 GEAR GEOMETRY & NOMENCLATURE

 BASIC LAW OF GEARING

 GEAR INTERFERENCE
 POWER TRANSMISSION BY GEARS
 GEAR FAILURES
 DESIGNING OF SPUR GEARS AGAINST FAILURE
Two virtual friction cylinders/disks having no slip at the point of contact

Is equivalent to set of spur gears having same diameter circles as the pitch
circles of the pair.

Pinion : Smaller of the pair

Gear : The larger of the pair
CIRCULAR PITCH (p)
Distance measured on the pitch circle from a point on one tooth to a
corresponding point on the next.
d
pc 
z
pc= Circular Pitch in
d= Pitch diameter
z= Number of teeth

DIAMETRAL PITCH(P) (Teeth per inch)

Number of teeth in the gear per inch of pitch diameter

z
Pd 
d
pcPd  

 For two gears to mesh they must have the same pitch.
RELATIVE SIZES OF STANDARD 200 PRESSURE ANGLE STANDARD,FULL
DEPTH TEETH FOR SEVERAL STANDARD DIAMETRAL PITCHES FROM 4 TO
80
In SI units the size of the teeth is specified by the module “m” measured in mm

d
m
z
Therefore circular pitch pc  m
1
m
Pd
With SI units standard values of metric module(mm)

0.3 0.4 0.5 0.8 1 1.25

1.5 2 3 4 5 6
8 10 12 16 20 25
GEAR NOMENCLATURE
 CENTER DISTANCE=The distance between the centers of two gears
in mesh
= r1+r2
Z1  Z 2

2 Pd
Backlash = The gap between the mating teeth measured along the pitch
circle
BASIC LAW OF GEARING
 When two gears are in mesh, their pitch circles roll on one another without
slipping.
r1, r2 = Pitch circle radii

ω1, ω2 = Angular velocities

Pitch line velocity V= r1 ω1 = r2 ω2

1 n1 z d 2
  
2
SPEED RATIO ἰ12=
 2 n2 z d 1 1

n = The speed rpm

z = The number of teeth
d = The pitch circle diameter
Subscript 1,2 - Refers to drive and driven gears respectively.
CONJUGATE ACTION OF GEARS
As the gears rotate ,the common normal at the point of contact between
the teeth must always pass through a fixed point on the line of centers.
The fixed point is called the pitch point “P”
INVOLUTE PROFILE

BASE CIRCLE
INVOLUTE GEAR TEETH CONTACT AND PRESSURE ANGLE
Gear teeth are cut to the shape of an involute between the addendum
circle and the base circle
Part of the teeth between the base and dedendum are radial.

Line ab – Common tangent to thP.Cs through the pitch point

Line cd - Normal to the teeth that are in contact and always passes
thro’ “P” at an angle Ф to ab. It’s tangent to both the base circles.
Ф –Pressure Angle - Standard Pressure Angles 14.50,200,250

Pressure line- Direction in which the resultant force acts between the
gears

Radius of the base circle

r b = rcos Ф
STANDARD GEAR TEETH
 Standard pressure angle - 14.50,200 or 250
 In this one can have full depth gears and stronger stub tooth gears.
 Commonly used involute spur gear teeth in terms of the diametral pitch (Pd)
Tooth proportions for some spur gear teeth in terms of diametral
pitch
FACE WIDTH (b)OF SPUR GEARS

9 13
b
Pd Pd

9.6m  b  12.5m
However under certain conditions ,as where there are space
limitations the width “b” may be as narrow as 6.3m or as wide
as 19m.
EX 1: Two parallel shafts with center distance 14 inch are to be
driven by 2 teeth/inch diametral pitch , 200 pressure angle spur
gears providing a velocity ratio of 3 .
For each gear determine:
a) The number of teeth
b) Base circle radius and the outside diameter
c) Clearance
d) Pitch line velocity if the gear (2) rotates at 500 rpm

n2=500rpm ἰ12=3 c=14 Pd=2

Ф =200
r2
3 r1+r2 = 14
r1
r1= 3.5 r2=10.5
d1=7 d2=21
Z=Pdd
z1=2*7=14 z2=2*21=42
Base circle radii
rb1 = r1cos Ф=3.5cos20= 3.29in rb2 = r2cos Ф=10.5cos20= 9.87in

Addendum circle
Addendum =a = 1/Pd =1/2=0.5 in

da1 = d1+2a= 7+2*0.5= 8 in da2 = d2+2a= 21+2*0.5= 22 in

Dedendum
bd = 1.25/Pd =1.25/2 = 0.625

Clearance
c = bd-a =0.625-0.5= 0.125 in

Pitch line velocity =r2ω2 = 10.5 * 500 * 2  45.81 fps

12 60
 CONTACT RATIO AND INTERFERENCE
Contact Ratio

Contact between the two gears starts when the addendum circle of the
driven gear (dn)intersects the pressure line and ends when the addendum
circle of the driving gear(dg) intersects the pressure line. Length of contact:

Lc  (rp  ap ) 2  (rp cos  ) 2  (rg  ag ) 2  (rg cos  ) 2  c sin 

r = The pitch radius

a = The addendum
c = The center distance
Ф = The pressure angle
Subscript p Pinion
Subscript g Gear

When two gears are in mesh it’s desirable to have at least one pair of teeth in
contact all the time.
How many teeth are in contact is denoted by the contact ratio
L
C
c
Cr=Length of Contact
r
Base Pitch
pb
Contact Ratio in terms of circular pitch by substituting,

pb  pc cos 
1 cTan
Cr  { (rp  ap ) 2  (rp cos  ) 2  (rg  ag ) 2  (rg cos  ) 2 } 
pc cos  pc
Cr=1 One tooth is leaving contact just as the next is beginning contact
For smooth operation minimum Cr=1.2

Most Gears are designed with contact ratios 1.4-2

Cr = 1.5 - One pair of teeth is always in contact and the second in contact 50%
of the time
Cr=2 At least two pairs of teeth are theoretically in contact all the time

Higher the contact ratio more the load is shared between the teeth.
Interference
Since the part of the gear tooth below the base circle is not cut as an involute
curve basic law of gearing will not be held.
The contact of these portions of tooth profiles is called interference.
When interference occurs gears will have to be modified by removal of the
portion of the tooth below the base circle and cutting away the interfering
material- Undercutting.
Undercutting can be avoided by
a) Removing a portion of tips of the teeth.
b) Increasing the pressure angle
c) Increasing the center distance
d) Use minimum required teeth numbers

MINIMUM NUMBER OF TEETH ON THE PINION TO AVOID

INTERFERENCE
PRESSURE MIN. NO OF MIN. NO OF
ANGLE TEETH ON THE TEETH ON THE
PINION PINION WITH
SLIGHT
UNDERCUTTING
14.50 32 27
200 17 14
22.50 14 12
POWER TRANSMISSION BY GEARS

 Power is transmitted by the force that the tooth of one gear exerts
on the tooth of the other.
 The transmitted load Fn is normal to the tooth surface.
 Therefore it acts along the pressure line.

Tangential Force Component Ft = Fn cos Ф

Radial Force Component F r = F n sin Ф =Ft tan Ф
The tangential component Ft and pitch line velocity accounts for the power
transmission.

Power Transmitted KW = FtV/1000

dn
V=Pitch Line Velocity = m/s
60

Ft = Transmitted force (N)

d = Gear pitch circle diameter (m)
n = Speed(rpm)
T = Torque (Nm)

FtV Tn
KW  
1000 9549

1000 KW 745.7 hp
Ft  
V V
DYNAMIC EFFECTS & SERVICE CONDITIONS
The tangential force Ft does not account for the entire force that acts between
the gear teeth.
Dynamic effects also act on the teeth due to teeth inaccuracies, deflection and
misalignments.
This is taken into account by the Barth Velocity Factor Kv.

600  V (0  V  2000 fpm) 3.05  V

Kv  Kv  (0  V  10)
600 3.05

1200  V
Kv  (2000  V  4000 fpm) 6.1  V
(10  V  20)
1200 Kv 
6.1

78  V 3.56  V
Kv  (V  2000 fpm) Kv  (V  20)
78 3.56

V=Pitch Line Velocity(fpm) V= Pitch Line Velocity(m/s)

Service conditions are taken into account by the “SERVICE FACTOR
Cs”

Therefore Design Load of the gear

Fd  KvCsFt
Ex : Gear Force Analysis
Three meshing gears have a module of 5mm and 200 pressure angle. Driving
gear1 transmits 40KW at 2000rpm to idler gear 2 on shaft B. Output gear 3
is mounted on shaft C,which drives a machine. Determine
(a) The tangential and radial forces acting on gear 2.
(b) The reaction on shaft B.

z 2  40
z 3  30

z1  20
The pitch diameters of gears 1 and 3:
d1 = m1z1 = 20*5=100mm
d3 = m3z3 = 30*5 = 150mm
9549KW 9549 * 40
T =  191Nm
2000 2000

