MA3001 GEAR DRIVE DESIGN

MACHINE ELEMENT DESIGN

Learning objectives
In this lecture, you will learn:
• Describe various types of gears, gear systems, their
PART 3 characteristics and their applications
• Describe gear terminology
Gears
Tutorial 3 Gear Drives • Select number of gear teeth to avoid interference for spur gears
• Use simple equations to determine the speed ratios of various
gear trains
Assoc Prof Hoon Kay Hiang • Determine direction of rotation of gears, including idler gears
Tel: 6790 5523 • Determine outermost dimensions of gear layout
Office: N3-02c-94
Email: mkhhoon@ntu.edu.sg • Analyse the gear forces exerted on spur and helical gears
July 2018 1 2

INTRODUCTION
• Gears are used to transmit torque, rotary motion and power from one
shaft to another.
• Compared to various other means of power transmission (eg. belts and
chains), gears are the most rugged and durable.
• They have transmission efficiency as high as 98%.
• However, gears are generally more costly than belts and chains.
• The shapes and sizes of the teeth are standardized.
INTRODUCTION
• Modern gears are made to high precision standards. As a result, they
are normally purchased from gear manufacturers rather than designed
and machined at the user’s plant.
• However, one cannot arbitrarily order any gear from a manufacturer’s
catalogue for a particular application. One must have a working
knowledge of gear design, including design limitations, in order to
produce a satisfactory gear drive.

3 4
CONSIDERATION OF DESIGN OF A GEAR DRIVE TYPE OF GEARS
You are the designer: to design a gear-type speed reducer drive
• What type of gears to use for parallel and perpendicular shaft arrangement?
• How many speed reductions to use in gear train to achieve final speed?
• How to compute dimensions of key gear features?
Figure shows a
• How to specify the layout of the gear train, including key design decisions
• What forces would be created and transferred to the shafts carrying the gears photograph of many
and to the bearings carrying the shafts? types of gears.

Labels indicate the 4

major types of gears:
• spur gears
• helical gears
• bevel gears
• worm/wormgear
sets.

Conceptual design of a gear reducer 5 6

DESCRIPTION OF SPUR GEARS DESCRIPTION OF HELICAL GEARS

Spur gears have teeth parallel to the axis of rotation and are used to transmit motion
from one shaft to another parallel shaft. Of all types, the spur gear is the simplest and,
for this reason, has always been used to develop the primary kinematic relationship of
the tooth form.
Helical gears have teeth inclined to the axis of rotation. They can be used for the same
applications as spur gears and, when so used, are not as noisy, because of the more
gradual engagement of the teeth during the meshing. The inclined tooth also develops
thrust loads and bending couples, which are not present with spur gearing. Herringbone
gears with self-cancelling thrusts. Sometimes helical gears are used to transmit motion
between nonparallel shafts.

Spur gears Helical gears

7 8
 DESCRIPTION OF BEVEL GEARS
Bevel gears have teeth formed on conical surfaces and are used mostly for transmitting
motion between intersecting shafts. Straight tooth bevel gears is shown below. Spiral
bevel gears are cut so the tooth is no longer straight but forms a circular arc. Hypoid
gears are quite similar to spiral bevel gears except that the shafts are offset and
nonintersecting.
DESCRIPTION OF WORM GEARS
Worms and worm gears. The worm resembles a screw. The direction of the worm
gear depends upon the direction of the worm and upon which the worm teeth are cut
right-hand or left hand. Worm gears sets are also made so that the teeth of one or both
wrap partly around the other. Such sets are called single-enveloping and double-
enveloping worm-gear sets.

Worms and worm gears

Straight tooth bevel gears
9 10

CUTTING OF SPUR AND HELICAL GEAR TEETH SPUR GEAR TERMINOLOGY

We will introduce the general terminology and fundamental geometric

relationships of the tooth form of the spur gears.

Pinion – A pinion is the smaller of the two mating gears. The larger is
often called the gear.

Pitch Circle – The pitch circle is the imaginary circle on which most
gear calculations are based. When the gears mesh, their pitch circles are
tangent to each other.

Pitch diameter - Pitch diameter of pitch circle, DP for pinion, DG for

gear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0XSsa79Y1w
frames: up to 3.35 11 12
 SPUR GEAR TERMINOLOGY CIRCULAR PITCH AND MODULE
Circular Pitch, p – The distance between corresponding points on adjacent
teeth, measured along the pitch circle. The circular pitches of meshing gears
must be equal.
The circular pitch is equal to the sum of the tooth thickness and the width of
tooth space.

p = D/N mm.

Module, m - The module is the index of tooth size in metric unit. It is the
ratio of the pitch diameter to the number of teeth. For two gears to mesh,
they must have the same module. m = D/N mm
If m = 1.0 mm, N=20, then D = mN = 1.0 (20) = 20 mm
13 14
If m = 3.0 mm, N=20, then D = mN = 3.0 (20) = 60 mm

FEATURES OF A GEAR TOOTH OUTERMOST DIMENSION OF TWO MESHING GEARS

Centre Distance (C) C = (DG + DP)/2

Addendum (a) – The radial distance from the pitch circle to the outside of tooth.
= (mNG + mNP)/2
Dedendum (b) – The radial distance from the pitch circle to the bottom of tooth. = m (NG + NP)/2

Clearance (c) – The radial distance from the top of a tooth to the bottom of the Outside Diameter (Do) of a gear DO = D + 2a
tooth of the mating gear. c=b–a
Tip to Tip Dimension (ST) – outermost distance between the tips of
meshing gears, ie the farthest distance between two addendum circles.

