Simulation based approach to study the effect of hypoid gear manufacturing variability on In-cabin noise

With increase in demand for quieter product and reduction in masking noise, axle whine management plays a crucial role in the early product development process. Whine is tonal in nature and humans are more sensitive to tonal memory, hence this makes user to experience a very unpleasant ride which in turn results in bad product credibility. Dynamic mesh force excitation is the cause of the axle whine noise. Critical factors in consideration are micro-geometry design, operating loads and associated misalignment's, operating temperature & bearing pre-load, and the structural response that transfers mesh force excitation to the occupant's ear. Consideration of gear micro-geometry variability influence on driver ear noise is one of the most crucial aspect of robust axle whine management plan. This work demonstrates influence of gear manufacturing variability on hypoid gear transmission error, dynamic mesh force, pinion nose vibration and resulting axle whine noise in driver ear. This approach enables gear design engineers set acceptance limits on micro-geometry during micro-geometry optimization based on noise targets.