SHORT CUTS FOR ANALYZING PLANETARY GEARING The analysis of planetary gearing often is unwieldy because components can be connected in various combinations of drive inputs and outputs. Moreover, the planet gears rotate about a moving axis, To simplify matiers, a governing kinematic equation can be developed that not only yields all possible velocity ratios, but also provides a basis for evaluating torque and efficiency. BJ, FERGUSON Protescor \ Dept. of Mechanica Enginoering ee : | Ral Wiceis Goce Cos One configuration, many combinations ' Kingston Ontero i Sasa 1 imple planetary wth single car, sun gear an cng est can be j Connected er sic aleront aj, each sith a unique vlostproducon i : olationships |] ‘ato. The vlc of only wo dine component cen be conivled ‘Tae veLoctry relationship independent, thereby providing two inputs. The drive output velocity fsa among components in planc- function of tnése two input velocities. Usually, one drive input ie fixed tary drives often prove difficult slationary for speedreduction applications to evaluate because planet gears can rotate about a mov- ing axis. Moreover, planetary components usually can be comnected in various eombina~ Flog 9086 tions to provide a number of velocity-reduction ratios. It is not widely realized that all the possible combinations or connections for a given plane- tary configuration need not be analyzed to determine all ve- locity ratios, For any given planetary configuration, how- Planet geat (Pm, N Garver} ~sun gear (87 ‘Whe governing kinematic equation for any planetary con- figuration defines the angular ever complex, a single govern- Schematic ing kinematic equation can be developed, which then is ma- ‘Simple planetary configuration nipulated to determine all pos- | sible velocity ratios. In addi- : tion, by relying on certain as- Drive eomponents————— I sumptions, both drive torque Fixed ee and officiency can be determined Input iaput ret reduction ratio™ from the data on planetary 3 a q cae | component volocities. é $ z wis i a R & c (+ alla | Angular velocities 5 ® ¢ dee % j é R 8 1a) | | Mav 29,1088errant ae ot SE RLS A RES ORRSSNSRSEO velocity of drive component to the case of a simple planetary _Constaat tr can be evaluated be a fimetion of the angular ve- with a single catrier, sun gear, by analyzing a drive connection Tocitios of all the other drive and ring gear — all of which with zero carvier velocity components controlled imde- can be connected as drive in- ‘Thus, given that we = 0, Baus pendently. Generally, the puts and outputs. If the angu- tion 3 becomes number of velocity terms in lar velocities of any two of this expression is one greater these three drive components than the number of indepen- are specified (that is, two com- Prom the geometxy, it can be dently controlled components. ponents are selected as inputs), shown that Independent control simply then the velocity of the third es = (P/S)(— on) means that any velocity can be component (the output) is also es applied freely to the compo- established. From Equation 1, 2 nent, For a drive with inde- this relationship can be ox. Where &» = planet angular ve- ki = aefon ae atralled! corape! tea locity and 8, R, and P are the oan Kien + hoes on the sun, ring, and planet. It ae (Although tho simple plane- follows that tary can be connected six dif- by = wen = cia where og, = angular velocity of ferent ways, all six connections ater @givon component 1; az, 043, need not be analyzed to develop 7 RS “nas = angular velocities a governing kinomatic equa- ‘The remaining constant ha is of the N independently con- tion, Any drive connection can evaluated by considering trolled components; ands, #2,. be considered. For instance, let drive connection that fixes the by = constants that depend the ring gear and carrier be the ring at zero angular velocity. on planetary drive geometry. drive inputs, therehy establish- Thus, given that w= 0, Equa. The constants ore evaluated by ing the sun goar as the drive tion 3 can be arranged as analyzing certain drive combi- output, Then from Equation 2, nations that fix components abo. = fay ++ daw ° zero angular velocity. Because the camier is in mo. The method of developing