Application of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to Evaluate the Performance of Controlling Parameters for Worm Gearbox under no-load condition

Abstract

Worm Gear drives are widely utilized for speed reduction and high torque multiplication in Industrial equipment. These drives are generally lubricated using splash lubrication. A large amount of energy is therefore expended not only in overcoming the metallic friction but also in overcoming the viscous drag (churning losses). The losses occur due to the dragging of viscous lubricant is called churning power loss. The Central Composite Design (CCD)-based Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to determine and optimize the churning power loss effect for worm gear. As the controlling variables, the input number of revolutions, lubricant volume, and lubricant temperature were taken into account. The test rig was designed and fabricated based on the simple direct torque measurement method to measure the churning loss of the worm gearbox. A developed model based on experiments was proposed to associate the independent parameters for minimizing the churning power loss for the worm gearbox at the optimum process condition. It is proved that the most effective parameter for this study was the lubricant temperature for the churning power loss of worm gearbox in comparison with other parameters. It may be due to the higher F-statistics value for churning power loss