<p>To predict the meshing performance of the variable hyperbolic circular-arc-tooth-trace (VH-CATT) cylindrical gear in real work, this paper proposes a real tooth surface reconstruction method and analyzes the meshing characteristics of the reconstructed real tooth surface. The topological discretization of the theoretical tooth surface was performed based on the tooth surface measurement grid, the deviations between the real tooth surface points and the theoretical tooth surface points were calculated, the deviation surface was obtained by fitting the discrete deviation points, the deviation surface was superimposed with the theoretical tooth surface to obtain the real tooth surface, the loaded tooth contact analysis (LTCA) model was established, and the meshing characteristics of the real and theoretical gears were compared and analyzed. The results show that: compared with the theoretical gear, both the mesh position and the tooth load of the real gear are shifted, and loaded transmission error and load distribution are changed; with the increase of load torque, the load distribution of the theoretical gear is unchanged, while the load distribution of the real gear tends to be uniform. The results of this paper provide an auxiliary role for the actual processing and the tooth profile modification of the VH-CATT cylindrical gear, which is of positive significance in promoting the industrialization of this gear.</p>