The meshing action of mating gears and, by extension, the pair of gears in contact. A mesh is described by its ratio, center distance, backlash, contact ratio and tooth contact pattern. Gearbox analysis treats each mesh as a source of load, heat and vibration, so a three-stage reducer has three meshes, each with its own mesh frequency.
High-speed mesh is the noisy one, the low-speed mesh is barely audible, so start there with the accelerometer.
Also heard as
- gear mesh
- in mesh
- meshing
Related terms
GMF
Gear mesh frequency: tooth count times shaft speed, the frequency at which teeth enter mesh.
Contact ratio
The average number of tooth pairs in contact at once, which largely sets how smoothly and quietly a pair runs.
Backlash
The play between mating teeth: how far one gear can rock before its teeth contact the other gear's teeth.
Line of action
The straight path along which the point of tooth contact travels, tangent to both base circles.