a where ws, w», and we are the tion for this ease, hz cannot be governing Kinematic equation absolute angular velocities of evaluated directly from gear for any planetary drive canbe the sun gear, ring gear, and —_goometry. Instead, the well. ost explained by considering carrier. known tabular mothod of bs = aslec Applying kinematic equations to compiex planetaries Problem: Datermino the governing ean be rexluced to Which is the governing kinematic kinematic equation for aload-cividing —(I-roy-Fas)as = (—eees}ony {equation lor the doubie planetary ouble planetary. AU-bay(ltaac) drive Solution: Tho easiest way to develop a Loacrdividing double ptanetary ‘governing kinomatio equation is by Iveating the are cantiguration as lwo separate pianetaries coupled in I] tandom. From the drive schematic, i ‘can be seen that components C1 and f] 2 are coupled so their angular velocities ave identical Moreover, a1 land azare the ratios o ing to sun gent "ai for the two planetaris, than the f} o0vorning xinamatic equation foreach lanetary is wa = mem + (+ ase) on = awe + [+ asc} == anaes + 0 + edge ‘The above two equations can be solved for a; and set equal to ane another, The resulting expression then ‘Sun gears mounted in lancom on same shat Macnine oEstGNsuperposition from kinematies must be used. ‘This method essentially con verts the drive into a fixed-axis geartrain for purposes of analysis. Typical results of ap- plying the tabular method are shown here, Note that the entries in the last row of the table have meaning only rela- tive to each other. Thus, for one revolution of the carrier, the sun rotates 1 + (RiS) revo- lutions. In turn, the angular velocities are related as fac = [1 + RS) which means that fy exfac = 1+ (YS) Tha is defined equal to RIS, then the governing kinematic equation for the simple plane- tary drive is os ~ be + hee = (+ R/S)an + UN + (RISC = seen Fd Fae) O ‘This expression can be used to evaluate the velocity ratios across the planetary drive for any possible choice of fixed component. (See One configura. tion, many combinations.) Moreover, Equation 4 applies for drive connections where components either rotate at dif- ferent velocities or are locked together. For a complete description of drive velocities, the velocity of the idlers or planets must: be Known as well, A general ve- locity expression also can be written for the planets in terms of ay and wc, a was done for the sun gear. For the planet, ir = her + baae ° For the connection where o = 0, the constant ka is by = arfen From drive geometry, it can be seen that the gear radii are re- lated so that RaDPss Given the above expression for R, it can be shown that by wafer = Zoya ~ 1) May 26, 1969 Relative angular veto Procedure Ring your ‘Teste af gems locked together. Rotate carier “ fone tevalution cosiewse 2, Tix the career stationary, Rotate the ring gear one zevolution counter: clock, 3. Assuming suporposition, fd the resoting 4 revolutions from the first ‘80 top ies for planetary fixed ring gear Planot components Planet gear Sun gear Carrion “ “4 nl RIP +s iP) 1s) FR, S, and P denote gor radi cx number of teeth forthe ing, sun, and planet gears Next, for the ‘drive connec- tion where we = 0, constant ke ba = wife From the table of relative an- gular velocities for the fixed- ving drive, itis determined that fac =) = (RP) and that ky = orfuc = 1 ~ (8/0) =U +a -@ Finally, the absolute velocity of the planets for any possible choiee of fixed component. can be summarized as Dalla ~ Vex +E + ait ~ alloc (6) Taken together, Bquations 4 and 6 provide @ complete de- scription of the angular veloci- ties for a simple planetary. Similarly, comparable expres- sions can be developed for more complex planetary configura- tions, “Torque Unlike the case for the equations for angular velocity, itis impossible to develop simi- lar expressions that yield com- ponent torques for every possi- ble drive connection. However, there are several rules that can be applied to aid torque analysis of planetaries For instance, the ratio of ring torque to sun torque in a simple planetary is equal to the ra of the ring and sun gear radii Moreover, the torque ratio for rotating input and