Kinematic Analysis of

Gears
Kinematic Analysis of
Gears

Gearing is the most

convenient and most
generally used means of
transmitting mechanical
energy from one rotating
body to another where the
parts to be so connected are
not too far apart.
Example:
The drive mechanism for the paper
feed rollers of a fax machine.
In this application, an electric motor
drives a small gear that drives larger
gears to turn the feed rollers. The
feed rollers then draw the document
into the machine’s scanning device.
In addition to transmitting the motion,
gears are often used to increase or
reduce speed, or change the direction
of motion from one shaft to the other.
 Types of Gears
Spur Gears :
The teeth of the spur gear are parallel to
the axis of rotation.
Spur gears are used to transmit motion
between parallel shafts, which covers the
majority of applications.
Spur gears are used to change the speed
and force of a rotating shaft.
Pinion:smaller of two gears (typically on the
motor) drives a gear on the output shaft.
Gear or Wheel:Larger of the two gears.
How much the speed and force change
depends on the gear ratio. The gear
ratio is the ratio of the number of teeth
on the pair of gears that are meshed.
The first gear in the pair is on the input
shaft. For example, this could be the
gear on the shaft of the motor. The
second gear in the pair is on the output
shaft. This could be the shaft of the
wheel.
The gear ratio is the ratio number of
teeth of the gear on the output axle to
the number of teeth of the gear on the
For example, this picture shows an 8 tooth
spur gear meshed with a 40 tooth spur gear. If
the 8 tooth gear is on the input axle, and the
40 tooth gear is on the output axle, then the
gear ratio for this gear pair is 40 to 8. This can
be simplified to 5 to 1.
What this means is it takes 5
revolutions of the input gear to make 1
revolution of the output gear. This
results in a slowdown of the output gear
by a factor of 5. It also increases the
force of the output gear by a factor of 5.
If the input and output shafts are
reversed, then the gear ratio would be 1
to 5. That means the output shaft would
rotate 5 times faster than the input
shaft, but have 5 times as less force.
Spur gears change the direction of
rotation. If the input shaft rotates
Rack and pinion
A rack is a special case of spur gear
where the teeth of the rack are not
formed around a circle, but laid flat.
Therefore the rack can be perceived
as a spur gear with an infinitely large
diameter.
When a rack mates with a spur gear ,
translating motion is produced.
A rack and pinion is one of the least
expensive methods of converting rotary
motion to linear motion
Internal or Annular Gears
Internal gears have the teeth formed on
the inner surface of a circle.
Helical Gears
Helical gears are similar to the
applications as spur gear.
Here the teeth of a helical gear are
inclined to the axis of rotation.
The angle of inclination is termed as the
helix angle.
This angle provides a more gradual
engagement of the teeth during meshing
and produces impact and noise.
Because of smother action, helical gears
are proffered in high speed applications.
Spur gears are generally
not run at peripheral speed
of more than 10m/s. Helical
gears can be run at speed
exceeding 50m/s when
accurately machined
and balanced.
Herringbone Gear / Double Helical
Gears

