A multi-mesh MPM for simulating the meshing process of spur gears

A numerical scheme is presented to simulate the meshing process of spur gears, based on the material point method (MPM). To allow engagements at successive contact points and subsequent separation between neighboring gear teeth, a contact/sliding/separation procedure in a multi-mesh environment without using master/slave nodes is proposed so that the no-slip contact constraint inherent in the existing MPM can be released. Individual drive members rotate around corresponding axes, through which simulated angular velocity transmission is in good agreement with the analytical solution. It appears from the simulation results presented here that the multi-mesh MPM could become a robust spatial discretization tool for gear design problems that involve large rotation, contact/sliding and separation.