Journal off
Mechanical
Design
Gear Stress Reduction Using Internal
Stress Relief Features
L. Fredette^ and M. Brown ^
This paper discusses research into the possibility of reducing
gear tooth root stresses by adding internal stress relief features.
For many years, gear designs have improved with the incremen-
tal addition of design features. Materials have improved, sur-
faces are selectively hardened with heat treatment and carbori-
zation, and shot peening is used to improve surface properties.
All of these improvements are related to material attributes.
Little has been done to change the gear geometry to improve
durability and strength. Although the exterior of the gear is
governed by the necessary involute profile of the teeth, nothing
prevents interior changes. In this study holes were drilled along
the axis of a test gear segment in an effort to provide stress
relief in critical areas. A finite element model was constructed
for use in a systematic test of the effect of hole size and hole
placement on tooth root stress. A constant force was applied
at the pitch diameter, and all results were normalized with
respect to the values obtained for a solid gear. Results show that
it is possible to reduce the tooth root tensile stress considerably
without producing stresses in the holes greater than on an
unmodified gear. These results were verified by photoelastic
testing on greatly oversized plastic models. Since gear teeth fail
due to fatigue over many cycles, even a slight reduction in the
root tensile stress produces a great increase in fatigue life.
Introduction
The idea of using holes as stress relief features is not a new
one. In 1990, Dippery experimented with the use of supplemen-
tary holes in a structure as a method of reducing the stress
concentration that was already present. His work showed that
stress concentration reductions are possible in a generic shape
using holes as stress reliefs. In 1992, Srinivasulu showed that
similar reductions are possible in gears. His experiments were
limited to hole placement in the relatively low stress neutral
axis of the bending gear tooth. Although bending stress reduc-
tions were not found from these hole placements, Srinivasulu
determined that the added flexibility of the gear tooth reduced
contact stresses and improved the fatigue life of the gear. The
present study furthers these efforts by investigating the effects
of holes across the entire gear tooth as a function of size and
' Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, OH, ASME Assoc. Member
^ University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, ASME Member
Contributed by tlie Reliability, Stress Analysis and Failure Prevention Coinmit-
tee for publication in the JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL DESIGN . Manuscript received
April 1996; revised July 1997. Associate Technical Editor: E. Sancaktar.
518 / Vol. 119, DECEMBER 1997
Copyright © 1997 by ASME
Downloaded From: http://mechanicaldesign.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 04/21/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms
location. This study hypothesized that systematic experimenta-
tion with hole sizes and locations would provide a fundamental
understanding of their effects on stress in spur gears. The ulti-
mate objective of this work was to find the overall effect of
hole size and location on the critical stresses in the gear, and
more importantly to find the most beneficial effect.
Analysis
Spur gears have a complex geometry. In an analysis such as
this, the results are only as reliable as the model used. Certain
assumptions were made to simplify the analysis in modeling
the complex geometry of the spur gear. The American Gear
Manufacturers Association (AGMA) standards were used to
define the parameters for the model in this study. Because aero-
space gears are usually highly stressed and also restricted by
weight and size, an aerospace application was chosen as the
most likely beneficiary of promising results. Consequently, an
aerospace type gear was used. Typical aerospace gears have
diametral pitches of 10 or 12 and usually have pressure angles
at the pitch line of 20 deg. Figure 1 shows an isometric view
of a three tooth segment of the gear. Table 1 contains the param-
eters defining the gear that was studied. The basic parameters
(number of teeth, pitch diameter, face width, and rim diameter)
are similar to actual aerospace gears located in the accessory
gearbox of commercial jet engines used today.
A two dimensional finite element model of the three tooth
gear arc was made using 1000 plane-stress elements, fixed
boundary conditions on the inner diameter and the radial edges,
and the material properties of gear steel. This number of ele-
ments was determined to be adequate after doing a solution
convergence experiment with varying number of elements and
recording the central tooth tip displacement due to a constant
pitch point load. The boundary conditions and the size of the
gear arc were determined to be appropriate from a review of
the work of both Von Eiff (1990) and Chang (1982) who did
finite element studies on gear segment boundary conditions.
Additional verification of the model was done by comparing
the tooth root tensile stress calculated by the finite element
model to that calculated with the design equations provided by
the AGMA. The gear load was varied from 2224 to 5782 New-
tons (500 to 1300 pounds). The stress results plotted in Fig. 2.
show that the finite element results match the AGMA predic-
tions in both slope and magnitude. The greatest variation over
the range tested was 7.4 percent.
The results shown here indicate that the care with which the
gear segment model was constructed produced a highly accurate
tool for studying the stresses in this specific spur gear geometry.
The results that follow are given more credibility due to the
accuracy of this original stress prediction. Further, as will be
described later, photoelastic models were also used to verify
the results produced by the finite element method.
The hole placement and size were varied across the entire
span of one gear tooth. Figure 3 shows the entire grid pattern
Transactions of the ASME
 Banding Stress vs. Applied Load
Bending Strass (MPa)
450