Eg, For two gears in mesh, outermost distance of two gears in mesh

ST= (DG + a) + (DP + a)

15 16
OUTERMOST DIMENSION OF TWO MESHED GEARS RELATIONSHIP OF BASE CIRCLE, LINE OF ACTION AND
PRESSURE ANGLE
Tip to tip dimension, ST = DP + DG + a + a
a DP + DG Base circle
- The circle from which an involute
tooth curve is developed.
- Base circle is always tangent to the
line of action.
- Diameter of base circle: Db = D cos

Line of Action – actual gear force acts

a along this line
a

Pressure Angle ( ) –

Pitch diameter
DG
Outside diameter = (DP + DG)/2
17
= (DG + 2a) a 18

INVOLUTE TOOTH PROFILE STANDARD TOOTH PROPORTION OF SPUR GEARS

• The gear tooth profile geometry must produce an exactly constant angular velocity
ratio between the driver and the driven gears at every position as successive teeth
rotate through the mesh.
• If a meshing pair of gear teeth have profiles that satisfy this requirement, they are
said to be conjugate profiles.
• The involute is one of these profiles and is the most widely used tooth profile
because of its relative ease of manufacture and insensitivity of angular velocity
ratio to minor variations in centre distance.
A tooth system is a standard that specifies the relationships involving addendum,
dedendum, working depth, tooth thickness and pressure angle. This allows
interchangeability of gears of all tooth numbers with the same module and pressure
angle.
A wide variety of modules is available to cover every tooth size required from
instrument gears to gears for steel mills.

Table 1 shows only the preferred values ranging 0.3mm to 50mm.

Development of an involute curve 20

19
 STANDARD TOOTH PROPORTION IN MODULE SUMMARY

Module, m = D / N unit: mm
Table 2 shows the tooth proportion for some standard gears.
Circular pitch, p = D/N= m
Full depth involute is a commonly used system of gearing.
Addendum, a = 1.0m

Dedendum, b = 1.25m

Centre Distance (C) C= (DG + DP)/2

Outside Diameter (Do) of a gear DO = D + 2a

Tip to Tip Dimension (ST) outermost distance of two gears in mesh

ST= DG + DP + 2a
21 22

RACK AND PINION APPLICATIONS OF RACK AND PINION

A rack is a spur gear having an infinitely large pitch diameter and
hence an infinite number of teeth that resulted in a straight line for
the pitch circle, which is known as the pitch line.
Therefore, surfaces of the rack teeth are flat but mesh properly with
the involute surfaces of the mating pinion.
When a pinion meshes with a rack, the rotary motion of the pinion is transformed into
linear motion of the rack, or vice versa. Examples of its use are in:
• drill presses where the rack and pinion is used to raise or lower the work table.
• rack and pinion steering in automobiles where the pinion is attached at the bottom
of the steering column and meshes with a rack that is free to move left and right to
turn the wheels.

g = (Dp/2) p

Rack and pinion steering

Raising and lowering table
23 24
 APPLICATIONS OF RACK AND PINION APPLICATIONS OF RACK AND PINION
• Automatic sliding gate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FkMOOKK1-Y • Service gondola lifting system (mast climbing)
from 1.10

25 26

JACK UP RIG INTERNAL SPUR GEAR

Internal spur gears are circular rings with teeth cut into the inner surfaces. The
pinion and internal gear rotate in the same direction. Internal spur gears with
mating pinions provide much more compact drive systems than external spur
gears. Also, they provide large contact ratio and thus can transmit more
power.

27 28
 SPUR GEAR COTACT RATIO
Two important tasks associated with designing teeth that will rotate smoothly through
the angle of action are to
- assure uninterrupted contact of at least one tooth pair (preferable more) at all
times
- avoid interference.
Contact Ratio (mP)
It is defined as the number of pairs of teeth that are in contact at any instant.
It is necessary that continuous action take place between mating teeth and hence
desirable to have more than one pair of teeth in contact at all times during operation.
SPUR GEAR INTERFERENCE
• Under certain conditions, tooth profiles overlap or cut into each other.
• This situation, termed interference, should be avoided because of excess wear,
vibration, or jamming.
• Generally it involves contact between involute surfaces of one gear and
noninvolute surfaces of the mating gears. When interference occurs, the gears do
not operate without modification.
• Removal of the portion of tooth below the base circle and cutting away the
interfering materials results in an undercut tooth.
• Undercutting weakens the tooth considerably and causes early tooth failure.

The contact ratio is calculated as length of contact divided by the base pitch:

contact ratio Z Ro2 Rb2 ro2 rb2 C sin

mP
pb p cos
Most spur gears are designed with contact ratios between 1.2 and 1.8.
Generally, the greater is the contact ratio or considerable overlap of gear actions, the
smoother and quieter the operation of gears. 29 30

