Axle Gear Noise Quality Inspection

A gear tester has been developed that can predict the relative level of axle noise in the cab of a truck. This paper documents the development in five parts: establishing the characteristics of noise generated by the axle in the cab of a small gas powered truck, developing a viable gear tester for the noise quality measurement of spiral bevel gear sets, establishing correlation between gear tester ratings and in-truck ratings of axle noise, testing a random sample of gears to determine the population's noise quality distribution, and predicting the errors associated with using the gear tester in quality control.