Abstract: The contact characterics and flank modification of face gear drive with curvilinear shaped tooth by format cutting were investigated.An image rack-cutter with curvilinear shaped tooth was considered as a generating tool formed by head-cutter with a tilted angle.The tooth surface of face gear by fotmat cutting and cylinderical gear by generation method were derivated,then,flank modification of face gear was applied by the rack-cutter's parabolic profile.Based on the developed mathematical model of face gear drive,tooth contact anlysis was also established by taking into consideration the assembly errors.Finally,the numerical example results show that the transmission error amplitude can be reduced and the better shape of transmission error curve can be attained,and also the sensitivity of this type gear drive is better than other face gear drives.