PSI - Issue 80

Francesco Manni et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 80 (2026) 177–186 Francesco Manni/ Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000

184

8

4.3. Analysis of a complete meshing cycle To evaluate the overall stress state, a full meshing cycle of a single tooth under overload conditions has been simulated. As shown in Fig. 10, the results are consistent with those obtained in the previous section regarding plastic deformation. This confirms that the critical loading scenarios identified earlier are indeed responsible for the observed material damage. Fig. 11 illustrates the changes in the surface stress state following the overload cycle. Notably, the tooth on the left, which is not engaged in meshing, displays a residual stress profile that is markedly different from that of the tooth on the right. In the latter, particularly in the superficial region just above the root, the originally compressive residual stresses have shifted to tensile values. This shift is critical, as it reduces the fatigue resistance of the material. In subsequent meshing cycles, the affected area will be subjected to more severe fatigue loading, since the mean stress has shifted to higher values, closer to the fatigue limit of the material, thereby increasing the likelihood of crack initiation.

[max]

[min]

Fig. 10. Plastic strain after a full meshing cycle, detail of a tooth section.

[MPa]

[max]

[min]

Fig. 11. Minimum principal value of stress on the surface after the meshing cycle with overload.

5. Fatigue analysis To validate the hypotheses developed from the previous simulations, a high-cycle fatigue analysis has been conducted. Due to the triaxial nature of the stress state, the Dang Van criterion has been adopted. Two separate