Parametric Optimization of Vibrating Heavy Vehicle Medium Duty Transmission Gearbox Housing Using Response Surface Method

This research study highlights two main objectives, first is selection of best suited material for gearbox housing and second objective is selection of number of connecting bolts to eliminate the excitation and heavy vibration. Heavy vehicle medium duty truck transmission gearbox housing is subjected to harmonic and internal excitations which are the main source of noise and vibration. Noise and vibration harness is required to increase the performance of transmission gearbox. Gearbox housing materials should have damping nature to sustain the vibration and minimised the gear damage by reducing the amplitude of vibration. To select best suited material Young's modulus was selected as design parameter. To prevent the excitation and heavy vibration gearbox housing is tightly mounted on vehicle frame using connecting bolts. To find the optimized number of connecting bolts Response Surface Method (RSM) was used. Design parameters are number of connecting bolts and housing material property (Young's modulus). The output response is frequency (Hz) and detuning principle was used to find the safe condition for gearbox housing. Results of this research study have been validated with available literature results. Ansys version 14.5 was used for FEA analysis and solid edge, Pro-E for solid 3D modelling.