Gear Dynamics and Gear Noise Short Course
(June 7 - 10, 2027)
The Gear Short Course will be in-person with no online components.  Specific questions should be directed to Prof. Raj Singh [singh.3@osu.edu].

Purpose


The purpose of this unique short course is to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms of gear noise generation, methods by which gear noise is measured and predicted, and techniques employed in gear noise and vibration reduction.  Over the past 40+ years about 2,700 engineers and technicians from over 400 companies have attended the Gear Noise Short Course.

Who Should Attend

The course is of particular interest to engineers and technicians involved in the analysis, manufacture, design specification, or utilization of simple and complex gear systems.   This course is valuable for industries such as automotive (including electric vehicles), aircraft, helicopter, ship, and off-road transportation; appliances; wind energy; process machinery; and general manufacturing.

The course material is covered in such a way that the fundamentals of gearing, gear dynamics, noise analysis and measurements are covered first. This makes the course appropriate to the gear designer with minimal knowledge of noise and vibration analysis as well as to the noise specialist with little knowledge of gears. For more information, see 2 magazine Gear Technology Articles posted on this site.
Focus
Gear Whine and Rattle
• Transmission Error - The Main Source
• Measurements for Gear Noise Diagnosis
• NVH Issues
• Gear Dynamics
• Profile Design, and Manufacturing Issues
• Application to e-drives or e-vehicles 
• Transmission Paths and Casing Acoustics
• Design Guidelines for Noise and Vibration Reduction
• Laboratory Tour 
• Demo of GearLab Computer Software
• Interactive Workshop
  • Gear Whine and Rattle
  • Transmission Error - The Main Source
  • Gear Noise Diagnosis
  • NVH Issues and Measurements 
  • Gear Dynamics
  • Profile Design, and Manufacturing Issues
  • Application to e-drives or e-vehicles
  • Transmission Paths and Casing Acoustics
  • Design Guidelines for Noise and Vibration Reduction
  • Double helical gear sets
  • Laboratory Tour
  • Demo of GearLab Computer Software
  • Interactive Workshop

Course Lectures (First 3 Days)

A popular feature of this course is the interspersing of demonstrations with lectures. The extensive measurement and computer software capabilities of the Gear and Power Transmission Research Laboratory allow us to do this in a simple and non-commercial manner.
On the first day, the lecturers discuss why even perfect gears make noise. They present in both qualitative and quantitative terms how gear design parameters and manufacturing errors affect noise. The concept of gear transmission error, one of the major contributors to gear noise, is developed, and methods of predicting transmission errors from design and manufacturing data are presented. Participants get a clear physical insight into the problems they face and how they may apply course knowledge to help solve their gear noise problems.
On the second day, lecturers concentrate on gear system dynamics and acoustics, dynamics of parallel axis and planetary gears, transmission error calculations and measurements. The role of spacing error will be discussed as well.
The third day's lectures briefly discuss the sources of gear rattle and design robustness for whine problems as well as spending several hours in the case history workshop. See the typical agenda posted on the website.


Laboratory Tour on Day 2

Throughout the course, laboratory and computer software demonstrations are used to illustrate gear noise measurement and analysis techniques. The facilities of the Gear and Power Transmission Research Laboratory (gearlab.org) and the Acoustics and Dynamics Laboratory (mae.osu.edu/adl) are used for these demonstrations.


Case History Workshop

This novel approach to discussing "real life" gear noise and dynamics problems has been used in this course since its inception. The workshop, which has been lauded by past attendees for its practical flavor, takes place on the third day of the course. The purpose of this workshop is to allow the course instructors and participants to interact and to discuss gear noise and dynamics case histories presented by some course attendees. Participants may present a brief synopsis of problems they have encountered or of procedures they have used for gear noise analysis and reduction. Possible approaches to solve each problem will be discussed.


Simulation and Experimental Methods Sessions on Day 4

The sessions on Day 4 will address the following topics and related experimental, computational and design methods:
a. Effects of spacing errors on gear design and gear dynamics
b. Geared system acoustic models: role of bearings, sound radiation
c. Advanced gear excitation measurements
d. Gear rattle and driveline transients


Registration Fee

• $2,900 per person (early bird rate until March 8, 2027)
• $3,100 per person (regular rate from March 9, 2027)
• Subject to the availability of seats