-AGMA
-ANSYS
Fig. 1 Gear segment isometric view 2.22 2.67 3.11 3.56 4.00 4.45 4.89 5.34 5.78
Appllad Load (kN)

used for hole placement. The grid covers the span of one gear Fig. 2 Comparison of finite element results (ANSYS) with AGMA equa-
tooth. To make the hole sizes and locations easily transferable tions
to a gear with different parameters (diameter, pitch, etc.), these
gear parameters were used in defining the experiment variables.
Each hole location was tested with five hole sizes. The hole The theory that the maximum tensile stress can be reduced by
size was based on the diametral pitch (P,; = 10 in ' ) . The placement of holes in the stressed area was based on the idea
normalized hole diameters range from 0.1/P,/ to 0.5/Pj. This that the stresses will be relieved or displaced away from the
variable was based on an appropriate gear parameter so that the critical area. This would definitely change the stress distribution
results could be more easily transferable to another type of gear. in the gear and would most likely transfer more of the stress to
The diametral pitch is an indicator of tooth size. The higher the the compressive side of the gear tooth. The maximum principal
diametral pitch number is, the finer the teeth are with respect compressive stress in the tooth root was also recorded. It is
to the gear diameter. Dividing the five hole diameter divisions conceivable that a great reduction in tensile stress could be
from 0.1 to 0.5 by the diametral pitch gives an actual hole found that would increase the compressive stress even above
diameter appropriate for the tooth size. If the same diameter the value at the contact location.
gear had a diametral pitch of 5 instead of 10, the teeth would One displacement data point was recorded for each trial. A
be twice as long and twice as wide. Using this method, the gear meshes smoothly with its neighboring gear because of the
holes used for the bigger tooth would also be twice as big. If involute profiles in contact. The gear surface is made as close
the results of this study were to be readily transferable to gears to a true involute as possible, but deflections of the gear tooth
of other dimensions, then the hole size and positions must be in operation distort the involute profile. This distortion causes
readily translated by the use of common gear parameters. varying degrees of vibration, noise, and transmission error prob-
For each experimental run, the following four data points lems depending on the gear set configuration. For this reason,
were recorded: the maximum principal tooth root tensile stress, the deflection at the point of maximum displacement was re-
the maximum principal tooth root compressive stress, the maxi- corded for each trial. The total displacement at the center of
mum hole surface tensile stress, and the tooth tip deflection. the tip of the gear tooth was recorded. If the tensile stress
The maximum principle tooth root tensile stress is the most was reduced and the corresponding tooth deflection became too
important of these data points because it governs the tensile great, the benefits would not be realizable.
fatigue life of the gear. If a gear fails in tensile fatigue, the
results are catastrophic and occur with little or no warning. The
maximum tensile stress is always at the tooth root in a solid Results
gear. When holes are drilled in the gear the maximum tensile A very limited number of hole size and location combinations
stress could also occur on the surface of the hole. added local flexibility to the gear material and reduced the
The maximum tooth root tensile stress and the maximum , critical tooth root tensile stress. The tooth root tensile stress
hole surface tensile stress were compared to assess the effect was reduced by 8.8 percent with one single hole trial. With a
of hole position and size. The maximum compressive stress due combination of holes it was possible to transfer the high stress
to tooth bending is located on the opposite side tooth fillet from the tooth root surface to the interior hole surface. One
from the maximum tensile location. This value is usually not configuration produced a 15.8 percent reduction in the tooth
considered in a gear design because compressive yield strengths root tensile stress while not increasing the internal hole surface
are usually larger than tensile yield strengths in common gear tensile stress above the tooth root stress for the solid gear.
materials, and because the maximum compressive stress occurs
at the tooth contact point. In this study, the effect of hole place-
ment on compressive stresses at the tooth root was unknown.