The herringbone Gear appears as two

opposite-hand helical gears butted
against each other.
This complex configuration
counterbalances the thrust force of a
helical gear.
Bevel Gear
Bevel gears have teeth formed on a
conical surface and are used to transmit
motion between nonparallel shafts.
Most of their application involve
connecting perpendicular shaft.
However bevel gears can be used in
applications that require shaft angles that
are both higher and smaller than 900.
Miter Gear
Miter gear is a special case of bevel
gear where the gears are of equal size
and the shaft angle is 900.
Worm and Worm Gear
A worm and worm gear is used to
transmit motion between nonparallel and
non-intersecting shafts.
The worm has one tooth that is formed
in a spiral around a pitch cylinder.
This one tooth is also referred to as the
thread because it resembles a screw
thread.
The transmission ratio is a function of
the worm pitch and the worm gear pitch
diameter.
As the worm rotates, its thread pushes
Spur Gear Terminology
Pitch Cylinder: It is an imaginary
friction cylinder which by pure
rolling, transmit the same
motion as that of a pair of
gear.
Pitch surface: The surface
On which teeth are cut to
ensure positive drive is
called pitch surface
Pitch circle: The intersection of pitch
surface with a plane perpendicular to the
axis of rotation is called the pitch circle.
Pitch point: The contact point of two pitch
circle is called the pitch point.
Addendum circle: It is the circle which
bounds the outer the outer end of the teeth.
In other words, it is the diameter of a blank
on which teeth are cut.
Addendum: The radial distance between
the pitch circle and addendum circle is called
the addendum. Generally, this distance is
kept equal to one module in a 20° full depth
involute teeth gear and 0.8 times the module
Dedendum circle: It is a circle which bounds
the bottom of the teeth.
Dedendum: The radial distance between the
pitch circle and the dedendum circle is called
the dedendum. The standard value of
dedendum is 1.25 times module in 200 full
depth teeth gear and that is 0.8 times module
in 20° stubbed teeth gear.
Total depth of teeth: The sum of addendum
and dedendum is called the total depth of the
tooth.
Clearance: The difference between dedendum
and addendum of a mating gear teeth is
commonly referred to as clearance.
Tooth thickness: The chord length measured
along the pitch circle between the two opposite
faces of the same tooth is called tooth
thickness.
Top land: It is the surface of the top of the
tooth.
Bottom land: The surface at the bottom of the
tooth between the adjacent fillets.
Face: Tooth surface between the pitch circle
and the top land is known as face.
Flank: Tooth surface between the pitch circle
and the bottom land is known flank.
Circular pitch: The distance measured along
the pitch circle from a point on one tooth to the
 πd1 πd 2
p= =
Z1 Z2

Where d1, d2 = pitch circle diameters of

pinion and gear respectively
And Z1, Z2 = number of teeth on the
pinion and gear respectively
Module: The ratio of the pitch circle
diameter to the number of teeth is called
module and is denoted
d
by m.
1
m=
Z1
Diametral pitch: The ratio of number of teeth
in the pitch circle diameter is called the pitch. It
is reciprocal of the module.
Z1 1
DP = =
d1 m

Gear Ratio: It is the ratio of number of teeth

on the gear to that on the pinion.
Z2
G=
Z1

Velocity ratio: It is the ratio of the angular

velocity of the driven gear to the angular
velocity of the driving
ω2 N 2 pinion.
d1 Z1 1
VR = = = = =
ω1 N1 d2 Z2 G
 Law of Gearing
In a gear drive, the action of tooth profile is to
transmit motion at constant angular velocity ratio
for which the gears must satisfy the fundamental
law of gearing.
Accordingly, the common normal at the point
of action between two teeth must always pass
through a point, called pitch point, in such a way
that it divides the line joining the centres of two
matting gears in the inverse ratio of angular
velocities.
Consider two rigid bodies 1 and 2 representing a
portion of two gears in mesh rotating about fixed
centres O1 and O2. The point A on the rigid body 1
is in contact with a point B on the rigid body 2. Let
X - X and Y - Y represent common tangent and
Let ω1 = angular velocity of the rigid
bodyω2 1
= angular velocity of the rigid
body 2
At a given instant, the point A on the rigid body
1 is moving in the direction perpendicular to
ω1
O1A with a velocity Va = . O1A . At the same
time, the point B body 2 is moving in the
direction perpendicularωto
2 O2B with a velocity Vb
= .O2B
If the two rigid bodies are always to remain in
contact, their relative velocities at any instant
along the common normal must be zero, i.e.
the componentVaofcosVaα =and Vb βalong common
Vb cos
normal must beωequal.
O A cos α = ω O B cos β
1 1 2 2
 O1C O2 D
ω1 x O1A x = ω2 x O 2 B x
O1A O2 B
ω1 x O1C = ω2 x O2 D
ω1 O2 D
=
ω2 O1C
Let P is a point of intersection of line joining the
centres of rigid bodies and common normal.
Therefore, from similar triangles O1PC and O2DP
O 2D O 2P
=
O1C O1P
Equating the two equations, we get:
ω1 O 2P
=
ω2 O1P

