Gear & Gear Ratio

Introduction: Transmission is the mechanism by which the power transfers from the crankshaft to the
wheel. A gear transmission system is often used in cars. In transmission system a set of gears is attached
to the crank shaft called as Main Shaft Gears and other set of gears are attached to the Counter Shaft
Gears. The gears are usually directly attached with each other and sometimes idle gears are used between
the Main Shaft Gears and Counter Shaft Gears. The rotational energy transmitted to the counter shaft
gears is the power in which the wheel moves. To transfer the energy from the counter shaft to the wheels
three mechanism is used-
1. Shaft drive (about 25% loss)
2. Chain sprocket drive (3-5% loss)
3. Belt drive (6-9% loss)

In the transmission system Gear Ratio plays an important role.

The crankshaft rotates in a high rpm after starting the engine. But initially its more important to generate
torque in the wheels and keep the speed low. And gradually speed is increased. For a same amount of
energy and power gear ratio provides different velocity to the counter shaft and to the wheel. So we have
to Understand the Gear Ratio and how to modify it at its best.

Gears:

 Gears are toothed wheels which interlock to form simple machines.

Gear teeth are designed to ensure the pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each other without slipping,
providing a smooth transmission of rotation from one gear to the next.

Outcome of using gears:

• To reverse the direction of rotation.
• To increase or decrease the speed of rotation.
• To move rotational motion to a different axis.
• To keep the rotation of two axes synchronized.

Gear Ratio:
A gear ratio is the ratio between the driver gear (the one being powered) and the driven gear (the one
connected to the driver).
– Gear Ratios are expressed as fractions and can be written a number of ways.
• 1 to 3
• 1/3
• 1:3 most commonly used
– The driven gear will turn in the opposite direction of the driver gear

Calculation of Gear Ratio:

𝒏𝒐.𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒆𝒂𝒓

Gear Ratio= 𝒏𝒐.𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒂𝒓

Effects of Gear Ratio:

• Gear ratio as a multiplier on speed and a divider on torque.
• We can calculate the gear ratio by using the number of teeth of the “driving gear" (a.k.a. the input gear)
divided by the number of teeth of the “driven gear” (a.k.a. the output gear).
• We gear up when we increase velocity and decrease torque.
Ratio: 3:1
• We gear down when we increase torque and reduce velocity.
Ratio: 1:3
Gear Ratio and change of RPM:
We can calculate the change of rpm through following equations:

So we can say that, the bigger the ratio from driving gear to driven gear the more angular speed will be
seen to the wheels and the vehicle will run at a higher velocity.
For better top speed we can do some change on our transmissions regarding the given chart:

 This charts shows an experiment on Hero Honda Karizma 225 Engine.

This engine provides 17 hp with a top speed of 125 kmph.
After the modification it gave an output of 170 kmph with the changed gear ratios.