SPUR GEAR INTERFERENCE MINIMUM NUMBER OF PINION TEETH TO MESH WITH

VERY LARGE GEAR (RACK)
• Interference between the tip of a gear tooth and the non-involute root/fillet
of the mating gear tooth can occur for certain combinations of number of
teeth. Working with mp , the minimum number of full-depth teeth on the
pinion that will operate with a rack without interference is given by:
• This usually happens when a small pinion drives a very large gear, with
the worst case being a small pinion driving a rack. Z Ro2 Rb2 ro2 rb2 C sin
mP
pb p cos
• A rack is a spur gear having an infinitely large pitch diameter and
therefore infinite number of teeth. 2
minimum N P
sin 2
• Interference can be prevented by using a proper combination of the
number of teeth for the mating gears. This is illustrated in the following. For a 20° pressure angle full-depth tooth, the smallest number of pinion
teeth is
Z Ro2 Rb2 ro2 rb2 C sin 2
mP minimum N P 2
17.1
pb p cos sin 20
18 teeth
31 32
 MAXIMUM NUMBER OF GEAR TEETH TO MESH WITH ENSURE NO INTERFERENCE OF MESHING SPUR GEARS
PINION OF TEETH LESS THAN 18
Table 3 gives the combinations of number of teeth for 20 full depth spur gears in
What if smaller gear uses less than 18 teeth? mesh to ensure no interference.
The largest gear that operates with a specified full-depth pinion that is
interference-free is Table 3 -
to ensure no
Z Ro2 Rb2 ro2 rb2 C sin N P2 sin 2 4 interference of
mP maximum N G 2
pb p cos 4 2 N P sin meshing gears (rack)

Eg. For a 13-tooth spur gear pinion with a 20° pressure angle, the maximum
number of gear teeth possible without interference is

132 sin 2 20 4
maximum N G 16.45
4 2(13) sin 20 2 In conclusion, when stock gears to suit a specific ratio are selected, it
16 teeth may not be sufficient to provide gears of the same module, pressure
angle and width.
Hence, 13-tooth spur gear can only mesh a gear with 13 to 16 teeth!
33 A pair of gears must also mesh without interference!! 34

SPEED RATIO AND DIRECTION OF ROTATION GEAR TRAINS

• A pair of meshing gear is the simplest form of a gear train known as a
simple gear train.

• A gear train is a sequence of several meshing gears arranged in such a way

• Speed ratio = that desired output speed, torque, and/or direction of rotation are achieved
using specified input conditions.

RP RG RP RG • Various arrangements and sequences of gears may be used to achieve

t P G P G
design goals.

Input Speed P P DG NG • It is important to be able to readily determine the magnitude and direction
(noting that D mN)
Output Speed G G DP NP of angular velocity of the output gear, given the input velocity for any gear
train arrangement.

• Direction of rotation • Gear trains may be classified as simple, compound or epicyclic.

- pinion and gear rotate in opposite direction
35 36
 TRAIN (OR OVERALL) SPEED RATIO
The double-reduction compound gear train will be used to develop the train or
overall speed ratio.

• Gear A and Gear D are simple gears – single gear mounted on a shaft

• Gear B and Gear C are compound gears – more than one gear mounted on
the same shaft

• Input is through the shaft carrying gear A. Gear A drives gear B. Gears B
and C are mounted on the same intermediate (or counter) shaft and thus
have the same speed and direction of direction. Gear C drives gear D,
which is connected to the output shaft.

• The direction of rotation can be determined by observation. Gear D rotates

clockwise as shown.

37 38

TRAIN (OR OVERALL) SPEED RATIO SIMPLE EXPRESSION FOR TRAIN SPEED RATIO
Train Speed Ratio = ie, the Train SR is the product of the SR for each pair of meshing gears in the
gear train. This process can be expanded to any number of stages of speed
then, Train SR A
reduction in a gear train. Therefore, in general,
D

(SR)1 = A/ B = NB/NA Train SR ( SR)1 ( SR) 2 ( SR) 3 ( SR) etc

A = (NB/NA) B

Alternatively, the Train SR can be expressed as follows:

(SR)2 = C/ D = ND/NC
D = (NC/ND) C
NB ND
(N B /N A )
Train SR
then, Train SR A B NA NC
(N C /N D )
D C
Product of number of teeth on driven gears
but B C
Product of number of teeth on driver gears
A NB ND Double-reduction compound gear train
Train SR ( SR )1 ( SR ) 2
D NA NC 39 40
 EFFECT OF IDLER GEARS ON SPEED RATIO EFFECT OF IDLER GEARS ON DIRECTION OF ROTATION

Direction of Rotation
Speed Ratio

(SR)1 = NB/NA

(SR)2 = NE/NC

(SR)3 = ND/NE

Train SR ( SR )1 ( SR ) 2 ( SR )3
NB NE ND
NA NC NE
NB ND
- same as before
NA NC Note: For idler gear, NO power The direction of rotation
flows out of its shaft. is opposite to that w/o
41 idler gear.
Double-reduction compound gear train with an idler 42

EFFECT OF IDLER GEARS HELICAL GEARS

• As demonstrated, the idler gear does not affect the train speed ratio
but it does cause a direction reversal.
• Helical gear drives share many of the attributes of straight tooth gears
when used to transmit power or motion between parallel shafts.
• The distinguishing geometrical difference is that spur gear teeth are
straight and aligned with the axis of rotation (gear) while helical gear teeth
are angled with respect to the axis of rotation (gear) at an angle , called
the helix angle.
• The forms of helical gears are very similar to those for spur gears. The
basic task to account for the effect of the helix angle.

helix angle

Idler gears also can be used to assist in providing the required centre Gear axis Gear axis
distance between input and output shafts.
https://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=yXAXvAXFwN0

43 Spur Gears Helical Gears 44

 DETERMINE HAND OF HELICAL GEARS LEFT HAND THREAD Application
The helix for a given gear can be either left-hand or right-hand.
The rule for determining whether a helical gear is right or left handed is the Left Hand Fan Knob – self tightening as fan blades rotate clockwise.
same as that used for determining right and left handed screws.

