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Introduction low load-dependent power losses due to low sliding in the load-
As mentioned, planetary gear transmissions generally feature ed gear meshes. The gears of each concept and each gear ratio
various advantages in relation to conventional gear transmis- are designed according to ISO 6336 (Ref. 3), with optimized
sions, such as higher efficiency, higher feasible gear ratios, com- tool parameters to produce characteristically low-loss gears.
pactness and lower weight. Present research concentrates on The volume of each concept is calculated assuming the gear
planetary gear transmission designs with a low volume, low wheels, as well as the two-sided carrier shafts, to be solid cylin-
power losses and, therefore, high efficiency values. Most of the ders. For the sake of simplicity, detailed shaft geometries, as well
present applications are characterized by basic planetary gear as the weight and additional power losses of bearings and other
trains as an integral part of the synthesis process to achieve dif- machine elements, are not considered here.
ferent transmission types, such as negative-ratio and positive-
ratio drives. The power density of planetary gear transmissions Kinematic Equivalence of Planetary Gear
is dependent on the adjusted number of planets linking two cen- Transmissions
tral gears. The input power of a central gear is then distributed Muellers book (Ref. 1) provides basic information and rules for
to several planet gears, resulting in lower load and lower tooth planetary gear trains, such as for fundamental positive-ratio and
forces for each gearing. Depending on the alignment of each negative-ratio drives with a fixed carrier, as well as for coupled
gear wheel, or, rather, the chosen planetary gear transmission or complex-compound planetary gear transmissions. According
structure, different efficiency, volume and weight values can be to Mueller, two fundamental planetary gear trains are kinemati-
achieved. Especially in combination with the desired transmis- cally equivalent if one gear ratio of a transmission is equal to
sion gear ratio, it is not obvious which gear train type ought to one gear ratio of another transmission. In that case, all other
be chosen in order to provide an optimal transmission in terms gear ratios are equal too. Thus this rule reveals that multiple
of efficiency, volume and weight. planetary gear train types can come into consideration if they
feature the same desired gear ratio between the input and output
Outline shaft.
The objective of this paper is to calculate and compare the vol- For the predefined gear ratios, one negative-ratio drive and
ume, weight and efficiency of three basic planetary gear trans- two structurally different positive-ratio drives will be designed
missions with one degree of freedom (Fig. 1), applying three and compared (Fig. 1). The calculation of the gear ratios for
different gear ratios (5, 25 and 125). Due to the fact that this each concept (Table 1) shows the kinematic equivalence, since
study focuses on reducing volume and weight, the lowest fea- all of the concepts have the same gear ratios. One can easily rec-
sible number of gear teeth and as many planets as possible will ognize that each fundamental planetary gear train always fea-
be applied to each concept in order to reach a preferably high tures four positive and two negative ratios. Furthermore, the
power density. In order to comply with the demand of high effi- corresponding input and output shafts, as well as the required
ciency values, special low-loss gears will be designed that feature basic gear ratio i12, can be derived for all transmission con-
cepts of this study. For instance, Central Gear 1 is used as the
input shaft, and the carrier as the output shaft for Concept A;
the input and output shafts of Concepts B and C are the carrier
shafts and Shaft 1, respectively.
For further considerations, geometric relations will only be set i12= zz2 z2=i12z1
1
up as a function of the number of teeth, which is valid as long as
the normal module mn is constant for each gear of a transmis- The number of teeth on the planet gear can be derived from
sion concept. In this case the number of teeth is proportional to the geometric constraint that the center distances of each gear
the corresponding reference diameter, and diameters of differ- pair must be equal. This constraint, reduced by the normal
ent gears can be compared on the basis of their number of teeth. module and using a negative number of teeth for the ring gear,
After determining the number of gear wheel teeth in each con- reads as follows:
(3)
cept, the minimum normal module at the gearing, including the 0=z1+2=zp+z2
gear with the minimum number of teeth, is calculated according
to ISO 6336 (Ref. 3), assuming the ratio between tooth width zp= z2+z1
2
b and reference diameter d to be 1:0. Further requirements to
ensure proper comparison of the three concepts refer to the fac- In the next step the maximum number of planet gears must
tors (application factor KA, dynamic factor KV, transverse load be determined in order to minimize the acting load in each gear
factor KH face load factor KH, which are each set to 1:0. The mesh (power division). Figure 2a shows the geometric limit
mesh load factorkg is chosen according to AGMA 6123-B06 case where adjacent planet gears are in contact with each other,
(Ref. 6) for the ISO quality of 6 and according to the number of assuming the tip diameter of the planet gears to be the number-
planet gears applied to the transmission concept. of-teeth-plus-two, which equates to the reference-diameter-
Determining the number of teeth. Assembling planetary gear plus-two-times the normal module:
(4)
transmissions is more complex than conventional spur gear
z +2
transmissions; additional geometric constraints fundamentally cos= p
z1+zp
result from integrating several planets between at least two cen-
tral gears (sun and/or ring gears). Thus the number of teeth is with =90 2 =90 2n
360
determined in such a way that, on the one hand, all geomet- max
ric constraints are satisfied, and on the other hand, the other Rearranging this equation yields the maximum number of
requirements concerning low weight and volume, as well as high planet gears nmax for the given number of teeth, nmax=:
efficiency, are optimally met. The following procedure is used to
determine the minimum feasible number of teeth:
1. Select the number of teeth on each gear wheel so that the gear
ratio deviation between the input and the output shaft is lower
than 10%
2. Apply as many planets as possible to each concept without
causing a collision of adjacent planet gears
3. Select the number of teeth on each gear wheel so that all gears
can be assembled according to Loomans assembly rules (Ref.
