Modeling and Dynamic Characteristics of Planetary Gear Transmission in Non-inertial System of Aerospace Environment

Abstract The traditional research on the dynamics of planetary gear transmission (PGT) is based on the assumption that the support is on the ground. However, the PGT inside the aircraft is spatially moved along with the airframe, which is not only subject to gravity, but also to additional inertia forces. These loads should affect the dynamic characteristics of the PGT. The PGT itself is a non-inertial system (NIS) and is called the internal non-inertial system (INIS). By contrast, an airframe in the aerospace environment is named an external non-inertial system (ENIS). In order to investigate the dynamic behavior of the PGT in a compound NIS, the kinematic equations of various components in arbitrary spatial motion state of the airframe are deduced. Subsequently, the coupled dynamics model of PGT in NIS is improved. The dynamic responses of PGT in different non-inertial conditions are compared based on the hovering motion of the airframe. The results indicate that INIS is the main factor affecting the trajectory of planet gear, while ENIS is the force source changing the trajectory of the central component. The aircraft’s hovering motion makes the gravity effect become a relatively time-varying excitation, but the dominant factor is still the additional inertial forces. The non-inertial effect during aerospace operation can significantly affect the bearing force, vibration and load sharing performance. It will lead to serious errors if the traditional research method is still used to obtain the dynamic behavior of PGT in the aerospace environment.