Part VII: Gear Systems: Analysis

This section will review standard gear systems and will provide the basic tools to perform
analysis on these systems. The areas covered in this section are:
1) Gears 101: The geometric details about standard gears (involute)
2) alient features of involute gears
!) Gear"tooth geometry e#uations
$) Gear train systems: fi%ed"a%is and &lanetary
') Types of Gears
Gears 101: Details about the involute gear profile:
Gears were created to transmit constant"velocity rotating motion between shafts relying on
(inematic contact (not friction) to transmit forces. )ecall that in order to have constant velocity*
the line of action and line of centers must intersect at a constant location:
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Therefore* the point of contact between the two gears must lie along this line of action. 3ny
number of arbitrary* con4ugate shapes could be defined to complete this tas(* however two
profiles of significance wor(: involute and cycloidal profiles. The involute profile is the
standard for gear teeth* and is uni#ue in that the involute is con4ugate to itself (at any point along
its profile) to maintain a constant intersection of the line of action and line of centers. The
involute is easy to manufacture and does not depend on distance between gear centers.
5ased on this involute geometry of gear teeth* the geometry of a gear can be standardi6ed and
named* as in the following figures. The nature of tooth contact is described as well on these
figures.
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5ased on this* the velocity ratio between gears is given as:

.onditions of 2nterchangeability (7or tandard Gears)
1.
2.
!.
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Salient Features of Involute Gears:
1. ..
2.

!.
$.
'.
-.
8.
9.
:.
10. alient: (sa; li"ent) adj. tanding out from the rest< noticeable< conspicuous< prominent.
(=ebster;s* .ollege ,d.)

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Details of Involute Gears
1. ,#uations not found in /orton:
()efer to 7ig. 1)
5ase pitch (distance between one tooth set measured along base circle):
(1)
>ength of action:
(2)
.ontact ratio (average number of teeth in contact):
(!)
?iametral &itch (number of teeth per inch):
($)
+odule (mm per tooth):
(')
+inimum number of teeth to avoid interference: (k@1 for full depth teeth)
a) for a rac(:
(-)
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b) for two gears in mesh:
(8)
.enter distance:
(9)
AoperatingA center distance and pressure angle:
(:)
5ac(lash resulting from an increased operating center distance:
(10)
Tooth thic(ness: (re#uires the tooth thic(ness at some radius to be (nown* generally at the pitch
circle):
(11)
)adius and angle at various points along the involute:
(12)
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Gear-rain Systems:
Gears are used in combinations to create a desired tor#ueBvelocity ratio. .ombinations of gears
can be divided into two classes: 7i%ed"a%is gear trains* and planetary gear trains.
7i%ed"a%is gear trains:
The sign change occurs for e%ternal gears. The diameters listed are the pitch diameters. /ow
consider a series of gears in mesh:
2n this arrangement* the intermediate gears do not affect the overall velocity ratio* and therefore
should be replaced with a more cost effective means of power transmission. 0nly the outer two
gears are useful in achieving the desired velocity ratio. ince the velocity ratio of a single gear
set is practically limited to 10:1 or less (actually* more li(e ':1 greater)* compound gears (two
gears constrained to have the same angular velocity) are used in gears trains to achieve larger
velocity ratios:
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Planetary Gear rains:
3 &lanetary gear train (see 7ig. below) results when certain gears in the train (called the planet
gears) have moving a%es. The arm* while not a gear* is an essential part of the planetary because
it defines the motion of the moving planet gear a%es. The planetary is also uni#ue to a standard
gear train in that it re#uires two inputs to define one output (verify this using mobility). 3 good
e%ample is your car;s differential* which has two inputs: one the drive"shaft* and the second a
constraint between the two driven wheels provided by whatever you are driving on (e.g. dry
pavement* one wheel on ice* etc.)
The planetary gear train consists of three parts:
1.
2.
!.
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Planetary Gear !"uation:
The planetary gear train e#uation must be used to solve the angular velocities of elements in the
planetary. The e#uation is:
where:
f* and l identify two gears in the planetary (call them first and last)*
a represents the arm*
wla*
wfa*
wla / wfa
wl*
wf

