Abstract: In order to increase the working reliability of main transmission spiral bevel gears for aeroengines with elastic supports,a theoretical and experimental study was made on the contact characteristics of the gears.The elastic deformations of gear shafts caused by mass imbalances of rotor and gears meshing forces were acquired by analyzing the rotor vibration.The contact characteristic of spiral bevel gears was theoretically calculated using a tooth contact analysis (TCA) technique.A contrast experiment for the spiral bevel gears was carried out on a rotor test facility with elastic supports.The theoretical and experimental results show that there exist great effects of support stiffness on the contact pattern and the transmission error of spiral bevel gears.

Key words: elastic suppor t, spiral bevel gears, t ooth conta ct analysis, toot h contact exper iments