Thus for a constant angular velocity ratio

of a gear pair in mesh the normal at the
point contact divides the line joining the
center of rotation in the inverse ratio of
the angular velocities. Thus the dividing
point P is called pitch point. This is the
fundamental law of gearing which
must be satisfied by the profiles adopted
for the teeth of gear in mesh. Since all
points of contact lie on the common
The gear tooth action is shown in Figure in
the next slide in which a line AB, which is
normal to the line joining the centers of
mating gear, meet at the pitch point P and
another line CD, which is tangent to the
base circle of gear and pinion, also passes
through the pitch point and is normal to
teeth in action. The angle betweenα the lines
AB and CD is called the pressure angle
( ) and the normal force that one tooth
exerts on the other passes through the
pressure line. The pressureαline in a gear
pair can be located by rotating line AB
through the pressure angle in the
direction opposite to the direction of
 VELOCITY OF SLIDING
The relative velocity of points A and B
along the common tangent is known as
velocity of sliding. In other words, it
represents the sliding velocity of the
surface of rigid body 2 relative to the
surface of rigid body 1 at the point of
contact. Velocity
Vs = V sin β - of sin
V sliding:
α
b a

Vs = ω2 x O 2 B x sin β - ω1 x O1A x sin α

BD AC
Vs = ω2 x O 2 B x - ω1 x O1A x
O2 B O1A
Vs =ω2 x BD - ω1 x AC
Vs =ω2 x ( BP +PD) - ω1 x ( PC - AP)
( 1+ω
Vs =ω 2 ) x AP +ω x PD - ω 1x PC
2

ω1 O 2P
We know that =
ω2 O1P
From the similar ∆O1CP and ∆O 2DP
O 2P DP
=
O1P CP
Therefore ω2 x PD =ω1 x CP
Thus velocity of sliding: Vs =ω ( 1+ω 2 ) x A P
The maximum velocity of sliding occurs at the
first or last point of contact.
FORMS OF GEAR TEETH
When two gears teeth are in mesh, the profile
of anyone tooth can be chosen of arbitrary
shape and the profile for the other may be
determined to satisfy the law of gearing. Such
gear teeth are called conjugate teeth.
Although gears with conjugate teeth transmit
the desire motion, they require special cutter
which obviously increase the difficulty in
manufacturing. Therefore, conjugate teeth are
not in normal use. Usually, the following
geometrical curves which satisfy the law of
Involute Profile:
An involute is the locus of a point on a straight
line which rolls on the circumference of a circle
without slippage. In other words, a point on a
taut rope, when unwound from a cylinder,
would trace an involute curve. To illustrate,
consider a cylinder around which a cord abc,
which held tightly, is wrapped (as shown in
Figure) The point e on the cord represents
tracing point. When the cord is unwrapped
about the cylinder, the point e will trace out
the involute curve
d e f. The radius of curvature of the involute is
zero at point d and maximum at point f. The
radius of curvature at point e is equal to the
The involute profile has the following
properties:
The shape of the involute profile
is dependent only on the dimension
of the base circle.
If one involute rotates at a uniform
rate of motion and is in contact with
another, it will transmit a uniform
angular motion to the second irrespective of the centre
distance between the two corresponding base circles.
Angular velocity ratio of involute profile teeth is not
sensitive to centre distance of their base circles.
When two involutes are in mesh, the angular velocity
ratio is inversely proportional to the size of the base
circles.
The pressure angle of two involutes in mesh is
Cycloidal Profile:
A cycloid is the locus of a point on the
circumference of a circle which rolls without
slipping on a fixed straight line. It has two
variants - epicycloid and hypocycloid. An
epicycloid is the locus of a point on the
circumference of a circle, which rolls without
slipping on outside circumference of another
circle of finite radius. Similarly, a hypocycloid is
a locus of a point on the circumference of circle
which rolls without slipping on inside
circumference of another
circle.
In a gear having cycloidal teeth, the face of·
 ARC OF CONTACT
When two gears start transmitting motion, the
initial contact occurs at a point where the flank
of the driving gear (pinion) tooth comes in
contact with the face tip of the driven gear tooth
and the contact ends when the face tip of the
pinion tooth comes in contact with the flank of
the driven gear tooth. In other words, the
contact between the two gears starts when the
addendum circle of the driven gear cuts the
normal pressure line at point E and ends when
the addendum circle of the pinion cuts the
normal pressure line at point F. (shown in Figure)
The distance between these two points, EF is
called path of contact or length of contact.
Usually, the path of contact is divided into two
Path of approach. A portion of path of contact
from the beginning of engagement to pitch
point. i.e., the length EP, is called path of
approach
Path of recess. The portion of path of contact
from pitch point to the end of engagement,
i.e., the length PF, is called path of recess.
Let rl = pitch circle radius of the pinion
r2 = pitch circle radius of the gear
  ra1 = addendum circle rarius of the pinion
αra2 = addendum circle radius of the gear
and = pressure angle,
Path of contact = Path of approach + Path of
or EF = EP + PF
Path of approach EP = ED – PD
2 2
EP = O 2 E - O2 D - PD
2 2 2
EP = ra2 - r2 cos α - r2 sin α
The maximum possible length of path of
approach is: r1 sin α
CP =
Similarly the path of recess
2 is2 PF = FC – PC
PF = O1F - O1C - PC
2 2 2
PF = r a1 - r cos α - r1 sin α
1