How to distinguish RH or LH?

- RH ~ teeth appear to lean to the right looking
into the gear axis of rotation, similar to a normal Lean
to left
RH screw
Lean
to right
rotation Tighten

rotation

Left hand Thread

Right hand Thread 46
45

DETERMINE HAND OF HELICAL GEARS HAND OF HELICAL GEARS ON PARALLEL SHAFTS

• Helical gears are usually mounted on parallel shafts as shown.
• For the parallel shaft arrangement shown, the helix angle is the same
What HAND is this gear? on each gear, but one gear must have a right hand helix and the other
a left hand helix.

Same helix
angle
rotation

Gear axis of
rotation
Teeth lean to Look into
the LEFT Helical Gears Gear axis –
the axis of
Left hand helix rotation

47 parallel shaft arrangement 48

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF HELICAL GEARS ANGLES IN NORMAL PLANE
• Spur gear teeth are produced when the cutter cuts its teeth parallel to
• The main advantage of helical gears is smoother engagement because
its rotating axis.
a given tooth assumes its load gradually instead of suddenly.
• When the axis of the gear blank is aligned at the helix angle to the
• A larger average number of teeth are engaged and are sharing the cutter, helical gear teeth are generated as can been seen in the video
applied loads compared with a spur gear. link below.
• The lower average load per tooth allows a greater power transmission Gear
capacity for a given size of gear, or a smaller gear can be designed to Cutter
carry the same power.
• Besides being more expensive than spur gears, the main disadvantage
is that an axial thrust load is produced as a natural result of the Helical
Gear
inclined arrangement of the teeth. Blank
• The bearings that hold the shaft carrying the helical gear must be
capable of reacting against the radial load as well as the thrust load.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXAXvAXFwN0
49 50

ANGLES IN NORMAL PLANE GEOMETRY IN TRANSVERSE PLANE

Normal plane (perpendicular to the teeth) Transverse plane (normal to the

axis of rotation)
• The teeth form the helix angle with
the axis of the gear (rotation). • The transverse pitch pt and the
Pitch
• The teeth are cut at this angle and the pitch surface transverse pressure angle t are
diameter D
tooth form is then in the Normal measured in the Transverse
Plane. Plane or the plane of rotation,
as with spur gears.
• The usual range of values of the helix
angle is between 15° and 30°.
• Pitch diameter D is defined in
• The normal pitch, pn and the normal this plane.
pressure angle n are measured in
Normal plane.
Gear axis
Axis of Axis of
GEAR CUTTING PLANE
rotation rotation
https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=yXAXvAXFwN0 52
51
 ESSENTIAL , n, mn OF HELICAL GEARS HELICAL GEAR GEOMETRY
• Helix angle , normal pressure angle, n, transverse press angle t
Standard proportion in NORMAL PLANE (gear cutting plane):
- need to specify helix angle , and at least one pressure angle,
• Standard addendum, an = 1.00 mn
typically n
• Standard dedendum, bn = 1.25 mn
- the other angle computed from:
tan t = tan n/ cos In TRANSVERSE PLANE (perpendicular to gear/rotation axis)
• On transverse plane (similar to Spur Gear), (similar to spur gear by replacing m = mn/cos )
pptt
transverse (circular) pitch, pt = D/N • Pitch diameter: D = m N = N mn/ cos
transverse module, m = D/N • a = 1.00 m = mn/cos
• On normal plane (plane of gear cutter), • b = 1.25 m = 1.25 mn/cos
~ normal circular pitch, pn = pt cos • Outside diameter, Do = D + 2a = (N+2) m = (N+2) mn/cos
~ normal module, mn = m cos (note p = m) • Gears in mesh, tip to tip dimension=(DG+DP+2a)= (NG+NP+2)mn/cos
mn = m cos • Centre Distance, C = (DG + DP)/2 = (NG + NP)mn/(2 cos )
~ typically mn is known, m = mn/ cos 53 54

SPEED RATIO AND DIRECTION OF ROTATION HELICAL GEAR GEOMETRY EXAMPLE

The double-reduction helical gearset shown in the figure. Gears G2 and G3
have a normal module of 2.5 mm, and gears G4 and G5 have a normal
Input Speed DG NG module of 4.0 mm. All gears have a 30° helix angle and a normal pressure
P P
• Speed Ratio = angle of 20°.
Output Speed G G DP NP
Determine the inside dimensions X and Y of the rectangular housing that
would provide a minimum clearance of 2.0 mm if the gearset is to be
• Direction of rotation by observation, similar to spur gears, - pinion and
gear rotate in opposite direction installed in the housing.

55 56
 SOLUTION SOLUTION
2.0 clearance
a5 Gear 5 tip circle Gears 2 and 3 Pitch Diameters
G5, 36T
mn = 2.5; = 30º D5
G5, 36T m= =
Y = inside dimension Y of D2 = mN2 = 2.8867(14) = 40.40 G4, 16T
housing D3 = mN3 = 2.8867(54) = 155.88 D4
Y G4, 16T R3 = D3/2 = 77.94 G3, 54T
G3, 54T D3
YO = outermost dimension YO Gears 4 and 5 Pitch Diameters
of tip to tip mn = 4.0; = 30º
G2, 14T
m= = D2
G2, 14T
D4 = mN4 = 4.6188(16) = 73.90
Pitch Circles
D5 = mN5 = 4.1188(36) = 166.28 (ie > D3)
a3
Gear 3 tip circle R4 = D4/2 = 36.95
2.0 clearance
R5 = D5/2 = 83.14
Pitch circles shown in bold 57 58

