Dynamic Response of Planetary Bearings in a Double Planetary Gear Train with Forward and Reverse Carrier Rotations

Planetary bearings are critical components in double planetary gear trains. The influence of carrier rotation direction on bearing dynamic behavior remains insufficiently understood, which hinders accurate reliability assessment and optimal design. To investigate this issue, a dynamic model of the double planetary gear train is developed. The model captures the coupled interactions and motion characteristics of both gears and bearings. Furthermore, an experimental platform is constructed to validate the accuracy of the proposed model. A comparative analysis is conducted to examine the dynamic loads and vibration responses of the planetary bearings under forward and reverse carrier rotations. The results show that reverse rotation significantly intensifies collision forces, particularly under low-speed and high-torque conditions, where the increases for inner and outer bearings reach 38.34% and 31.25%, respectively. In terms of contact forces, the inner bearing exhibits higher loads under reverse rotation, whereas the outer bearing carries greater loads under forward rotation. Vibration response analysis reveals that the carrier rotation direction has a limited effect on the vibration of the inner bearing, but significantly amplifies that of the outer bearing. Under reverse rotation, the acceleration amplitudes of the outer cage in the x- and y-directions increase by 96.20% and 95.74%, respectively, markedly exceeding the approximate 26% increase observed for the inner bearing. This study provides new insights into the asymmetric tribological behavior of planetary bearings under bidirectional rotation. These findings provide theoretical guidance for the design and optimization of planetary bearings in double planetary gear trains.