Ft12 
T 1 191
  3.82kN Fr12  3.82Tan 20  1.39kN
r1 0.05

Gear 2 is an idler .
Ft32 = 3.82 kN Fr32 =1.39kN

RBx = 3.82+1.39 = 5.21kN RBy = 3.82+1.39 = 5.21 kN

The reaction on shaft B

RB  SQ5.21  SQ5.21  7.37 kN

MODES OF TEETH FAILURE

 Two gear wheels meshing

together and transmitting a
torque
 Normal force arises at the
contact point
 This force give rise to Hertz
contact stresses σH at the
contact surfaces and to
bending stresses σb at the
roots of the gear teeth.
 These stresses follows a cyclic
pattern and may give rise to
fatigue failure.
 σH- Causes surface failures
 σb - Causes teeth breakage
 MODES OF TEETH FAILURE

A crack has Surface failure of a gear teeth

developed at the root
of the gear teeth due
to excessive bending
stress.
PITTING
BENDING
 BENDING STRENGTH OF A GEAR TOOTH-LEWIS FORMULA
Application of the bending equation
Assumptions:
1) Full load is applied to the tip of a single tooth.
2) The radial load component is negligible.
3) The load is distributed uniformly across the full face width.
4) The forces owing to tooth sliding friction are negligible.
5) The stress concentration in the tooth fillet is negligible.
M Z= bt2
 6
Z
σ = 6FtL
bt2

The gear tooth is considered as a cantilever loaded in the transverse

direction and is subjected to bending.
 Fn - Considered as acting through the
corner tip of the tooth along the
pressure line.

Fr – Causes uniform compressive stress

over the cross section - Neglegible
Maximum Bending Moment 
6 FTL
bt 2

t/2 L t2
 L
Using similarity of triangles, x t/2 4x

6 Ft t 2 3 Ft
 2 
bt 4 x 2 bx

3 Ft Pd Ft Pd
Multiplying by Pd    [ ][ ]
2 bx Pd b Y
2x
Y Pd
3
Y= Modified Lewis Form Factor and is a function of the pressure angle and
the number of teeth.

FtPd
 -LEWIS FORMULA
bY Y-Modified Lewis Form Factor

Lewis Formula in SI
units
Substituting m=1/Pd

Ft

mbY
VALUES OF MODIFIED LEWIS FORM FACTOR(Y) FOR SOME COMMON FULL DEPTH TEETH
Lewis form factor (y) can be calculated from

0.684
y  0.124  For 14.50 Pressure Angle
z
0.912 For 200 Pressure Angle
y  0.154 
z

0.95
y  0.175  For 200 Stub Teeth system
z

(Y  y )
 EFFECT OF STRESS CONCENTRATION
The stress in a gear tooth is influenced by the fillet radius rf. This is
taken into account by the stress concentration factor Kf.
The Lewis formula is modified to include the effect of the stress
concentration,

KfFtPd

bY
b Y
Ft 
Kf Pd
[σb]= Allowable Static Bending Stress

Allowable Tangential Load on Gear Teeth in terms Bending [Fb]

[b]b Y
[ Fb ] 
Kf Pd
[σb]= Allowable Static Bending Stress-Values for material

Kf = 1.5
 In SI units
[b]mbY
[ Fb ] 
Kf

REQUIREMENT FOR SATISFACTORY GEAR PERFORMANCE

Design Tangential load should not exceed the Allowable Bending Load capacity

Fd  [ Fb ]
STRENGTH FACTOR IN LEWIS EQUATION
m,b are the same for pinion as well as for gear in a pair.
When different materials are used the product Y[σb] STRENGTH FACTOR
determines the weaker between the pinion and the gear.
 Y for pinion is always less compared to the gear.
 When the same material is used for the pinion and the gear pinion is always
weaker.
 Therefore pinions should be made approximately 40BHN harder than their
mating wheel to even out the life of the two parts .
Allowable Static Bending Stress-Values for some materials of different
hardnesses
Ex: A 250 pressure angle, 25 teeth spur gear having a module of 2mm and a
face width of 45mm are to operate at 900rpm. The gear is made of SAE1040
steel. Fatigue concentration factor =1.5 , Cs=1
Determine a) Allowable bending load
b) The maximum tangential load and power that the gear can
transmit.
Modified Lewis form factor for 25 teeth, pressure angle
250 Y=0.402
Allowable static bending stress for SAE1040 steel
[σb]=172 Mpa [ ]mbY
Maximum allowable bending load [F b] =
Kf
172 *106 * 2 *10 3 * 45 *10 3 * 0.402
 3
 4.149kN
1.5 *10
Pitch diameter d =mz = 2*25=50mm

dn m/s=
 * 0.05 * 900
V=Pitch Line Velocity = = 2.356 m/s= 463.77fpm
60 60
 The design load

600  V 600  463.7

Fd   Cs  Ft   Ft  1.77 Ft
600 600

[ Fb]  Fd
4.149  1.77 Ft
Ft  2.344kN
FtV 2.344 *1000 * 2.356
Power Transmitted by the gear    5.52 KW
1000 1000
WEAR STRENGTH OF A GEAR TEETH –BUCKINGHAM FORMULA

