Figs. 11 and 12, respectively. Both these ana-
lytic tools were specially developed for the purpose in our
Fig. 9 Three-dimensional models created by SOLIDWORKS research laboratory. According to the ease-off results, lengthwise
crowning is produced by the cutter’s profile angle and the convex
tooth surfaces generated are advantageous in absorbing assembly
errors. A minor profile crowning is induced by the generating gear
with a near 90 deg pitch angle, which causes transmission errors
in the gear pair. According to the TCA, the contact bearing is
located in the middle of the tooth surface and its size can be con-
trolled by the amount of lengthwise crowing. The profile crown-
ing, however, causes transmission errors whose maximum value
is about 7 arc sec.
Because it allows sufficient degrees-of-freedom, the modern
CNC bevel cutting machine can successfully implement the DICC
cutting method. The cutting coordinates can be converted from
the machine settings of a virtual machine by substituting the
machine constants, fixture heights, and machine settings into Eqs.
(14) and (15) to yield the nonlinear coordinates of five axes. In
general, gear cutting includes both a rough and a finishing process
Fig. 10 Correlation between generated lengthwise crowning that use a formate and a generating method, respectively. In the
and blade profile angle formate method, the cradle is fixed, so the cradle angle /c is equal

Fig. 11 Ease-off

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 Fig. 12 TCA: (a) contact pattern and (b) transmission error

Table 4 CNC bevel gear-cutting machine coordinates for cutting the pinion at DB ¼ 0

Coordinates Upper sign: right flank, lower sign: left flanka

Xp ð/c Þ mm  532:8360  223:7580/c þ 134:7700/2c  7:7345/3c  26:2675/4c  2:9429/5c  0:0919/6c

Yp ð/c Þ mm 6ð212:3760 þ 4:1818/c  9:1768/2c  8:9204/3c  5:4073/4c  3:3962/5c  1:2842/6c Þ
Zp ð/c Þ mm 105:0230  362:5660/c  41:0191/2c þ 66:5235/3c þ 5:4816/4c  2:5369/5c þ 0:0918/6c
wA ð/c Þ deg 6ð20:5082 þ 106:8690/c  6:6268/2c  4:0158/3c  1:0558/4c  0:5968/5c þ 0:0570/6c Þ
wB ð/c Þ deg 8:1927  48:7833/c þ 3:3835/2c þ 1:8217/3c þ 0:8041/4c þ 0:3494/5c þ 0:1231/6c
a
/c in rad.

Table 5 CNC bevel gear-cutting machine coordinates for cutting the gear at DB ¼ 0

Coordinates Upper sign: right flank, lower sign: left flanka

Xp ð/c Þ mm 558:4200  138:7720/c þ 14:5515/2c þ 19:8206/3c  13:0682/4c þ 2:5437/5c þ 0:7456/6c

Yp ð/c Þ mm 6ð183:2330  12:5291/c  23:6181/2c  0:3401/3c  4:9094/4c þ 2:1366/5c  0:4337/6c Þ
Zp ð/c Þ mm 158:244  164:625/c  14:3941/2c þ 30:2875/3c þ 3:5520/4c  2:0759/5c  0:0236/6c
wA ð/c Þ deg 6ð  12:4176 þ 16:8804/c þ 2:1560/2c  4:3976/3c þ 1:2283/4c  0:1612/5c þ 0:0763/6c Þ
wB ð/c Þ deg 18:3282  28:5734/c þ 2:5903/2c þ 3:1499/3c  0:2470/4c þ 0:2448/5c  0:1028/6c
a
/c in rad.

Fig. 13 Cutting positions at the cradle angle /c ¼ 0 on the bevel gear-cutting machine:
(a) right flank cutting (upper position) and (b) left flank cutting (lower position)

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 Fig. 14 Cutting simulation for the pinion using VERICUT

Fig. 15 Flank topographic deviations between the theoretic and produced tooth surfaces: (a)
solid model (STL file) produced by VERICUT and (b) flank topographic deviations

to the specific value. In the generating method, in contrast, the
cradle is rotated to allow the generating gear to roll with the work
gear, meaning that the cradle angle /c gradually increases or
decreases to achieve a generating movement. Here, the sliding
base feed setting DB is used to control cutting depth.
Tables 4 and 5 list the finishing coordinates of the five axes for
the pinion and gear, respectively, each represented as a polyno-
mial function of the cradle angle. Because only a cutter is
employed, the right and left flanks are cut in the upper and lower
positions (verified by SOLIDWORKS and illustrated in Fig. 13), but in
contrast to the traditional machine, the CNC machine allows free-
form flank modification. These coordinates can be used to pro-
gram the NC data needed by the VERICUT software to confirm the
correctness of machine positioning in the manufacturing stage.
Figure 14 shows the cutting simulation for the pinion using VERI-
CUT. The resulting tooth surfaces are saved as an STL (stereoli-
thography) file and later compared with the theoretic tooth
surfaces. Figure 15 shows the flank topographic deviations
between the theoretic and produced tooth surfaces. Because of the
resolution of the triangle meshes (an interpolation tolerance of
0.05 mm), the sum of the squared errors is 38; 866 lm2 and the
tooth thickness error is þ22:6 lm This result, which contains dis-
continuous areas on the surfaces generated, reflects the error
caused by VERICUT simulation. Nevertheless, for the most part, the
results confirm that the tooth surfaces produced are correct.
8 Conclusions
The high productivity of the DICC method for SBGs comes
from the usage of large circular plates with many cutter teeth and
a cutter tilt that enables lengthwise crowning to produce convex
teeth. The amount of such crowning is decided by the profile angle
of the cutter. In this paper, a virtual machine is set to produce a
conjugated gear pair based on the relative position between the
imaginary generating gear and the work gear. The work then suc-
cessfully establishes a mathematical model of an SBG produced
by the DICC method that can describe cutting behavior. The con-
tact performance of the designed gear pair is evaluated using
ease-off and TCA, both of which validate the proposed mathemat-
ical model. A solution is also proposed for implementing this

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 cutting method on the modern CNC bevel gear-cutting machine. aa ¼ thickness angle at the tip of the generating gear
Conversion from the virtual machine enables derivation of the ab ¼ profile angle of the blade
nonlinear coordinates of five cutting axes, which allows imple- cm ¼ machine root angle
mentation of the DICC method on a modern CNC bevel gear- DB ¼ sliding base feed setting
cutting machine. The correctness of the derived cutting positions DwA , DwC ¼ angle increment
is verified by both the CAD/CAM software SOLIDWORKS and the NC qb ¼ fillet radius of the blade
verification software VERICUT. ua , ub ¼ rotational axes of the virtual machine
/c ¼ cradle rotation angle
Acknowledgment /1 ¼ rotation angle of the work gear during gear cutting
wA , wB , wC ¼ rotational axes of the CNC bevel gear-cutting
The authors would like to thank the National Science Council machine
of the Republic of China, Taiwan, for financially supporting this
research under Contract No. NSC101-2221-E-011-019. The References
authors also express their deep appreciation to Dr. Lin Tzu-Kuan
[1] Townsend, D. P., 1991, Dudley’s Gear Handbook, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, New
for his outstanding support in VERICUT simulation. York.
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Form Machines,” AGMA No. 07FTM16.
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Cx , Cy , Cz ¼ translatory axes of the virtual machine eling of Bevel Gears Using the Exact Spherical Involute,” ASME J. Mech.
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matrix Mij Bevel Gears Using Quasi-Complementary Crown Gears,” ASME Des. Eng.
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ðsÞ
nc ¼ surface unit normal of the imaginary generating [6] Chang, C. K., and Tsay, C. B., 2000, “Mathematical Model of Straight Bevel
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r0 ¼ cutter radius [8] Shih, Y. P., and Fong, Z. H., 2008, “Flank Correction for Spiral Bevel and Hy-
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on the virtual machine [9] Simon, V. V., 2014, “Manufacture of Optimized Face-Hobbed Spiral Bevel
ðsÞ
rc ¼ position vector of the imaginary generating gear Gears on Computer Numerical Control Hypoid Generator,” ASME J. Manuf.
r1 ¼ locus of the cutting tool on the virtual machine Sci. Eng., 136(3), p. 031008.
Ra ¼ roll ratio for the generating motion [10] ASNI/AGMA ISO 23509-A08, 2008, “Bevel and Hypoid Gear Geometry,”
Alexandria, VA.
Si ¼ coordinate system i [11] Spear, G. J., 1960, “Rotary Cutter for Gears and the Like,” U.S. Patent No.
ð1tÞ
v1 ¼ relative velocity between the work gear and tool 2947062.
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Hobbing Hypoid Gears Based on Ease-Off Topography,” ASME J. Mech. Des.,
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machine [13] Litvin, F. L., and Fuentes, A., 2004, Gear Geometry and Applied Theory, 2nd
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