Development of the damage diagnosis on gear tooth surface using a laser beam

We developed a new diagnostic method by using a laser beam trom the point of view of remote diagnosis. Our method can be explained as follows : first, a tooth surface is irradiated by a zonal laser beam from oblique direction, and then an irradiated laser beam line is shifted along the height of the tooth according to gear revolution. The variations of the laser reflection between the initial and the present conditions are compared, and it can estimate a condition on the tooth surface such as normal or destructive wear, pitting, spalling, etc. To confirm the validity of our method, a pitting experiment was carried out, and at the same time the laser reflection was measured. As a result, the data of the laser reflection experiment revealed occurrence of the pitting apparent and early. Thus, it can be concluded that our method can accurately estimate the condition of a tooth surface and sufficiently assess the duration of the gear life.