Impact of the Load in the Orbits Described by the Sun Gear in a Planetary Gear Set with an Odd Number of Planets

This work focuses on the study of the orbits described by the sun gear of a planetary transmission measured from the planet carrier. Furthermore, this study focuses on the impact that the load and the number of planets have in the orbit described by the mentioned gear under different mesh phasing conditions. The combination of a given number of teeth and the number of planets sets the shape that the orbit describes. However, not only it affects the shape of the orbit, but also it changes the size and the variability of the sun gear position, which has relevant impact in the dynamic behaviour of a planetary transmission. On the other hand, the raise in the number of planets adds stiffness to the system due to the augmentation in the simultaneous contacts, therefore, it has an impact in the overall size of the orbit.