SOLUTION SOLUTION Gear 5 tip circle

G5, 36T
Inside dimension Y of housing 2.0 a5 Gear 5 tip circle
Inside dimension X of housing

a3 = m = = a2 = a3 = m = =
G5, 36T G4, 16T
a5 = m = = G3, 54T
a5 = m = = Gear 2 tip
D5 circle
G4, 16T Minimum clearance
Y YO
G3, 54T from gear tip = 2.0 mm
Minimum clearance G2, 14T
from gear tip = 2.0 mm R4
D5 = 166.28 R5 = 83.14
R4 = 36.95 R3 R3 = 77.94
G2, 14T D2 = 40.40 R5 R3 D2
R3 = 77.94 a5 a2
Y = Yo + 2.0 + 2.0 a3 OX
Gear 3 tip circle X = Xo + 2.0 + 2.0
= (a5 + D5 + R4 + R3 + a3) + 4.0 2.0 = (a5 + R5 + R3 + D2 + a3) + 4.0 2.0 2.0
= (4.6188 + 166.28 + 36.95 +77.94 + 2.8867) + 4.0 Pitch circles shown in bold = (4.6188 + 83.14 + 77.94 +40.40+ 2.8867) + 4.0 X
= 292.67 mm 59 = 212.98 mm Pitch circles shown in bold 60
 SPUR GEAR FORCES Torque
POWER FLOW
Tm TP=Tm
• Figure in next page shows a single-reduction spur gear pair. It shows a pinion
mounted on a shaft a rotating clockwise at P rpm and driving a gear on shaft b
at G rpm.
• Description of power flow (helps to see which part is under torque)
- motor supplies power and hence torque through input (motor) shaft P

- torque, T = power/rotational speed = P / Power

- coupling transfers power from input shaft to shaft carrying pillion at the point flow
where pinion is mounted (sometimes pinion can be directly mounted on motor G
shaft)
- bearings support shaft carrying pinion ~ therefore to maintain equilibrium,
bearing provides reactions (or forces) due to pinion forces, and if any, weight of
shaft and pinion. They also provide smooth rotation of shaft.
- torque and power are transmitted across key from shaft to pinion Tdriven=TG
- pinion teeth drive gear teeth and thus power and torque are transmitted to gear TG
- and likewise, power flows through gear, key and coupling to the driven
machine Torque
61 62

FREE BODY DIAGRAM - SPUR GEAR FORCES DETERMINING DIRECTION OF TANGENTIAL LOAD, Wt

a) from rotation of driven gear direction of Wt on driven gear is to

Wr = Wt tan
provide the rotation of driven gear

Wt

Wn = actual gear force and decomposes into Wt and Wr

63 64
DETERMINING DIRECTION OF TANGENTIAL LOAD, Wt FORCES ON THE DRIVEN GEAR
• Wt, tangential load acts tangent to the pitch circle of the gear
b) from torque equilibrium of driving gear • Wr, radial force always acts into the centre of the gear
~ driving gear: direction of Wt is such that it produces a torque
opposite in direction to input torque (input torque is in same direction Wr
as rotation since it supplies motion to driving gear)
Wt

Torque Equilibrium
i.e. T=0
then Wt must produce
torque in opposite Tdriven
direction to Tdriver

Rx=Wt
Wt 65 Ry=Wr 66

FORCES ON THE DRIVER AND DRIVEN GEARS CALCULATION OF GEAR FORCES

Ry=Wr
Rx=Wt • Calculation of gear forces usually start with tangential load, Wt since
power and speed are known quantities

T = P/
= 2 /60
Wt Wt = T/R = 2T/D

Wr For no power loss, P = TP P = TG G

TG/TP = P/ G
= NG/NP

67 68
 SIZING OF GEARS MOST IMPORTANT MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

• In the design of gear drives, selection of gear teeth is based not only • strength
on the numbers of gear teeth required for the desired velocity ratios
- to resist failure of
but also the strength of the teeth and therefore the determination of breakage of gear tooth due
the size via the module of the teeth and type of material becomes an to the force, exerted on the
inevitable task tooth, which causes high
• Two modes of failure affect gear teeth: tensile bending stress at the
root
o fatigue fracture owing to fluctuating bending stress at the root of
the tooth. Failure by bending will occur when the significant tooth • durability (wear resistance)
stress equals or exceeds either the yield strength or the bending
- to resist pitting which is a
endurance strength.
fatigue failure that results in
o fatigue (wear) of the tooth surface. A surface failure occurs when local fractures due to repeated
the significant contact stress equal or exceeds the surface application of high contact
endurance strength. stresses near the pitch line.

69 70

SELECTION OF GEARS CONSIDERATIONS IN DESIGN OF GEAR TRAIN

• Both failure modes must be checked when designing the gears.
The methods of the American Gear Manufacturers Association
(AGMA) are widely employed in design and analysis of gearing.
Selection of the proper materials to obtain satisfactory strength,
fatigue and wear properties is important.
• The general AGMA design approach requires a great many charts
and graphs accompanied by equations which will not be covered
in this course. Reference should be made to the literature for
details.
• A simpler method of selecting gears using power curves and
catalogue data will be taught during the compulsory assignment
on design exercise for selection of gears.
71
When contemplating the design of a gear train, the following should be taken into
account.
Number of Gears in Train
• It is often possible to obtain a specified speed ratio with any number of pairs of
gears. For the case where the speed ratio is accomplished in one step, the gear
sizes and hence space requirements can be quite large.
• If many steps (or speed reductions) are used, a large number of shafts and smaller
gears are needed, which usually means added cost.
• Thus a proper compromise between space requirements, economy, and efficiency
of operation must be made to arrive at the best overall system.
Strength of tooth
• When a large amount of power is transmitted at low speeds, a huge value of torque
occurs.
• The torque exerts a high load on the gear teeth, necessitating large size teeth. The
high torque value also means that at the low speed end of a gear train, the teeth
need to be larger than at the high speed end.
• The amount of load determines the tooth size, which in turn affects the pitch
diameter and the number of teeth. 72
 HELICAL GEAR FORCES TANGENTIAL FORCE

