Ways to Reduce the Mass of Body Parts of Closed Gears

Abstract

The paper presents the results of work on changing the mass of closed gears by the example of a single-stage cylindrical gearbox. Two variants of the solution for the problem are considered. In the first variant, it is proposed to reduce the thickness of the walls of unloaded areas to the constructive minimum. The other solution involves the replacement of the unloaded areas of the gearbox housing with non-metallic inserts. To produce the inserts, ZELLAMID plastic is recommended. Both variants are based on the method of topological optimization of housing parts. The Fusion 360 software product (Shape Optimization option) is applied as a tool. A 3D model of the gearbox housing was developed from which unloaded areas were removed followed by topological optimization of the housing carried out, which made it possible to reduce the mass significantly.