Table 1 Spur gear data

Pitch Diameter (d) 119.38 mm (4.7 in)
Number of Teeth (AO 47
Diametral Pitch (P,,) = N/d 0.394 mm"' (10 in~')
Circular Pitch (TT/P,,) 7.98 mm (0.3142 in)
Pressure Angle (c/i) 20°
Addendum (o) = Tooth height above
the pitch circle = \/P,i 2.54 mm (0.1 in)
Dedendum (b) = Tooth height below
the pitch circle = l.25/Pj 3.18 mm (0.125 in)
Circular Tooth Thickness = 7r/2Pa 3.99 mm (0.1571 in)
Fillet Radius = .3/P„ 0.76 mm (0.03 in)
Rim Diameter 101.6 mm (4 in)
Face Width (F) 12.7 mm (0.5 in)
Fig. 3 Hole location pattern

Journal of Mechanical Design DECEMBER 1997, Vol. 1 1 9 / 5 1 9

Downloaded From: http://mechanicaldesign.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 04/21/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms

 Fig. 4 Principal tensile stress contours for llie solid gear segment and
tiie three hole configuration
While each of the grid pattern locations shown in Fig. 3.
were used in the finite element trials, only the configurations
with the most positive results were made into actual physical
models for photoelastic testing. Although the results are not as
precise as with the finite element method, the photoelastic mod-
els confirmed the stress changes suggested by the analytical
testing.
The following figures depict the results obtained. Figure 4
shows the principal tensile stress contour plots for the solid gear
segment and the three hole combination that produced the 15.8
percent stress transfer. The figure shows the deformation of the
atreas NonnMadtoMMfenumTaraion en Solid GBV
1.4 r The larger of the three holes shown in Fig. 4. was at the
1.2 I
1.0
Q8
ae 1 2 3 4 5
Hateate(1>.2Minndhm,2>.S08nindim,efe) I
Fig. 5 Normalized stress results for optimum stress reduction
520 / Vol. 119, DECEMBER 1997
Downloaded From: http://mechanicaldesign.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 04/21/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms
Fig. 6 Photoelastic fringe patterns
central gear tooth due to the application of a 4448 Newton (1000
pound) load distributed on the surface at the pitch diameter on
the left side of the center tooth. The load used was somewhat
arbitrary because the results were normalized to the values for
the solid gear.
same location that produced the single hole tooth root stress
reduction of 8.8 percent. Figure 5 plots the normalized stress
versus hole size for a single hole in that location. In the graph,
the tooth root tensile stress starts out equivalent to that of the
solid gear while the tensile stress on the interior hole surface
is much lower. As the hole size increases the tooth root stress
decreases and the hole surface stress increases. The optimum
hole size that produced the 8.8 percent reduction in tooth root
tensile stress was found where the two lines cross.
Figure 6 shows the photoelastic fringe patterns for the hole
combination which produced a 15.8 percent stress transfer away
from the tooth root with the finite element method. Both models
in the figure show the stress fringe pattern due to the loading
at the pitch diameter on the left side of the gear tooth. The solid
model shows a definite stress concentration at the tensile tooth
root on the left side. The gear segment with the holes shows a
different fringe pattern with the stress concentration at the tooth
root almost completely dissipated. The fringe patterns indicated
a stress reduction similar to, and slightly higher than, that of
the finite element analysis.
Transactions of the ASME

