Gear Hobbing Predictive Model

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project, Gear Hobbing Predictive Model, will develop and demonstrate innovative physics-based modeling of gear machining processes the Navy needs to predict and improve residual stresses and related distortions, as well as reduce production cycle times and costs of transmission gears. Through targeted technology development, Third Wave Systems (TWS) will demonstrate a 35-50 percent reduction in gear machining time and cost without the need for additional capital equipment investment. This will be achieved through the advancement and application of both a detailed finite element modeling (FEM) of the tool-workpiece interaction, as well as a toolpath-level analysis. The combined outputs of these comprehensive models temperatures, residual stresses, forces, and power will provide the ability to predict and manage machining-induced residual stresses while simultaneously reducing machining cost and cycle time. The Phase II program will improve upon its Phase I advances in model development and validation by expanding the scope of these goals to a larger set of gear machining processes and components, and further demonstrating cycle time and cost improvements through close collaboration with gear manufacturers and DoD primes.