r2 sin of
The maximum possible length α path of recesss
Therefore, the path of contact:
EF = ra2 - ra2 cos2 α + ra1 - ra1 cos2 α - ( r1 + r2 ) sin α
2 2 2 2

The maximum length of path of contact occurs

when point E lies at point C and point F lies at
CD = ( r1 + r2 ) sin α
point D. Thus
The arc of contact is the distance travelled by a
point on either pitch circle of gear or a pinion
during the period of contact of a pair of teeth.
The contact on pitch circle of gear begins at
point G and ends at point H. Similarly, on the
pitch circle of pinion, the contact is between K
and L. Therefore, the arc of contact is:
arc GH = arc KL
But we know from the geometry of the involute curve:
path of contact
arc of contact, GH =
cos α
EF
=
cos α
Since the arc of contact is defined as the length of the
pitch circle during the mating of teeth, the number of
teeth lying in between the arc of contact GH will be
meshing with the teeth on the pinion. Therefore
arc GH
Number of teeth in contact =
Circular pitch
EF
=
p cos α
EF 1
or Number of teeth in contact = x
cos α πm
Number of teeth in contact at any instant is
called contact ratio. For continuous
transmission of power, atleast one pair of teeth
should always remain in contact. Generally
gears are designed for contact ratio from 1 to
1.6. :