5)
4. Apply the minimum number of teeth 17 at the gear
wheel with the lowest theoretical (loss-free) load
5. The center distance of each gear pair of one concept (sun/
planet gear or ring/planet gear) must be equal
Using a small number of teeth while also complying with fur-
ther assembly rules will create a gear set with a number of teeth
Figure 2Assembly of planets.
which has to be rounded down to the next integer value. In with the following coefficients:
(11)
the last step, the assembling rule according to Looman (Ref.
5) has to be satisfied so that the planet gears can be mounted. 1
y1= cos
Depending on the numbers of teethas well as the transmission
structurethe following equation must be true: cosi12+ zp12i12
(6)
y2= i12cos +zp2
|z1|+|z2| 2zp2
f=integer value=
n y3= i cos
12
Conclusion
Figure 7Efficiency of conventional and low-loss external gear. The appropriate transmission Concepts A, B or C for a speci-
fied application depend on the desired transmission gear ratio.
For a desired gear ratio of five, transmission Concepts A and
B feature similar values for weight and volume. For gear ratios
i=25 and i=125, two or three basic transmissions of Concept
A (Figs. 5a and 5b) must be applied, whereas Concepts B and
C do not change the basic structure for all gear ratios (Figs. 1b
and 1c). Concept A provides the highest efficiency value and a
very narrow design. If a gearbox with a low diameter is required,
Concept B achieves the best weight and volume values, while
the number of applied planets has a minor influence. A higher
number of applied planet gears results in a higher mesh load
factor, according to AGMA 6123B06, as well as an increasing
difficulty in assembling the planets according to Looman with
References
1. Mller, H. W. Die Umlaufgetriebe, Vol. 2, Springer, 1998.
2. Mulzer, F. Systematik hoch bersetzender Koaxialer Getriebe, Ph.D.
Thesis, Technische Universitt Mnchen, 2009.
3. ISO 6336. Calculation of Load Capacity of Spur and Helical Gears, ISO
2006.
4. Wimmer, A. J. Lastverluste von Stirnradverzahnungen, Ph.D. Thesis,
Technische Universitt Mnchen, 2006. Figure 9Volume of conventional and low-loss external gear.
5. Looman, J. Die Zahnradgetriebe, Springer, 1996.
6. AGMA 6123B06. Calculation of Load Capacity of Spur and Helical Gears,
ISO 2006.
7. Niemann, G. and H. Winter. Maschinenelemente Band 2: Getriebe
Allgemein, Zahnradgetriebe-Grundlagen, Stirnradgetriebe, Springer 2003.
8. Ohlendorf, H. Verlustleistung und Erwmung von Stirnrdern, Ph.D.
Thesis, Technische Hochschule Mnchen, 1958.
Bernd-Robert Hhn studied mechanical engineering Prof. Dr.-Ing. K. Stahl studied mechanical
at the Technical University Darmstadt (1965-1970) engineering at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen
and served as an assistant lecturer (1970-1973) at before serving as research associate at the Gear
the Institute for Machine Elements and Gears at the Research Centre (FZG) at the Technical University
Technical University Darmstadt prior to becoming Munich 1994 until 2000. In 2001 he received his PhD in
an assistant professor at the university (1973-1979); mechanical engineering and that year started as gear
in 1978, he received his PhD (Dr. Ing.) in mechanical development engineer at the BMW group in Dingolfing,
engineering. In early April, 1979 Hhn worked as a subsequently being named head of Prototyping, Gear
technical designer in the department for gear development of the Audi, Technology & Methods in 2003. From 20062009 he changed to the BMW/
and by 1982 was head of the department for gear research and design for MINI plant in Oxford, UK, first as group leader, and in 2007 as department
the automaker. In 1986 Audi named Hhn department head for both gear leader for Validation Driving Dynamics and Powetrain. In 2009 Stahl returned
research and testing of automotive transmissions, until his departure in 1989 to Munich, responsible for predevelopment and innovation management
to become head of both the Institute of Machine Elements at the Technical within BMW Driving Dynamics and Powertrain. Stahl was then named head
University and of the Gear Research Centre (FZG). Hhn has served since in 2011 of the Institute for Machine Elements and the Gear Research Centre
2004 as vice president for VDI for research and development and since 1996 (FZG) at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen.
has led the working group 6 and 15 for ISO TC 60calculation of gears.
Philipp Gwinner, 26, completed in 2011 his studies in
mechanical engineering at the Technische Universitaet
Muenchen, with a special focus on automotive and drive
engineering. Since 2011, he has worked as a research
associate at the Institute for Machine Elements (FZG),
Technische Universitaet Muenchen.