Backlash Detection in Geared Mechanisms: Modeling, Simulation, and Experimentation

Backlash is a common fault that occurs in geared mechanisms, and can produce inaccuracy or uncontrollability of the mechanism. It is shown that, by modeling backlash as microscopic impact, its presence can be detected and possibly measured using only simple sensors. The first stage of modeling establishes the need for the use of nonlinear elastic and damping forces in establishing the gear-teeth reaction force. The second stage of modeling used a detailed digital multibody simulation to develop and test the effectiveness of the proposed detection approach. Experiments verify the efficacy of the methodology in practice. Finally, the results can be quantified for a testbed mechanism, indicating that this methodology may be useful for condition monitoring of industrial mechanisms.