ASSIGNMENT NO.

01

MECHANICS OF MACHINES

BELT DRIVES
Belt drives are being most widely used in industry for the transmission of power from one shaft to another over considerable distances. Belt drives are called flexible machine elements. In its simplest form, the belt drive consists of an endless belt which is wrapped tightly over two pulleys known as driving and driven pulleys which in turn are mounted on the driving and driven shafts respectively. The motion from the driving pulley is transmitted to the driven pulley by frictional resistance between the belt and the surface of the pulleys. Since there will always be some slip between the belt and the surface of the pulleys, the velocity ratio in belt drives is never absolutely constant. Belt drives have got an inherent advantage that; it can absorb a good amount of shock and vibration. It can take care of some degree of misalignment between the driven and the driver machines and long distance power transmission, in comparison to other transmission systems. For all above reasons belt drives are widely used in industrial application. There are basically four types of belts used for power transmission: y y y y Flat including link. V section including round. Ribbed. Toothed, or timing.

Flat belts:
The flat belt is most widely used in factories and workshops where a moderate amount of power is to be transmitted, from one pulley to another when the two pulleys are not more than 8 meters apart.

Flat belt drives are now mostly used for low power high speed applications in specialized industries including the textile, paper making, and in office machinery. Flat belts are also used for conveyor applications.

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MECHANICS OF MACHINES

V belts:
The v belt is most widely used in factories and workshops where a moderate amount of power is to be transmitted, from one pulley to another when the two pulleys are very near to each other.

Rope belts:
The rope belt is most widely used in factories and workshops, where a great amount of power is to be transmitted, from one pulley to another, when the two pulleys are more than 8 meters apart.

Question no. 1:
Why is V belt better than flat belt?
ANSWER: V belt is better than flat belt due to: y y y y Higher velocity ratio than flat belt up to 7 and 8 the maximum being 10. Provide long life than flat belt, 3 to 5 years. As the V belts are made endless, there is no joint trouble, so the drive is smooth. Possibility of using with small center distances. 2

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y y y y y

The small center distances give compactness as required in many machine layouts. More positive and reliable drive and less slippage than with flat belts. Quiet and low in maintenance. Provide shock absorption between driver and driven shafts. Possibility of powering a number of driven shafts from a single drive without the use of belt tightners.

V belts are able to transmit higher torsional at less width and tensions than flat belts.

Flat belts can mistrack from their drive while drive while there is no such chance for a V belt as it moves in a grove.

y y

V belt also has got very low creep and negligible slip than flat belts. V belts have more friction during operation than flat belts so slippage is lesser hence more efficient than flat belts.

The wedging action of the V belt in the groove gives high value of limiting ratios of tensions; therefore power transmitted by V belt is more than flat belt.

V belt may be operated in either direction with tight side of the belt at the top or bottom. The center line may be horizontal, vertical or inclined.

BEVEL GEARS
Bevel gears are used to transmit power between two shafts whose geometrical axes intersect at a certain angle. It is also called bevel gear transmission. Bevel gears can be used to change the direction of drive in a gear system by 90 degrees. Bevel gear drives are capable of handling heavy loads and offer higher torque. They transmit engine power smoothly onto the main clutch pulley. 3

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MECHANICS OF MACHINES

They can be used either to reduce or increase speed. These gear drives are important components on all current rotorcraft drive systems. This system is required to operate at high speeds, high loads, and for an extremely large number of load cycles. They are widely used in material handling, packaging machinery, agriculture machines, and textile machinery.

Question no. 2: Where is bevel Gears used? Specify applications with details.
ANSWER: The bevel gear has many diverse applications such as hand drills, automobiles, differential drives, rotorcraft, etc. Uses of Bevel gears: Bevel gears are used as the main mechanism for a hand drill. As the handle of the drill is turned in clockwise, the bevel gears change the rotation of the chuck to a vertical rotary motion. The bevel gears in a hand drill have the added advantage of increasing the speed of rotation of the chuck and this makes it possible to drill a range of materials. y Hand Drill:

Hand Drills are used for drilling a range of sizes of hole. They are very useful especially if machine drills are not available. The hand drill generally holds drill sizes from 1mm to 9mm. When using these drills, always hold them so that they are vertical and turn the handles in a clockwise direction. The common mistake is to turn the handles anticlockwise as this makes it almost impossible to drill even the smallest holes. Also, put scrap material underneath the material to be drilled so that the bench is not damaged by the bit as it bursts through the other side.

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MECHANICS OF MACHINES

Differential Drives:

Bevel gears are used in differential drives, which can transmit power to two axles spinning at different speeds, such as those on a cornering automobile.

