Comparison and Implementation of a Rigid and a Flexible Multibody Planetary Gearbox Model

We propose algorithms for developing (1) a rigid (constrained) and (2) a exible planetary gearbox model. The two methods are compared against each other and advantages/disadvantages of each method are discussed. The rigid model (1) has gear tooth reaction forces expressed by Lagrange multipliers. The exible approach (2) is being compared with the gear tooth forces from the rigid approach, rst without damping and second the in uence of damping is examined. Variable sti ness as a function of base circle arc length is implemented in the exible approach such that it handles the realistic switch between one and two gear teeth in mesh. The nal results are from modelling the planetary gearbox in a 500 kW wind turbine which we also described in Jørgensen et al. (2013).