Problem: A pair of gears having 200 Involute

teeth is required to transmit motion at a
velocity ratio of 1:4. If the module of both
pinion and gear is 5 mm and centre distance is
250 mm. determine the number of teeth and
base circle radius of pinion and gear.
Problem: A pair of spur gear having 20 and 40
teeth are in mesh. The pinion being driving
element rotates at 2000 rpm. Find the sliding
velocity between the teeth faces (i) at the
point of engagement (ii) at the pitch point and
(iii) at the point of disengagement. Assume
that gear teeth are of 20° involute form.
Addendum is 5 mm and module is 5 mm. Find
also the angle through which pinion turns while
one pair of teeth are in contact.
Problem: The following data refer to a pair of
spur gear in mesh having 200 involute
profile teeth:
Number of teeth on pinion : 24
Number of teeth on pinion : 48
Speed of pinion : 300 rpm
Module : 6 mm
If the addendum on each gear is such that the
path of approach and path of recess are
half of their maximum possible values find:
(i) The addendum on gear and pinion
(ii) The length of arc of contact
(iii) The maximum velocity of sliding of gears
 INTERFERENCE
When a pair of gear transmits power, the normal
force is passed through common normal to the
two involutes at the point of contact. which is
also a tangent to the base circles of mating gear
pair. If, by any reason, any of the two surfaces is
not involute, the two surfaces would not touch
each other tangentially and transmission of
power would not be proper. The mating of gear
teeth will violate the fundamental law of gearing
and this action is called interference. To
illustrate. let us consider a pair of gear and
pinion in mesh as shown in Figure, in which the
path of contact is EF. If, now, the radius of
addendum circle of the gear is increased, the
point of engagement E shifts along PC towards
The limiting position of point E is the point C.
Any further increase in the value of addendum
circle radius will shift the point of contact E
inside the base circle of the pinion. Since there is
no involute profile below the base circle of the
pinion, it will form a non-conjugate contact and
resulting phenomenon is called interference. In
other words, the condition of interference arises
when contact between teeth occurs outside the
points C and D, i.e. when path of contact EF
greater than distance CD.
The condition of interference with revised
addendum circles marked with dashed line and
path of contact E'F' greater than distance CD is
shown in Figure. The phenomenon interference
can be avoided by employing some preventive
Undercutting: When gear teeth are
manufactured by a generating process, a
portion of tooth flank which causes
interference is cut away by the cutting tools.
Thus there will be no conjugate action between
teeth. However, by undercutting, the actual
ratio of contact decreases which causes more
noisy and rough gear action. Secondly, it also
reduces the thickness of tooth which ultimately
reduces the beam strength of tooth.  
Stubbed tooth. When a portion of a tooth near
the top is cut away, such a tooth is called
stubbed tooth. Such a measure prevents
interference but it reduces the contact ratio.
 
Number of teeth. Interference in a gear pair
can be avoided by increasing number of teeth
on the gears. This makes the gear larger in
diameter and also increases the pitch line
velocity. This increased pitch line velocity
makes noise gear action and also reduces the
power transmission to some extent.
Pressure angle. Increasing the pressure angle
decreases the base circle diameter of the gear.
which means that it increases the involute
portion of the tooth profile and hence
eliminates the chances of interference. This
also demands for smaller number of teeth on
gear. However, it will increase the radial force
component which may try to dislodge the gear.
Backlash: The backlash ‘B’ is the
amount that the width of a tooth space
exceeds the thickness of a gear tooth,
measured on the pitch circle. i.e., it is the
amount that a gear can turn without
mating gear turning. Although backlash
may seem undesirable, some backlash is
necessary to provide for lubrication on
the gear teeth.
 Force Analysis of a Spur Gear
A gear drive is generally specified by
power to be transmitted, the speed of
the driving shaft and the velocity ratio.
The power is transmitted by means of a
force exerted by the tooth of driving gear
on the mating driven gear. According to
the law of gearing, this force ‘Fn’ is
always normal to the tooth surface and
acts along the pressure angle line. This
normal force is designated by two
subscripts, for example F12 which means
the force exerted by gear 1 against gear
In the above Figure (a) a pair of spur gear in
mesh mounted on respective shafts. The
driving gear 2 is mounted on shaft 1 and
rotates in the clockwise direction. The driven
gear 3 is mounted on shaft 4. The free body
diagram of the forces acting upon two gears
along the pressure line is shown in Figure (b).
The driving gear 2 exerts a force F23 on the
driven gear 3. Similarly, the driving gear
experiences a reaction force F32 .
The normal force Fn (or F23 ), as shown in Figure
acting along the pressure line can be resolved
into two components-the tangential force Ft
and radial force Fr Thus
Ft = Fn cos α
Fr = Fn sin α = Ft tan α
α
Where is the pressure angle.
The tangential component of force Ft IS mainly
responsible for transmitting torque and
consequently the power. The radial force Fr is
called the separating force, which always acts
towards the centre of the gear.
Problem: A layout of gear train having three
spur gears is shown in the Figure. Gear A
receives 3 kW power at 720 rpm through its
shaft and rotates in clockwise direction. Gear B
is idler and gear C is driven gear. If number of
teeth on gears A, B and C are 20, 50 and 30
respectively. determine the component of gear
tooth forces. Module is 5 mm.
 GEAR TRAINS
A gear train is a mechanism which transmits
power or motion from one shaft to another by
means of combination of gears.
The gear train enables to either step-up or
step-down the speed of prime mover and to
obtain different range of speeds as per
requirement of driven machine. For example,
in lathe machine, different materials are cut
economically at different cutting speeds. These
speeds can be obtained by a suitable gear
train. Gear trains are widely used in
mechanical clocks, automotive vehicles,
turbine generator sets, machine tools etc.
 In gear train terminology, a term called
train value is quite often used to designate the
characteristics of a gear train. It is defined as a
ratio of speed of driven gear to that of driving
gear. In other words, it is reciprocal of speed
ratio (SR). That is
Speed of driven gear
T=
Train value: Speed of driving gear

