PREREQUISITES FOR CREATING AN AUTOMATED CONTROL SYSTEM FOR THE PROCESS OF THERMAL ASSEMBLY OF OVERSIZED COMPOSITE GEAR WHEELS

Abstract

The intensity of the dynamic loads of large composite gear wheels during their operation
makes high demands on the quality of the processing and assembly of such parts. These
requirements are maintained during the subsequent restoration of the product. Large-sized products
include gear wheels with a diameter of more than 3250 mm, and heavy ones – starting from 25 tons
and above. The technological processes during the machining of such parts have a number of
peculiarities, which are associated with the dimensions and weight of the parts, as well as with the
conditions of their manufacture. Therefore, improving the quality of the assembly process due to
automated control of measurements of the parameters of a large gear ring when it is heated is an
urgent task. The article analyzes the technological features of the assembly of gears, which is
carried out by heating the embracing part. With the overall dimensions of the wheel, which do not
allow heating operations to be performed on standard technological equipment, this process is to be
carried out from individual heating elements stationary or on a rotary platform. It has been found
that to control the body temperature of the part and change its bore diameter during heating, it is
necessary to interrupt the process. In this case, the parameters are to be measured by two operators
manually. To ensure automation of the measurement process and the subsequent control of these
parameters, the application of modern methods and means of remote measurement of temperature
and linear parameters of the covering part has been considered. This will allow measurements to be
taken without interrupting the process. Investigations were made of the heating process of the
covering part in order to obtain information about the behavior of the measured parameters.
Analysis of product heating was performed by modeling the gear ring heating process in
SolidWorks Simulation. A measuring system has been developed for collecting, converting data
received from temperature and linear displacement sensors, as well as for subsequent data transfer
to a computer at the operator’s workplace for processing in a user program. The developed software
involves the dynamic control of the heating of the gear ring using the scheduling process. To ensure
high-quality performance of the process of heating the gear ring, an algorithm has been created for
the program in case of unplanned failures of sensors, equipment or a violation of the technological process. Experimental studies were carried out, which consisted of physical modeling of the process
of thermal expansion while heating the ring gear for assembly in the temperature range starting
from 20 ° C to 300° C. Modeling of the process was carried out on an installation with a model of
the workpiece in a scale of 1:10. The results of experimental studies allow us to lay foundations of
the basic prerequisites for automating the assembly process of composite wheels by developing and
creating an intelligent complex to control the parameters of the gear ring during the heating process.