wa.
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#hoosing f, l$ an% a:
.hoosing elements for the first* last* and arm is the first step in solving a planetary. olving will
fall into one of the three following scenarios (remember that you must (now two pieces of
information to solve the planetary e#uation).
&ase i Cou want to find the arm velocity* (wa is not (nown) (nowing the velocity of two gears:
.hoose f and l as the two (nown gears* and the arm as a* an un(nown. olve for wa.
&ase ii Cou want to find the velocity of a gear* and you (now the velocity of the arm and one
other gear:
.hoose l as the desired un(nown gear* choose f as the (nown gear and a as the (nown arm. olve
for wl.
&ase iii Cou want to find the velocity of a gear* and you (now the velocity of two gears but not
the arm.
7irst* choose f and l as the (nown gears and solve the arm velocity* wa. Then go to case ii.
'i(e% Gear trains:
3 general gear train can include both fi%ed a%is and planetary gear trains* or multiple planetaries.
olving systems li(e these re#uires using the procedures outlined above and loo(ing for elements
that share the same angular velocity between the mi%ed gear trains.
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Gear ypes:
3 gear train consists of one or more gear sets intended to give a specific velocity ratio* or change
direction of motion. Gear and gear train types can be grouped based on their application and
tooth geometry.
Table I: Gear Types Grouped According to Shaft Arrangement
Parallel A(es Interse&ting A(es
)on-Interse&ting
*)on-parallel+ A(es
,otary to
ranslation
Spur gears (7ig. 1): pur gears connect parallel shafts* have involute teeth that are parallel to
the shafts* and can have either internal or e%ternal teeth. /otes:
1.
2. .
!.
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-eli&al gears (7ig. 2): Delical gears also connect parallel shafts* but the involute teeth are cut
at an angle (called the heli% angle) to the a%is of rotation. /ote that two mating helical gears
must have e#ual heli% angle but opposite hand. These are found in automotive transmissions* and
any application re#uiring high speed rotation and good performance. /otes:
1.
2.
!.
$.
-erringbone gears (7ig. !): To avoid a%ial thrust* two helical gears of opposite hand can be
mounted side by side* to cancel resulting thrust forces. These are called double helical or
herringbone gears
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.evel gears (7ig. $): 5evel gears connect intersecting a%es* and come in several types (listed
below). 7or bevel gears* the pitch surface is a cone* (it was a cylinder in spur and helical gears)
and mating spiral gears can be modeled as two cones in rolling contact. Types of bevel gears:
1. traight bevel: These are li(e spur gears* the teeth have no heli% angle. traight bevel
gears can be
a. +iter gears* e#ual si6e gears with a :0 degree shaft angle*
b. 3ngular bevel gears* shaft angle other than :0 degrees* or
c. .rown gears* one gear is flat* has a pitch angle of :0 degree.
2. piral bevel gears(7ig. $a): Teeth have a spiral angle which gives performance
improvements much li(e helical gears
!. Eerol bevel gears (7ig. $b): Teeth are crowned* so that tooth contact ta(es place first at
the tooth center.
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-ypoi% gears (7ig. '): imilar to spiral bevel gears* but connect non"parallel shafts that do not
intersect. The pitch surface of a hypoid gear is a hyperboloid of revolution (rather than a cone*
the pitch surface in bevel gears)* hence the name.
#rosse% heli&al gears (7ig. -): Delical gears that connect s(ew shafts. The teeth have sliding
motion and therefore lower efficiency. 0ne application is connecting distributer to cam shaft in
pre"electronic ignition vehicles.
/orm Gears (7ig. 8): The driving gear is called a worm* and typically has 1* 2* or four teeth.
The low number of teeth on the worm can result in a very large velocity ratio. These can also be
designed to be non"bac(driveable* and can carry high loads. 5ecause of sliding action* efficiency
is low.
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,a&0 an% Pinion (7ig. 9): These transmit rotary motion (from the pinion) to translational
motion (of the rac(). The rac( is a gear with infinite radius< its teeth* although flat sided* are
involute. The rac( and pinion is commonly used in steering units and 4ac(s.
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