Gear trains, depending upon the functional

requirement of an application, are classified in
the following three categories:
Simple gear train
Compound gear train
 SIMPLE GEAR TRAIN
In a simple gear train, a series of gears are
mounted on individual shafts to receive and
transmit motion (Figure a). In a gear train, the
sense of rotation depends upon the direction of
rotation of driving gear. For example, in a
simple gear train, if the direction of rotation of
driving gear is clockwise and it is designated as
positive direction, then the direction of mating
gear, which is naturally anticlockwise, is
termed as negative direction. In other words,
all odd number of gears rotate in one direction
and even number of gears rotate in other
direction.
 
Figure a shows a simple gear train consisting
of four gears each having Z1, Z2, Z3 and Z4
number of teeth and N1, N2, N3 and N4 rpm
respectively. Suppose gear 1 is mounted on
driving shaft rotating in clockwise direction and
gear 4 is mounted on driven shaft, which
should rotate in anticlockwise direction.
For gear pan 1-2, the pitch line velocity:
πd1 N1 = πd 2 N 2
N2 d1 Z1
Train Value: T1-2 = = =
N1 d2 Z2

Similarly. for pair 2-3 and 3-4, the train values

are: N3 Z2 N4 Z3
T2-3 = = and T3-4 = =
N2 Z3 N3 Z4

The train value of complete gear train can be

found by multiplying the train values of
T = T1-2 × T2-3 × T3-4
individual pair as follows:
N2 N3 N4 N4 Z1 Z2 Z3 Z1
= × × = = × × =
N1 N2 N3 N1 Z2 Z3 Z4 Z4
 N4 Z1
Train Value =T = =
N1 Z4
N1 Z4
Speed ratio =SR = =
N4 Z1

we observed that the intermediate gears

2 and 3 have no effect on the train value.
Therefore, these gears are called idler
gears. Idler gears are used for changing
the direction of rotation of the driven
shaft.
 COMPOUND GEAR TRAIN
In a compound gear train, a series of gears are
connected in such a way that intermediate
shaft carries two gears which are fastened
together rigidly. Such a gear train is called
compound gear train. Figure b shows a
compound gear tram constituted of four gears
in which gears 2 and 3 are compounded on the
intermediate shaft.
For a gear pair 1-2 the train value:
N2 Z1
T1-2 = =
N1 Z2

Similarly for gear pair 3-4 the train value:

N4 Z3
T3-4 = =
N3 Z4
Multiplying the above two equations, we get
the train value of the compound gear train as:
N2 N4 Z1 Z3
T= × = ×
N1 N3 Z2 Z4