Differential Drives may be defined as: A set of gears with three independent, rotating members with a speed and torque relationship to each other. There are two application types: First consists of one input and two outputs. The automobile differential is the best example here. The two outputs are connected mechanically. Second application has two inputs and one output. This is used to solve industrial problems when the superimposition of one motion relative to another is required, such as phase shifting on textile industry equipment. The differential has three jobs:
y y y

To aim the engine power at the wheels. To act as the final gear reduction in the vehicle, slowing the rotational speed of the transmission one final time before it hits the wheels. To transmit the power to the wheels while allowing them to rotate at different speeds (This is the one that earned the differential its name.).

Car wheels spin at different speeds, especially when turning. Each wheel travels a different distance through the turn, and that the inside wheels travel a shorter distance than the outside wheels. Since speed is equal to the distance traveled divided by the time it takes to go that distance, the wheels that travel a shorter distance travel at a lower speed. Also note that the front wheels travel a different distance than the rear wheel. 5

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The differential is found on all modern cars and trucks, and also in many all-wheeldrive (full-time four-wheel-drive) vehicles. These all-wheel-drive vehicles need a differential between each set of drive wheels, and they need one between the front and the back wheels as well, because the Front wheels travel a different distance through a turn than the rear wheels. For the non-driven wheels on car -- the front wheels on a rear-wheel drive car, the back wheels on a front-wheel drive car -this is not an issue. There is no connection between them, so they spin independently. But the driven wheels are linked together so that a single engine and transmission can turn both wheels. If car did not have a differential, the wheels would have to be locked together, forced to spin at the same speed. This would make turning difficult and hard on your car: For the car to be able to turn, one tire would have to slip. With modern tires and concrete roads, a great deal of force is required to make a tire slip. That force would have to be transmitted through the axle from one wheel to another, putting a heavy strain on the axle components.

Marine gears:

Marine gears are referred to the complete set of gears that is applied in the marine applications. Commercial ships, Cruise liners, Warships, patrol boats or high-speed ferries are all fitted with marine gear units.

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MECHANICS OF MACHINES

In Marine Gears physical performance and other features vary considerably. A Marine Gear that has a high performance can have a size in the range of 300 mm to even 5 meters. Power transmission can start from as little as 225 kilowatts to astronomically high rate of 50,000 Kilowatts. Not only huge power transmission marine gears are also associated with high speeds. For example the gears found inside fast craft vessels are capable of generating speeds that is at least 25 knots or 29 mph. are considered high performance.

Prime Features of Marine Gears: Marine drives are supposed to meet stringent demands. To rise up to such high expectations Marine gears comes with some features that are unique in it. Discussed here are a few of such features.

Handling huge power loads: Marine gears are designed to sustain massive power loads required by the warships. They can handle power as high as 50,000 kilowatts. Low-weight requirements: In marine gear applications one major criterion is for low weight, but, without any compromising on factors like stability, smooth running, capability and efficiency of the gear transmission. Varying reduction ratios: In cases of big marine vessels, the multiple inputs are primarily the gas turbines, diesel engines or may be electric motors. Based on such combination, the power sources operate at speeds that are different. So the need in Marine Gears is gear train that has different reduction ratios.

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MECHANICS OF MACHINES

Question no. 3: Which has more durability? y y y V belt Rope belt Flat belt and why?

ANSWER: Among the three belts mentioned above, flat belt has more durability. Flat belt has more durability because of the following reasons: y Different flat belt surface patterns serve different transmission requirements. In high-power applications and outdoor installations, longitudinal grooves in the belt surface reduce the air cushion that flat belts generate when they run at speed onto a pulley. An air cushion reduces friction between pulley and belt. y The longitudinal profile in the flat belt nearly eliminates the effect of dirt, dust, oil, or grease. Furthermore, the grooves reduce the noise level of an already quiet power transmission design even more. y y The most significant advantage of flat belts is their high efficiency nearly 99%. The flat belts are 2.5 to 3% better than V belts. Three factors account for the good efficiency: lower bending losses due to the thin cross section, low creep because of special friction covers, high modulus of elasticity and no wedging into pulleys like V-belts. Without the wedging action as in V-belts, flat-belt and pulley wear is minimal. y y Flat belts offer greater design freedom than standardized designs because they are available in any width and length. Pulley alignment is equally important to flat belts as it is to other styles. Crowning at least one pulley, usually the larger one improves belt tracking. Flat belts are forgiving of misalignment; however, proper alignment improves belt life for any drive. y Low-horsepower drives with small pulleys are usually more expensive than comparable V-belt drives. But once the larger pulley diameter reaches 30 in., flatbelt drives become less expensive. Despite initial cost of smaller flat-belt drives, their efficiency gain makes up for the cost differential within a few years.

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MECHANICS OF MACHINES

References: y y y y http://en.wikipedia.org http://chestofbooks.com/home-improvement

A Text Book of MACHINE DESIGN by DR. P. C. SHARMA and DR. D. K. AGGARWAL. THEORY OF MACHINES by R. S. KHURMI and J. K. GUPTA.