A CAE approach for the stress analysis of gear models by 3D digital photoelasticity

The use of numerical and experimental methods to determine the stress field of mechanical components is well known. In particular, 3D photoelasticity can be considered the only experimental technique for the complete stress state evaluation of 3D components. The advent of rapid prototyping techniques has allowed the manufacturing of complex models in a matter of hours by using birifrangent materials. The present paper is focused on the description of a Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) approach which combines Finite Element (FE) simulations and automatic photoelastic investigations for the stress analysis of face gear drives, made by stereolithography. Computer Aided Design (CAD) geometries, used to manufacture the stereolithographic models, are directly used to perform FE analyses, thus allowing the stress analysis process to become simpler and easier. The substantial agreement observed between experimental and numerical results proved the potentialities of the adopted approach and the usefulness of FE simulations to optimize photoelastic analyses through cost- and time-effective experiments even for complex 3D shapes.