• Figure in next page shows a three dimensional view of the forces

• Transmitted (tangential) force,
acting against a helical gear tooth.
Wt = T/(D/2)
• As in the case of spur gears, the point of application of the force is in
the pitch plane and in the centre of the gear face.
• D = mN and m = mn/cos
• Again, the actual gear force is normal to the tooth surface and
indicated by Wn and decomposed into transmitted load Wt, radial
• direction of force:
force Wr, and axial force Wa
- same method used on spur
• The transmitted load Wt and radial force Wr are the same as for spur gears
gears.
• The axial force Wa is present due to the helix. Wt

73
Helical gear forces 74

RADIAL FORCE AXIAL FORCE

• Radial force, Wr = Wt tan t • Axial force (thrust load), Wa = Wt tan
- tan t = tan n / cos - direction: parallel to shaft axis
- direction of force: always - but which way?
towards the centre of the
gear
Shaft axis

75 76
DETERMINING DIRECTION OF AXIAL FORCE RIGHT HAND THUMB RULE FOR RIGHT HAND
DRIVER HELICAL GEARS
• Note that the direction in which the thrust load acts is determined by Pitch point
applying the right-hand thumb rule for the right-hand driving gear
or left-hand thumb rule for the left-hand driving gear.
• The fingers of the hand are pointed in the direction of rotation of the
Wa
driving gear, the thumb points in the direction of the thrust (axial
force).
Gear Axis

• The driven gear then has a thrust load acting in the direction opposite
to that of the driving gear. Driver Gear
77
Right Hand Helix 78

LEFT HAND THUMB RULE FOR LEFT HAND GRAPHICAL PRESENTATION OF GEAR FORCES
DRIVER HELICAL GEARS
• For convenience, the 3-dimensional load system on a helical gear
• Likewise, for left-hand helix driving gear, use the left hand thumb can be replaced by a 2D representation for the helical gear.
rule

Wt Wr
Wa
T
Gear axis

2D Force
A View A
Left Hand Rule Left Hand Representation
Driving gear
Driver Gear View here Wt
Coming out of paper
Going into paper
79 80
 HELICAL GEAR FORCES EXAMPLE SOLUTION
Gear Forces on 18T Pinion: Wt, Wr, Wa
In the figure, a 0.75 kW motor runs at 1800 rpm in the clockwise
direction as shown. Keyed to the motor shaft is an 18T helical pinion Wt = TP/(DP/2)
having a normal pressure angle of 20º, a helix angle of 30º, and a TP = Tm = P/(2 P/60) Nm
normal module of 2 mm. The hand of the helix is shown in the figure. DP = m NP
Make a three-dimensional sketch of the motor shaft and pinion and
but m = mn / cos = 2.0 / cos 30º = 2.31 mn = 2.0
show the forces acting on the pinion and the bearing reactions at A and
B. The thrust should be taken out at A. DP = 2.31 (18) = 41.6 mm = 30º
n = 20º
TP = 0.75(1000)/(2 1800/60) = 3.98 Nm
mn = 2.0 Wt = 3.98/(0.0416/2) = 191 N
= 30º
Wr = Wt tan t
n = 20º
but tan t = tan n / cos = tan 20º / cos 30º = 0.4202
Wr = 191 (0.4202) = 80.6 N
81 Wa = Wt tan = 191 tan 30º = 110 N 82

DETERMINE Wa DETERMINE Wt,Wr

Meshing point

Wa G
Wr Driven
Gear
Gear Axis Wt
Wt Use Driven Gear to
Wa determine direction
of Wt
Gear Axis

Driver Gear
Driver Gear
Right Hand Helix 83 Right Hand Helix 84
 FORCES ON MOTOR SHAFT AND PINION SOLVING FOR BEARING REACTIONS
3D sketch of the motor shaft and pinion and forces acting
(recall MA2001 Mechanics of Materials)
on the pinion and the bearing reactions at A and B
Equilibrium in x-direction:
y RAx - Wa = 0,
RAx = Wa = 110 N

RAX RAZ Tm Vertical x-y Plane Equilibrium:

A
To determine RBy and RAy Vertical Plane Forces
y Wr
z RBZ
RA B Wa
RAY
Tm
M about A = 0; RAx A B 20.8
RB x 325 Wr - 250 RBy - 20.8 Wa= 0
RBY x
RBy = 95.6 N (ie is correct)
250 75
Radial load on bearing A, Fy = 0; RAy RBy
Radial load on bearing B, RAy + RBy - Wr = 0
85 RAy + (95.6) - 80.6 = 0 RAy = - 15.0 N (ie ) 86