As gears 2 and 3 are compound gears and

mounted on the same shaft, their speed will be
equal i.e. N2 = N3 . The train value of
 N4 Z1 Z 3
T= = ×
N1 Z2 Z4
In other words, the train value of a compound gear
train is the quotient of the product of teeth on the
driver gears to that of the product of teeth on the
driven gears, of each pair in mesh.
Product of number of teeth on driving gears
T=
Product of number of teeth on driven gears
 Reverted Gear Train
It is a special type of compound gear-
train in which the axes of the driving and
driven gear shaft coincide. Figure c
shows a riverted gear train in which the
driving shaft gear 1 drives gear 2
mounted on the intermediate shaft.
Gears 2 compound gears. Gear 3 drives
gear 4 which is mounted on the driven
shaft coinciding with the axis of the
driving shaft. These types of gear trains
are most widely used in me clocks and
back gear assembly of lathe machine.
 3
2

4
1
 EPICYCLIC GEAR TRAIN
In the types of gear train discussed so far, the axes
of the gears remain fixed and there is no relative
motion between the axes. In epicyclic gear train,
there exists a relative motion between two axes of
the gears constituting the train. An epicyclic gear
train usually consists of three elements--driving
gear, driven gear and an arm which is pivoted
about a fixed centre as shown in Figure ‘d’. In this
gear train, if the arm A is held fixed, the driving gear
1 and driven gear 2 constitute a simple gear train.
However, if gear 2 is held fixed, the arm A can
revolve about the centre of gear 2 and gear 1 rolls
around the pitch circle circumference of the
stationary gear 2. In such a gear train, the driving
gear 1 rolls around the driven gear 2 and traces an
epicyclic path; hence it is called epicyclic gear
In some gear trains, the fixed gear may be
internal gear and pinion which rolls inside of
internal gear traces hypocycloid. However, it
has become customary to call even these
Tabulation Method
In tabulation method, the complex motion of
the gear train is splitted into qifferent motions
of individual' gear pair and their train value or
speed ratio is written in tabular form. Finally
these splitted motion segments are added as
per their connectivity. A detailed stepwise
procedure is seminaries as follows (Figure ‘d’):
Step-1: Assume that the arm is locked and all
other gears are free to rotate.
Step-2: Mark any gear (say gear 2) as
reference gear and rotate it through one
revolution in the clockwise direction which is
designated as positive direction.
Step-3: Calculate the number of revolutions
made by all the gears and record them in
Table. This can be calculated by known values
of number of teeth.
Step-4: Multiply each train value by x,
assuming that reference gear rotates at x rpm.
Write down the corresponding number of
revolutions of all the gears in second row of the
Table .
Step-5: Now it is assumed that arm is unlocked
and allowed to rotate in clockwise direction by
y rpm. Thus add y to all the elements of
second row and write down in the third row.
Step-6: Apply the given boundary conditions
and find the values of x and y. For example, if
 Number of revolution
Operation Arm Gear 2 Gear 1
‘A’ ‘Z2’ ‘Z1’
1. Arm A is 0 +1 Z
− 2
locked. Z1
Gear 2 is given
one turn in
clockwise
direction.
2. Multiply by 0 x Z2
− ×x
‘x’ Z1
3. Unlock arm y x+y Z
y- 2 × x
and rotate it by Z1
y turns. Add
‘y’.
 x+y=0
And y = 1
Solving Eqs. we get x = -1 and y = 1
Therefore, the revolution of gear 1 for one
revolution of arm A and gear 2 being fixed, is.

Z2
N 1 =y - × x
Z1
Z2
N 1 =1 +
Z1
Problem: An epicyclic gear train arrangement is
shown in Figure below. Gear E is a fixed gear
and gears C and D are compounded and
mounted on one shaft. If arm A makes 60 rpm in
counterclockwise direction, determine the speed
and direction of rotation of gears Band F. The
number of teeth on different gears are as given
below:
Zb = 25, Zc = 15, Zd = 50, Ze = 20 and Zf = 30.
Problem: In an epicyclic gear train as shown in
Figure below, the arm A is fixed to the shaft S.
The gear B having 80 teeth rotates freely on the
shaft S and gear D with 120 teeth is separately
driven. If the arm A runs at 100 rpm and gear D
at 50 rpm in same direction, find the speed of
gear B.