Minimizing gear losses caused by churning, windage and mesh friction is important if plant operating costs
and environmental impact are to be minimized. The paper concentrates on mesh friction losses and
associated scuffing risk. Itdescribesthepreliminaryresultsfrom using avalidated 3D FiniteElementAnalysis
(FEA) and Tooth Contact Analysis (TCA) program to optimize cylindrical gears for low friction losses without
compromising Transmission Error (TE), noise and power density. Some case studies are presented and
generic procedures for minimizing losses are proposed. Future development and further validation work is
discussed.