SOLVING FOR BEARING REACTIONS COUNTERING HIGH AXIAL OR THRUST LOADS

When the thrust loads become high, it may be desirable to use double
helical gears. A double helical gears (herringbone) is equivalent to two
Horizontal x-z Plane Equilibrium:
helical gears of opposite hand, mounted side by side on the same shaft.
To determine RBz and RAz,
They develop opposite thrust reactions and thus cancel out the thrust load.
M about A = 0;
250 RBz + 325 Wt = 0
RBz = - 248 N (ie )
Horizontal Plane Forces
Fy = 0; RAz Wt
RAz + RBz + Wt = 0 RBz
RAz + (-248) + 191 = 0 Tm
RAx A B Wa
RAz = 57 N (ie )
x
250 75
z
87 88
MINIMISE AXIAL LOAD ON COUNTER SHAFT SUMMARY
When two or more single helical gears are mounted on the same shaft,
• Spur/helical gears
the hand of the gears should be selected so as to produce the minimum
thrust load as shown in Figure below for the countershaft. ~ Pitch diameters, D = mN mm
~ Outside diameter, Do = D + 2a = m(N+2)
~ Centre Distance, C = (DG + DP)/2 = (NG + NP)m/2
~ Gear in mesh, tip to tip dimension = DG + DP + 2a= m(NG + NP + 2)
NOTE: for helical gears, m = mn/cos

Thrust on • Speed ratio =

Thrust on countershaft
countershaft Product of number of teeth on driven gears
Product of number of teeth on driver gears
or = SR1 SR2 SR3 etc
90
Content Copyright Nanyang Technological University 89

SUMMARY BEVEL GEARS

• Bevel gears are used to transfer motion between nonparallel shafts, usually at 90°
• Spur Gear Forces Wt to one another.
Wt = T/(D/2) Wr = Wt tan • The general appearance of these three primary types of bevel gearsets.
- direction of Wt can be derived from • The surface on which bevel gear teeth are machined is inherently a part of a cone.
the rotation of the driven gear • The differences occur in the specific shape of the teeth and in the orientation of
- Wr always acts towards the centre of the gear the pinion relative to the gear.

• Helical Gear Forces

For the parallel shaft arrangement, the helix angle is the
same on each gear, but one gear must have a right hand helix
and the other a left hand helix
Wt = T/(D/2) Wr = Wt tan t; tan t = tan n / cos https://www.youtube.co
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=x8SXT9iMY1U
Wa = Wt tan m/watch?v=yeroyfWJ3
7o
~ direction of Wt and Wr as in spur gears
~ direction of Wa - use Right Hand Thumb rule for RH driver gear, https://www.youtube.com/watc
use Left Hand Thumb for LH driver gear h?v=8pXtSWIJ7Ac&hl=en-
GB&gl=SG
91 92
 STRAIGHT TOOTH BEVEL GEARS SPIRAL BEVEL GEARS
• Simplest and most economical bevel gear type.
• Teeth are cut straight, parallel to the cone axis, like spur gears. • Teeth are cut at a spiral angle to the cone axis, analogus to helical gears.
• Often they are most desirable for applications involving large speed
• Teeth have a taper and would intersect each other at the axis.
reduction and requiring great smoothness and quiet operation.
• Although bevel gears are usually made for a shaft angle of 90°, they may be
produced for almost any other angle.
• Straight bevel gears, like spur gears, are well suited for low speed operations.
• When greater speed and more power are required, spiral and hypoid gears are
preferable.

93 94

HYPOID GEARS STRAIGHT BEVEL GEAR GEOMETRY

• Similar in appearance to the spiral bevel gears except for meshing hypoid • The pitch angles are defined by the pitch cones meeting at the apex. They
gears, the shaft centerlines offset from each other. are related to the tooth numbers as follows:
• The hypoid gear was developed for the rear axles of automobiles, and
- for pinion, = tan-1 (NP/NG)
enables the drive shaft to pass below the level of the car floor. It provide a
perfectly smooth drive and solves a major automotive problem – noise. - for gear, = tan-1 (NG/NP)
- + = 90°
• Module, m = DP/NP = DG/NG
• Speed (Gear) Ratio = NG/NP
offset

pitch diameter and

module are defined at
the large end, on the
back cones
NOTE: Bevel gears are non-interchangeable because tooth
form is closely tied to the method used for producing the
gears, and a different value of addendum is used for each
gear ratio. In practice, the pinion has a long addendum while
the gear has a short addendum to avoid undercutting. Hence,
95 96
bevel gears are usually made and replaced as matched sets.
 WORMS AND WORM GEARS WORMS AND WORM GEARS
• When the worm profile is also throated to envelope the gear, resulting in an
• Wormsets provide the easiest way to obtain large reduction ratios but
hourglass shaped worm, the wormset is called double enveloping. This
friction can be high because the worm threads slide sideways along the
results in area contact rather than in line contact and allows a smaller
gear teeth.
system to transmit a given power at a given reduction ratio.; however,
• When only the worm gear teeth are contoured (throated) to envelope a
precision alignment is more critical.
cylindrical worm, the wormset is called single enveloping. The contact
between the threads of the worm and wormgear teeth is along a line.