The failure of the surface of gear teeth is called wear. Surface fatigue failure
occurs due to repeated high contact stresses.
Hertz formula for contact stresses of two cylinders of Radii R1 and R2
Maximum contact pressure developed between two cylinders

FaEpEg 1 1 1/ 2
p 0  0.592{ [  ]}
Ep  Eg R1 R 2
Fa= Load per axial length pressing the cylinders together
Ep,Eg= Moduli of elasticity of the cylinders

  0.3
Considering the two meshing gear teeth as two parallel cylinders in contact
and taking radii of the two cylinders as radii of curvature of the involutes
 dp
R1  Sin
2
dg zgdp
R 2  Sin  Sin
2 2 zp

Z=Number of teeth

dp dg

zp zg
 FaEpEg 2 zp
S 0  0.35
2
[1  ]
Ep  Eg dp sin  zg
Representing the maximum contact pressure p0 by Surface Endurance
Limit S0

Total allowable surface load on the gear Fab denoted by [Fw]

[ Fw]  dpbQK
Where S 0 2 sin  1 1
WearLoadFactor  K  {  }
1.4 Ep Eg

2 zg
SpeedFactor  Q 
zp  zg
For satisfactory gear performance ,

Fd  [ Fw ]
Ex: A 25 teeth 250 pressure angle spur gear is having a module of 2mm
and a face width 45mm to be operated at 900rpm. The gear is made of
SAE 1040.(Hardness 200BHN) The mating gear is of 60 teeth and cast iron.
Calculate a) Maximum allowable wear load
b) The maximum load that can be transmitted
2 zg 2 * 60 24
Q  
zp  zg 25  60 17
From the table K=1.014 Mpa

Maximum Allowable wear load

24
[ Fw]  dpbQK  0.050 * 0.045 * *1.014 *106  3.221kN
17
1.77 Ft  3.221
Ft  1.82kN
EXAMPLE

Design a pair of gears to transmit 20KW power while operating for 8-10
hrs/day sustaining medium shock. Both the gear and pinion are made of
Cast Steel (0.2% C).Take fatigue stress concentration factor Kf=1
n1 1000
Speed Ratio i12    3.226
n 2 310

PCD of the pinion= 31m

Pitch Line Velocity 31m 2 1000  
v  r    1.623m
2 10 3
60
Tangential Force 1000 KW
Ft 
V

1000  20 12322.86
Ft  
1.623m m

Service Factor C s  1 .5
Barth Velocity Factor 3.05  V 3.05  1.623m
Kv  
3.05 3.05

Design Load of the Gear [3.05  1.623m] 12322.86

Fd  CsKvFt  1.5  
3.05 m

[3.05  1.623m]
Fd  6060.423
m
 Gear width b=10m
Number of teeth on the gear wheel

z 2  i12  z1  3.226  31  100

Lewis Equation for teeth bending

[b]mbY
[ Fb] 
Kf

PINION GEAR WHEEL

Allowable Bending Strength [σb] for Cast 138 MPa 138 MPa
Steel (0.2%C)
Lewis Tooth Form Factor 0.912 0.125 0.145
y  0.154 
z
Lewis Modified Tooth Form Factor Y=πy 0.393 0.456

Strength Factor Y[σb] 54.23MPa 62.93 MPa

 As the pinion is weaker Lewis equation is applied to the
pinion.
[b]mbY
[ Fb] 
Kf
138 106  m 10 3 10m 10 3  0.393
[ Fb ]   542.34m 2
1

Fd  [ Fb ]
Strength Condition

[3.05  1.623m] 542.34m 2

Fd  6060.423 
m

3.05  1.623m  0.089m 3

 m LHS RHS
1 4.673 0.089
2 6.296 0.712
3 7.919 2.403
4 9.542 5.696
5 11.165 11.125
6 12.788 19.224
Therefore select m=5

PARAMETR FORMULA
PCD d=mz PINION:155MM GEAR: 500MM
WIDTH b=10m 50MM
PITCH LINE
VELOCITY
dn / 60 8.115m/s

Tangential 1000KW 2464.57 N

Force(Ft) Ft 
V

Design tooth Load (Fd) Fd  CsKvFt  1.5  =

3.66  2464.57  13530.49
111111 13131
CHECKING THE TEETH FOR WEAR
Buckingham Equation
[Fw] = dpbQK

dp=0.155 meter
b = 0.050 meter
2 Ng 2 100
SpeedFactor  Q    1.527
Np  Ng 31  100
Strength Condition
Fd  [ Fw ]
13530.49  0.155  0.050 1.527 K

1143333.12  K
1.14( MPa)  K
Material should be heat treated to 300 BHN.