Discussion
The data presented in the previous section showed that stress
reduction and stress redistribution are possible with the use of
holes in spur gears. An overall reduction in tooth root tensile
stress of 8.8 percent was achieved with the addition of one hole
in the tooth body. A stress shift of 15.8 percent away from the
tooth root to an interior location was achieved with the use
of three hole locations. These results translate into significant
increases in fatigue life.
All of the results presented to this point have been for static
stresses produced from constant loads at the pitch point. In
actual operation, gears experience dynamic load variations. One
of the dynamic operating characteristics of interest is the fatigue
properties of the gear material. Gear failures from bending
stresses at the tooth root are produced over many cycles by
material fatigue. The AGMA has developed fatigue property
data for some common gear materials. Using the AGMA data
for case carborized steel gears, a reduction in gear loading can
be translated directly into an expected increase in gear life. For
the range of 1000 to 3 X 10'' cycles, an 8.8 percent reduction
in bending stress can produce a 217 percent increase in fatigue
cycle life.
Fatigue failures are often precipitated by the degradation of
the metal surface. A rough surface finish, a scratch, or oxidation
can provide a crack initiation sight. With the hole configuration
which transfers stress away from the gear surface, a reduction
of 15.8 percent was found in the surface stress while the maxi-
mum stress is transferred to the interior hole surface. It is possi-
ble that some of this additional stress reduction could be realized
because the interior hole locations could be isolated from the
operating distress caused by dirty oil and other degradations.
Actual part testing would be necessary to make this determina-
tion.
Conclusion
The data presented in this paper shows a sample of the effects
that hole size and location have on critical gear parameters. The
vast majority of the data points attempted did not improve gear
stresses, but rather showed the trends across the whole gear
face and provided a better understanding of the effect of the
holes on gear stresses. However, several beneficial locations
were isolated. A maximum tensile stress reduction at the tooth
root of 8.8 percent was achieved with a single hole location. A
stress redistribution was produced with a hole combination
which reduced the tooth surface stress 15.8 percent while dis-
tributing the higher stresses to the interior of the gear. The
results were produced by an accurate finite element model of a
three tooth gear segment, and verified with additional photoelas-
tic testing. The finite element model accurately matched the
AGMA stress predictions, and the photoelastic comparisons
showed true stress reductions on physical models.
An exploration into the fatigue failure mode of steel gears
showed that an 8.8 percent reduction in stress can be translated
into an increase of over two times the cycle life of the gear.
Removing the high stresses at the gear surface will surely in-
crease gear life when there is an overall reduction in stress, but
even a stress shift to the interior of the gear may provide im-
proved life.
References
1 ANSI/AGMA 2001-C95, January, 1995, "Fundamental Rating Factors
and Calculation Methods for Involute Spur and Helical Gear Teeth."
2 ANSYS 5.0 Manual, Swauson Analysis Systems, 1992.
3 Chang, S. H., Houston, R. L., and Coy, J. J., June, 1982, "A Finite Element
Stress Analysis of Spur Gears Including Fillet Radii and Rim Thickness Effects,"
University of Cincinnati Research Annals, College of Engineering, Number MIE
115, Vol. 82.
4 Coy, J. J., and Hu-Chin Chao, C , December, 1981, "A Method of Select-
ing Grid Size to Account for Hertz Deformation in Finite Element Analysis of
Spur Gears," ASME Publication.
Journal of Mechanical Design
Downloaded From: http://mechanicaldesign.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 04/21/2015 Terms of Use: http://asme.org/terms
5 Dally, J. W., and Riley, W. F., 1991, Experimental Stress Analysis, Third
Edition, McGraw-Hill, New York.
6 Dippery, R. E., 1990, " A Study in Stress Concentration Optimization
Using Boundary Element Methods," Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Cincinnati.
7 Dudley, D. W., 1984, Haiulbook of Practical Gear Design, McGraw-Hill,
New York.
8 Kuske, A., Robertson, G., 1974, Photoelastic Stress Analysis, John Wi-
ley & Sons, New York.
9 Srinivasulu, B., 1992, "Spur Gears—A New Approach to Tooth Design,"
American Gear Manufacturers Association, Technical Paper 92FTMS1.
10 Von Eiff, H., Hirschmann, K. H., and Lechner, G., December, 1990, "In-
fluence of Gear Tooth Geometry on Tooth Stress of External and Internal Gears,"
ASME JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL DESIGN, Vol. 112, pp. 575-583.
11 Yang, T. Y., 1986, Finite Element Structural Analysis. Prentice-Hall, En-
glewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
The Cylindroid Associated With
Finite Motions of the Bennett
Mechanism
C. Huang'
The finite kinematic geometry of the Bennett mechanism is ex-
plored in this paper. The .screw axes of all possible coupler
displacements of the mechanism from any given configuration
are shown to form a cylindroid. The screw system of the coupler
displacement is obtained by using the intersection of finite screw
.systems associated with two corresponding revolute-revolute
dyads. Inverse finite kinematic analysis is also performed to
verify this new linear property of the Bennett mechanism.
1 Introduction
The Bennett mechanism has been discussed in research works
ever since it was discovered in the beginning of this century
(Bennett, 1903). However, most related research has focused
only on the instantaneous kinematic geometry of the mecha-
nism, and the development in finite kinematics is limited due
to its complexity and nonlinearity. The most remarkable devel-
opment in finite kinematics of the Bennett mechanism has been
the analytical solution to the synthesis of a revolute-revolute
(R-R) dyad for rigid-body guidance (Tsai and Roth, 1973).
This present research takes another approach; it explores the
finite kinematic geometry of the Bennett mechanism by using
screw theory and a new definition of the pitch (Parkin, 1992)
of a finite screw. This paper unveils a novel linear property of
the finite tnotions of the Bennett mechanism.
It was only recently that finite displacement screws of open
chains were shown to have linear properties. In particular, Hu-
ang (1994a) showed that finite displacement screws of the out-
ermost body of an R-R dyad form a screw system of the third
order. Since the Bennett mechanism can be thought of as a
combination of two R-R dyads, it is thus natural to regard its
finite motion as the intersection of screw systems associated
with the corresponding R-R dyads. Screw systems mathemati-
cally correspond to vector subspaces of the six-dimensional
vector space. It is known from linear algebra that the intersec-
tion of vector subspaces must also be a vector subspace. This
gives us a clue about the existence of the screw system associ-
' Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nadonal Cheng
Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, R. O. C.
Contributed by the Mechanisms Committee for publication in the JOURNAL or
MECHANICAL DESIGN . Manuscript received April 1996; revised June 1997. Associ-
ate Technical Editor: E. Fichter.
DECEMBER 1997, Vol. 1 1 9 / 5 2 1