Throated
worm gear 97
b) Double enveloping Throated 98

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS OF WORMSETS MATERIALS OF WORMSETS

o Worms and wormgears can be provided with either right hand or left hand o Only a few materials are available for wormsets.
threads on the worm and correspondingly designed teeth on the wormgear
affecting the rotational direction of the wormgear. o The worms are highly stressed and usually made of case-hardened
alloy steel.
o Worms may be manufactured with a single thread or with multiple threads.
o The wormgear needs to be made from a material soft and compliant
o Worms and wormgears are made and replaced as matched sets.
enough to conform to the hard worm under the high sliding
o Worm gearsets have the advantage of very high gear ratios of up to 360:1 in a
conditions. It is customarily made of one of the bronzes (phosphor, tin
small package and can carry very high loads especially in their single or or manganese).
double enveloping forms.

o One trade-off in any wormset is very high sliding and thrust loads which
make the wormset rather inefficient at 40 to 85% efficiency
- for small helix angles (<20°), efficiency can be as low as 25%
- for helix angles (20-45°), efficiency can be as high as 95%
99 100
 NUMBER OF THREADS IN WORMS
• Number of Worm Threads, NW
- single thread as in a typical screw or multiple threads
- NW ~ number of threads (treat number as if it were number of teeth)
- also known as number of starts - look at the end of worm, one can count
the number of threads that start at the end
EFFECT OF NUMBER OF THREADS IN WORMS ON
ROTATION OF WORMGEAR
- the basic difference between single- and double-thread worms.
For one revolution, the double thread worm will turn its mating gear
an angle twice that of the single thread worm.

Triple Start, NW =3

Arrow pointing to start of threads

Single Start Multiple Start

101 102

SPEED RATIO OF WORMSETS DIRECTION OF ROTATION OF WORMSETS

• Pitch Line Speed, t • The direction depends on the direction of rotation of the worm and
- Worm: tW = DW W/60 m/s whether it is left or right handed.
- Wormgear : tG = DG G/60 m/s
- tW tG ~ velocity vectors are not in the same plane

W, NW

tG
tW
tW tG

• Speed (Gear) Ratio

= (speed of worm)/(speed of gear) G, NG

= W/ G = NG/NW 103 104

 BACKDRIVING SELF-LOCKING FEATURE OF WORMSETS
• Perhaps the major advantage of the wormset is that it can be designed
to be impossible to back-drive.
• A spur or helical or bevel gearset can be driven from either shaft, as a • The wormset can only be driven from the worm.
step-up or step-down device. • Because of the low helix angle of the worm, the worm gear cannot
Step-up Device drive the worm. This is a self-locking feature that is usually
Step-down Device
desirable. The locking action is produced by the friction force
Gear Driven Gear can backdrive between the worm threads and the wormgear teeth
as Driver • Wormsets can thus be used without a brake in load-holding
applications such as jacks and hoists.
Pinion Driver Pinion is then
Driven Wormgear Wormgear
• While this may be desirable in many cases, but if the load being turns Driving
driven must be held in place after the power is shut off, the spur or Worm
helical gearset will not do. They will back-drive. Driving
• This makes them unsuitable for such applications as a jack to raise a Worm cannot turn,
car unless a brake is added to the design to hold the load. 105 so no back drive 106

APPLICATIONS OF WORMSETS COMPLEX GEAR TRAINS – SPEED RATIO

Worm
Concept of gear train for spur gears can be extended to include a wide
Wormgear
variety of gear types, higher reduction ratios and different
arrangements of gears
Worm &
Wormgear The following example illustrates the computation of train value for a
system consisting of different gearsets.
Tuning guitar Figure shows a gear train containing bevel gears, spur gears and
wormset. The input is at the bevel pinion, N2 and output at the
wormgear, N7.

Determine the train value of the gear train and the direction of
rotation of the wormgear.
Cement mixer 107 108
Worm Gear Hose Clamp
 DIRECTION OF ROTATION TRAIN SPEED RATIO OF COMPLEX GEAR TRAIN

Input

SR1=N3/N2

Train SR = SR1SR2SR3
SR2=N5/N4
SR1=N3/N2=32/16,
SR2=N5/N4=40/20,
SR3=N7/N6=40/2,
Align this figure with Train SR = SR1SR2SR3
the actual layout and = 80
note the direction of SR3=N7/N6
Output
rotation of the worm
109 110

SUMMARY TUTORIAL 3 – GEAR DRIVES

• Bevel Gear
1. Pinion 2 in Figure 1 runs at 1750 rpm and transmits 2.5 kW to the idler gear 3. The teeth are cut on the
~ SR = input speed/output speed 20 -full-depth system and have a module of 2.5 mm. Draw the free-body diagram of gear 3 and
calculate all the forces that act upon it.
= (No. of teeth in driven gears)/(No. of teeth in driving gears)
2. Figure 2 shows a double reduction helical gear arrangement. The axis of the output shaft is in line
• Worm and worm gear with that of the motor shaft. The motor rotates at 600 rpm and transmits 22 kW. Modules in the
~ SR = (speed of worm)/(speed of gear) normal plane are 3 mm and 4 mm for the high and low speed gears respectively and the normal
pressure angle for the gears is 20 . The helix angle for the high speed gears in 25 . Other data are
= NG/NW shown in the figure.

~ direction as shown as reference below: (a) Show that the helix angle for the low speed gears must be 19.97 .

(b) Determine all force components for the gears mounted on the intermediate shaft supported by the
bearings A and B and make a sketch showing these gear forces on the intermediate shaft.

(c) Determine the net axial load on the intermediate shaft and its direction.
Ans: 11,210 N

(d) What will be the effect if the 20-tooth gear is changed to a right-hand helical gear?
Ans: Axial load on 20T LH gear will be reversed resulting in a lower net axial load of 2,990 N
and a change of its direction on intermediate shaft.

111 112
 Figure 1 Dimensions in millimeters
Figure 2
Ans: Q1
Ans: Q2

Represented in Represented in
component forces actual forces

113