output drive components with external torque is equal to the reciprocal of the velocity ratio, Generally, it ean be assumed that the algebraic sign of the velocity ratio also applies to the torque ratio if the drive input and output shafts are parallel and point in opposite di roctions, This assumption im- plies that the Right Hand Rule cain be used to establish a sign convention for torque sense. Therefore, the fingers of the right hand indicate a positive torque sense if the thumb points in tho shaft direction. Finally, the reaction torque of a drive can be determined simply by choosing a positive torque direction and aumming all the external torques acting on the drive system so that ETrvena = 0 Efficiency Given data on component ve- lovities and torques, drive effi cieney also can be eveluated. Most analyses of efficiency con- sider the concept of power flow whereby gear mesh losses occur at some constant percentage of the power transferred across each mesh. For instance, a parallel-shaft _geartrain with four consecutive meshes willEvaluating torque from velocity data fh vtcion oaue or acitgie veiociy ratio for this erive is lanetary with fixed ring gear ite eiue = (1 + a) when woe=0, ws = devo input velocity : \ i: cies Because the sun and earcier Both lackw'se direction rotate and have extesnal torque, the Fs ~ Toraue with torque ratio is equal to the reciprocal counterctockwiee of ihe velocity rato, Thus, = fvecton Tels = wile = 14 Te Moreover, because the velociy cao ie positive, the input and output torques es far aleo positive according to the oe eae Right Hong Aule. Final. the reaction torque Ty acting al the ring gear and a housing te ab E Toca 0 Ty Tot Te Tr (0 + oT) + Te m0 Tam als have an overall efficiency of instance, consider the four- ‘Therefore, the following (0.99) = 0.961 or 96.1%, as- mesh parallel-shaft drive. A 1% simplified procedure for'es, suming a 1% lossateach mesh, lose at the four meshes gives a _timating efficieney can be used Unfortunately, the applica- system efficiency of [1 - (4 x for most drives with negligible tion of power flow concepts to 0.01)] = 0.96 or 96.0%. The impact on accuracy. First, the planetary drives usually re- difference between the results angular velocity and torque of duires difficultto-derive math- of both efficiency-prediction one gear iit each mosh must be ematical expressions. Gener- methods is essentially insignif. determined to compute the ally, itis simpler to justadd up icant. In fact,an unrealistically transmitted power. Then, a cer- the assumed losses at each high power loss of 5% must be tain perventage of transmitted mesh and then compute the ef: assumed for a drive with eight power is attributed to mesh ficiency. This simplication can consecutive meshes before the losses. For instance, a 1% loss be applied to either parallel- difference in estimated effi can be assumed for internal shaft or planetary gearing. Far ciency approaches 10% meshes and a 2% loss for exter- nal meshes. Finally, the com- puted losses then are cummed and oubtracted from the input power to determine the overall efficiency. The procedure is quite straightforward if the actual velocity of tooth engagement, which for planetaries is the ve- Estimating efficiency from velocity data Problem: Determine the elicioncyot a Aigo, the gear velocities ate ‘ixed-ring simple planetary determined relative t0 tho eartor. {Given shat for a fixed-ring planetary the lorque ratios TTyt + aang that the reaction orqueis Temas, tean be Solution: Assuming 3 19% 09s at the Internal mesh between the ring and Blanet and a2% Ices at ine external shown thet locity relative to the carvier, is ‘mesh between the plano! en su, the used for determining the Sve power ses cen bo etinsod 1 = (OO3aucTeMt + 6) transmittod power lasses, Also, ~o0tlen~ Thus, the eve eftetoney 9 6 absolute values must be used r=00tln seit a for the torque and velocity stoma 1 = Goce ~ LMacTe) quantities 50 as to avoid the = + 097ayU1 +a) possibility of negative power losses, resulting from algebra inherent in the power loss ‘equations, Where the absolute values for power losses guarantor positive quantities, whore wy Te 8 the input power: une DEsi@N