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OMB No. 0704-0188
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PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS.
1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY) 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED (From - To)
01-05-1996 Technical Memorandum
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER
Crack Propagation Studies to Determine Benign or Catastrophic Failure Modes for Aerospace
Thin-Rim Gears
5b. GRANT NUMBER

5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER

6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER

Lewicki, David, G.
5e. TASK NUMBER

5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER

WU-505-62-36; 1L162211A47A
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
NASA Lewis Research Center REPORT NUMBER
Cleveland, Ohio 44135-3191 E-9274
and
Vehicle Propulsion Directorate
U.S. Army Research Laboratory
Cleveland, Ohio 44135-3191
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSORING/MONITORS
National Aeronautics and Space Administration ACRONYM(S)
Washington, D.C. 20546-0001 NASA; ARL
and 11. SPONSORING/MONITORING
U.S. Army Research Laboratory REPORT NUMBER
Adelphi, Maryland 20783-1145 NASA/TM-107170; ARL-TR-971
12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Unclassified-Unlimited

13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

This report was submitted as a dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy to Case Western
Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, May 1995. Responsible person, David G. Lewicki, organization code 2730, (216) 433-3970.
Full-text PDF available upon request from http://www.sti.nasa.gov
Select Order Information
14. ABSTRACT
Analytical and experimental studies were performed to investigate the effect of rim thickness on gear tooth crack propagation. The goal was
to determine whether cracks grew through gear teeth (benign failure mode) or through gear rims (catastrophic failure mode) for various rim
thicknesses. Gear tooth crack propagation was simulated using a finite element based computer program. Principles of linear elastic fracture
mechanics were used. Quarter-point, triangular elements were used at the crack tip to represent the stress singularity. Crack tip stress
intensity factors were estimated and used to determine crack propagation direction and fatigue crack growth rate. The computer program
used had an automated crack propagation option in which cracks were grown numerically using an automated re-meshing scheme. In
addition, experimental studies were performed in the NASA Lewis Spur Gear Fatigue Rig. Gears with various backup ratios were tested to
validate crack path predictions. Also, specialized crack propagation gages were installed on the test gears to measure gear tooth crack
growth rate. From both predictions and tests, gears with backup ratios (rim thickness divided by tooth height) of 3.3 and 1.0 produced tooth
fractures while a backup ratio of 0.3 produced rim fractures. For a backup ratio of 0.5, the experiments produced rim fractures and the
predictions produced both rim and tooth fractures, depending on the initial crack conditions. Good correlation between the predicted number
of crack propagation cycles and measured number of cycles was achieved using both the Paris fatigue crack growth method and the
Collipriest crack growth equation when fatigue crack closure was considered.
15. SUBJECT TERMS
Gears; Fracture mechanics; Crack propagation

16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF 18. NUMBER 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON
ABSTRACT OF STI Help Desk (email:help@sti.nasa.gov)
a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGES 19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (include area code)
U U PAGE UU 178 301-621-0390
U
Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98)
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