JJ513 ENGINEERING DESIGN

UNIT 4 GEAR

DEFINITION: GEAR
A wheel with evenly sized and spaced teeth
machined or formed around its parameter.
Mechanism and Mechanical Devices Sourcebook
By : Neil Sclater

Applications: Gear

1. Transmit motion/power from one point to

another.
2. Changing the rotation speed.
3. Changing rotational direction.
4. Converting rotational to linear motion.

Classification of Gears

External gear
Teeth on the outside of the disk or wheel
Internal gear
Teeth on the inside surface of a ring/cylinder

Types of Gears
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)

Spur gear
Helical
Herringbones
Bevel
Worm
Rack and pinion
Annual
Face

Gear: Spur gear

Spur gears have teeth that run
perpendicular to the face of the gear
Not as smooth/quite as spiral bevel gear
Permit medium load capacity
Provide moderate torque transmission
Application: foot pedal gear
motorcycle/gearbox of automobiles.
Figure 5.1 : Spur gear

Gear: Helical
Helical gears are very similar to spur gears
except the teeth are not perpendicular to the
face.
The teeth are at an angle to the face giving
helical gears more tooth contact in the same
area.
Helical gears can also be used on non-parallel
shafts to transmit motion.

Figure 5.2: Helical gear

Helical gears tend to run quieter and smoother

than spur gears due to the increased number of
teeth in constant contact at any one period of
time.
Application: cement mills & crusher

Gear: Herringbones
Herringbone gears resemble two helical
gears that have been placed side by side.
They are often referred to as "double
helical".
One benefit of herringbone gears is that
it helps to avoid issues related to side
thrust created with the use of helical
gears.
Application: cement mills & crusher
Figure 5.3: Herringbones gear

Gear: Bevel Gear

Bevel gears are used mostly in
situations that require power to be
transmitted at right angles (or
applications that are not parallel).
Bevel gears can have different angles of
application but tend to be 90.
Permit high load capacity .
Figure 5.4: Bevel Gear

Application: automobile differential

drive

Gear: Worm gear

Worm gears are used to transmit power at
90 and where high reductions are required.
The worm resembles a thread that rides in
concaved or helical teeth.
Application: material
handling/transportation machinery

Figure 5.5: Worm gear

Gear: Rack and pinion

A rack is basically a straight gear used to transmit power and motion in a
linear movement.
Application: drive mechanism.

Figure 5.6: Rack and pinion gear

Gear: Annual gear

Figure 5.7: Annual gear

Internal gears typically resemble inverted spur gears but are occasionally cut
as helical gears.
Application: automatic transmission of automobiles/step-up drives of wind
mills/reduction gearboxes of cement mills

Gear: Face gear

Face gears transmit power at (usually) right

angles in a circular motion.
Face gears are not very common in industrial
application.

Figure 5.8: Face gear

Gear Terminology

Figure 5.9 Gear Terminology

Terms and Definitions

1. Addendum (A)
Radial distance between the pitch circle and
outside diameter
2. Dedendum (D)
Radial distance between the pitch circle to the
bottom of the tooth space.
3. Pitch diameter (d)
Diameter of the pitch circle which is equal to the
outside diameter minus 2 addendums.

Terms and Definitions

Diametral Pitch (DP) = number of teeth/pitch dia
For a DP which is in inch unit ONLY.
Example
If the pitch diameter of a gear = 6 inch, and
the gear has num of teeth = 60 so the gear the
gear DP is 10.

Terms and Definitions

Modul (M)
Ratio of the pitch diameter in mm to the
number of teeth.
Where
d = pitch diameter
T= num of teeth

m = d/T or A = M

Terms and Definitions

Pitch circle (CP)
Circle through the point having its centre at
the axis of the gear.
Where
d = pitch diameter
T= num of teeth

CP = d/T

Terms and Definitions

Gear ratio (G)
The ratio of the number of teeth on gear to
that on the pinion.
Where ;
T= num of teeth on gear
t= num of teeth on pinion

G = T/t

Terms and Definitions

Pitch line velocity (Vp)
Where ;
D = pitch circle diameter
N = rotating speed

Vp =

JJ513 ENGINEERING DESIGN

UNIT 4 GEAR

Gear Drive
motor

A
pump

Figure 5.10 External gearing

Figure above shows a gear drive transmitting power from a motor to a pump.

Wheel A keyed to the motor shaft is known as driver.

Wheel B keyed to the pump shaft is known as follower or the driven.

When wheel A rotates, its teeth transmit the force and the torque to wheel B.

Note that in the external gearing the wheels rotate in opposite directions.

Gear Drive
motor

A
pump

Figure 5.11 Internal gearing

If both of the shaft have to be rotated in the same direction, one way of doing it is
to use internal gearing.

The larger wheel, known as annular or internal gear, has its teeth cut internally.
The smaller wheel is called the pinion.

Velocity Ratio
Gear drives are generally used to change the rotational speed
of the driven shaft.

velocity ratio define as the ratio of a distance through which

any part of a machine moves to that which the driving part
moves during the same time.

VR=Effort Distance/Load Distance

Velocity ratio
Motor

Driver

Figure 5.12 velocity ratio in inversely proportional to the number of

teeth
Pump

Driven

From Figure 5.12, we can derive the following notations;

N1 = speed of the driver, rpm
T1 = number of teeth on the driver
D1= pitch circle diameter of the driver
N2 = speed of the driven, rpm
T2 = number of teeth on the driven
D2 = pitch circle diameter of the driven

Velocity Ratio
At the contact surface the linear velocity is the same, hence;
D1N1 = D2N2
Or
Velocity ratio =

For meshing gears the module, m is the same, Now

D1 = mT1 and D2 = mT2
Substituting the equation, we get

Velocity Ratio
Example 1
An electric motor running at 1500 rpm has to drive a
pump at a speed of 375 rpm. The largest gear available
has 84 teeth. If the module is 4mm, determine the
velocity ratio, the center distance, the number of teeth
on the pinion, and the pitch line velocity.

Gear Train
Most electric motors, petrol engines and diesel engines
operate efficiently at certain specific speeds. The driven
machinery such as pumps, compressors, machine tools etc.
need to run at their own optimum speed for better
performance.
In such situations, gear trains are used to change output
speed even though the driving machines run at constant
speed.

Gear Train: Definition

Combination of three or more gears used to transmit power
from one shaft to another.
Gear train may classified into 4 categories;
Simple gear train
Compound gear train
Reverted gear train
Epicyclic gear train

Gear Train
Simple Gear Train
Driven
Driver

=
Where
T1 = number of teeth in gear 1
T2 = number of teeth in gear 2
N2 = rpm of gear 2
N1 = rpm of gear 1

Gear Train
Let introduce another gear in between the driver and
driven.
Driven
Idler

Driver

2
1
=
1
2

3
2
=
2
3

Gear train
Multiplying the two equations, we get;
1 2
2 3
=
1 2
2 3
On simplification, we obtain;
1
3
=
1
3

Gear Train
Example 1
Design a gear box to get a velocity ratio of 4 using a
simple gear train. The center distance between the
input shaft and output shaft is 300 mm and gears
module 6 are used. (Answ: T1 = 80, T2 = 20)

Summary
Types & applications
Definition of gear

Gear terminology
Velocity Ratio & Gear Train

References
Mitra, G. M. (2001). Handbook of Gear Design Second Edition. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill.