MEG 373

( Kinematics and Dynamics of Machinery)

CHAPTER – 6

Gears - 1

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 Gears are used to transmit power from one shaft to another with
constant velocity ratio. If the velocity ratio is not constant, the driven
gear will be continuously accelerated and decelerated when the
driving gear rotates at constant velocity. This results in cyclic
stresses, vibration, noise, and other problems.
The figure represents the
teeth of two gears that rotate
about 03 and 02, respectively.
tooth profiles contact each
other at point Q
The instantaneous centre for the motion of gear 3 relative to gear 2
lies on the normal to the profiles at the point of contact. By the
Kennedy-theorem, it also lies on the line joining the centres of
rotation of gears 2 and 3 relative to the base. Thus, the instantaneous
centre of motion of gear 3 relative to gear 2 must be at point I23,
which is also known as the pitch point, P.

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 And

Where R is the velocity ratio.

Thus, a constant-velocity ratio implies that 03P/02P is constant.

That is, P is a fixed point on the line of centres between the two
gears.
In summary, for conjugate profiles, the normal to the profiles
at the point of contact always intersects the line of centres at
the same point. This is the fundamental law of gearing. This
point (P) is called the pitch point. It is the instant centre of the
relative motion of the gears. The gear profiles are cut in such a
way as to produce conjugate action using an involute curve.
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In case of external gears ω1 is
in opposite direction as ω2.

In case of internal gears ω1

is in same direction as ω2.

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GEAR TYPES

1. Spur gears and helical gears

are used when the driver
and follower shafts are
parallel to each other.

2. Bevel gears are used when the

shaft axes intersect.

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3. Worm gears and crossed helical
gears are employed when the
shaft axes are nonintersecting
and nonparallel.

When two gears are in mesh,

it is customary to refer to the
smaller as the pinion and the
larger as the gear.

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 SPUR GEAR TERMINOLOGY
Pitch circle: The circle on a gear
that corresponds to the contact
surface of a friction wheel. Thus,
for two gears in contact, the
respective pitch circles can be
imagined to roll on each other in
the same manner as the circles
of two friction wheels in contact.

Addendum circle: The circle circumscribing the gear.

Addendum : The radial distance from the pitch circle to the addendum circle.

Root or dedendum circle: The circle drawn through the bottom of the gear teeth.

Dedendum: The radial distance from the pitch circle to the root circle.
Clearance circle: The largest circle centred at the gear centre that is not penetrated by
the teeth of the mating gear.
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Clearance: The radial distance from the clearance circle to the root circle. Since the
clearance is also equal to the distance between the root of the tooth and the top of the
tooth of the mating gear, it can also be defined as the difference between the
dedendum of one gear and the addendum of the mating gear.

Whole depth: The radial distance between the addendum and dedendum
Circles.
Working depth: The radial distance between the addendum and clearance
circles. The working depth is also equal to the sum of the addendums of the
two meshing gears.
Circular pitch: The circular pitch p is the sum of the tooth width and the tooth
space. It is the arc distance measured along the pitch circle from a point on
one tooth to the corresponding point on the adjacent tooth of the gear.

where d is the diameter of the pitch circle in inches or millimetres and N is

the number of teeth of the gear. The circular pitch is equal to the
circumference of the pitch circle divided by the number of teeth.
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Diametral pitch: The number of teeth of a gear divided by the diameter of
the pitch circle in inches.
where P is the diametral pitch.

A simple relationship between the circular and diametral pitches is

Module: In SI units, the module m is used to express the gear tooth size,
rather than the diametral pitch P. The module is defined as

where d and m have units

of millimetres.
The circular pitch, in millimetres, is :

A pair of meshing gears must have the same circular pitch. Thus, they
must have the same module or the same diametral pitch. Heavy-duty
applications call for gears with a large module. Plastic gears with a
small module are used in the light-duty applications .
Example:
A spur gear, with 32 teeth and a diametral pitch of 4 is rotating at 400 rev/min.
Determine its circular pitch and its pitch-line velocity.

Solution: Since we know the diametral pitch, the circular pitch can be obtained
directly from:

To find the pitch-line velocity (equal to rω), we will first have to find the
pitch diameter of the gear. From :

Converting the angular velocity to radians per second,

Finally, the pitch-line velocity is the product of the pitch-circle radius

and the angular velocity of the gear :

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Backlash
If tooth spaces were exactly equal to tooth thicknesses, it would be extremely difficult
for the gears to mesh. Any inaccuracies in manufacturing would cause the gears to jam.
It is also very often necessary to lubricate gears. For these reasons, space must be
provided between the meshing teeth. This is accomplished by making the tooth
thickness less than the tooth space. The difference between tooth space and tooth
thickness is known as backlash.

It is measured on the pitch circle

and equal to the distance between
the non-driving side of a tooth and
the side of the corresponding tooth
of the meshing gear.

The cutting tool used to manufacture gears can be set further into the gear
blank, thus decreasing the tooth thickness and increasing the tooth space.
Slight variations in backlash can also be obtained by changing the distance
between gear centres.
While some backlash is necessary, too much backlash can result in large
shock loads. Excessive backlash will also result in inaccurate gear motion.
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FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF GEARING

In this equation, the subscript 1 refers

to the driver and the subscript 2 refers
to the follower or driven gear and :

If a pair of spur gears is to mesh and operate properly, the following

characteristics must be common to the two gears:
• circular pitch (mm or in).
• diametral pitch (number of teeth divided by diameter in inches).
• module (diameter in mm divided by number of teeth).
• pressure angle (degrees or radians).
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Example
Two spur gears have a velocity ratio of ¼ . The driven gear has a module of 6 mm,
possesses 96 teeth, and rotates at 500 rev/mm. Determine the number of revolutions
per minute of the driver, the number of teeth of the driver, and the pitch-line velocity.
Solution: The angular velocity (in revolutions per minute) is obtained directly from the
velocity ratio

Or

The number of teeth on the driver also follows directly from the velocity ratio:

Or

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The distance C is called the centre distance and
represents the spacing between the centres of the
shafts upon which the gears are mounted. The
following equation may be used to determine the
centre distance:
For gear 1 as an external gear

d1 and d2 are the diameters of

the pitch circles.

Since d= N/P (inches) and d = mN (mm), we have

Or

For gear 1 as an internal gear

Or

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Pressure line
The line AB is often called the line of
action because the contact points of two
gears in mesh must lie along it. The force
that one gear tooth exerts on the tooth of
the meshing gear acts along the common
normal, which is also line AB. Therefore,
the pressure line is another name
commonly given to line AB.

The Pressure angle φ

Is the angle between the pressure line
AB and the common tangent to the
pitch circles EF.

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Most gears are made with standard pressure angles of 14 °, 20°, or 25°.
It must be emphasized that the actual pressure angle between two
gears in contact may differ from the designated value. Changes in
centre distance c will result in corresponding changes of the actual
pressure angles.

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Two gears, 1 and 2, are shown in mesh. The
pitch radii r1 and r2 , as well as the base-
circle radii rb1 and rb2 , are shown. The base
circles were determined by drawing circles
tangent to the pressure line AB. Therefore,
the radii rb1 and rb2 are perpendicular to the
pressure line at points D and C, respectively.
Considering the right triangles O1PD and
O2PC :

Or

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Example :
Two meshing spur gears with a module of 3 mm, a pressure angle of 20°,
and a velocity ratio of ¼ have their centres 180 mm apart. Determine the
number of teeth on the driver (pinion) and the base-circle radius of the gear.
Solution: From the velocity ratio,

Hence, N1 = 24 teeth and N2 = 96 teeth.

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 Example:
Two 20° gears have a diametral pitch of 4. The pinion has 28 teeth, while the gear has
56 teeth. Determine the centre distance for an actual pressure angle of 20⁰. What is
the actual pressure angle if the centre distance is increased by 0.2 in?
Solution: For the data given, the centre distance is found

The changing the centre distance does not change that base-circle radius but it does
increase the pitch radius, which in turn results in a larger pressure angle.

The new centre distance c’ is 10.5 + 0.2 = 10.7 in.

Or

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 But

Therefore

Since the base-circle radius does not change, we can finally calculate the new
pressure angle

Or

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STANDARD GEARS
Table below lists some of the most commonly used standard gear profile systems.
The standard gear profiles given in the table can be expressed in SI units by
replacing P by 1/m. For example, for a 20° full-depth involute (coarse pitch), the
addendum 1m, the dedendum = 1.25m, and so on.

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INTERFERENCE (EXTERNAL GEARS)
Interference occurs whenever the
addendum circle of a gear intersects the line
of action beyond the interference point,
which is the point where the line of action is
tangent to the base circle of the other gear.
To avoid interference, the size of the
addendum circle diameter must be limited.

C and D are referred to as interference points. The part of

the tooth that would have to be removed in order to
prevent interference is shown shaded. It can be shown
that the maximum radius of the addendum circle of gear 1
and 2 then become:

If the addendum circle-radius exceeds the calculated value, interference will occur.
However, clearance must still be provided for normal operation.
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 Example:
Two standard 20° full-depth gears have a module of 8mm. The larger gear has 30 teeth,
while the pinion has 15 teeth. Will the gear interfere with the pinion?

Solution: We must first calculate the base-circle radius for the gear, rb2, and the centre
distance C in order to calculate the maximum permissible addendum-circle radius

and

Then

And

Therefore

For the 20° full-depth gear: From the table

And the addendum-circle radius is the sum of the pitch radius and the addendum,

Hence there is no interference

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GEAR TOOTH FORCES
The forces and torques acting on spur gears are of vital importance to the designer.
The normal force one gear exerts upon another always lies along the line of action
between them (also known as the pressure line).
Keep in mind that no matter where on
the line of action the two teeth are in
contact, the normal force will always
pass through the pitch point P. At the
pitch point, the normal force can he
resolved into the two components Ft ,
the tangential force, and Fr ,the radial
force. Thus

where φ is the pressure angle

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The direction of the normal force along the pressure line is determined by the
direction of rotation of the driver. Follow the direction of rotation of the driver
along the pressure line to determine the direction of the normal force on the
driven gear. Clearly, the normal force exerted by the driven gear on the driver acts
in the opposite direction.
And the torque that is produced about the centre of a gear is given by

And the Power = T x ω

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Example
For the three gears shown, gear 1, the driver, rotates at 1000 rev/mm clockwise and
delivers 30 kW of power. Gear 1 has a module of 10 mm, a pressure angle of 20°, and 35
teeth, while gear 2 has 45 teeth and gear 3 has 60 teeth.
(a) What is the distance between A and C?
(b) What is the speed ratio between gears 1and 3?
(c) If gear 2 were not in the train, what would be the speed ratio between gears 1 and 3?
On the basis of this answer, what purpose does the idler gear, gear 2,serve?
(d) Draw and completely label the free-body force diagram of each gear.
Solution:

a.

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b. With gear 2:

c. Without gear 2:

Gear 2 does not affect the speed ratio between gears 1 and 3, the purpose in
introducing an idler gear between the driver and driven gears is to permit the driver
and driven gears to have the same direction of rotation.

d.

28
=

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