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Chapter 15: Helical, Bevel, and

Worm Gears
Just stare at the machine. There is
nothing wrong with that. Just live
with it for a while. Watch it the way
you watch a line when shing and
before long, as sure as you live, you'll
get a liFle nibble, a liFle fact asking in
a timid, humble way if you're
interested in it. That's the way the
world keeps on happening. Be
interested in it.

Robert Pirsig,
Zen and the Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance
A combined helical and worm gearset speed
reducer. Source: Courtesy of Boston Gear.

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Helical Gear
Tangent to helical tooth
Pitch cylinder

Element of pitch Helix


cylinder (or angle, s
gear's axis)

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 15.1: Helical gear. (a) Illustration of meshing helical gears; (b) front view; (c) side
view.

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Gear Design Considerations
Gear type Advantages Disadvantages
Spur Inexpensive, simple to design, no thrust load is de- Can generate VLJQLFDQt noise, especially at high
veloped by the gearing, wide variety of manufac- speeds, and are usually restricted to pitch-line ve-
turing options. locities below 20 m/s (4000 ft/min).
Helical Useful for high speed and high power applications, Generate a thrust load on a single face, more expen-
quiet at high speeds. Often used instead of spur sive than spur gears.
gears for high speed applications.
Bevel High efFLHQFy (can be 98% or higher), can transfer Shaft alignment is critical, rolling element bearings
power across nonintersecting shafts. Spiral bevel are therefore often used with bevel gears. This
gears transmit loads evenly and are quieter than limits power transfer for high speed applications
straight bevel. (where a journal bearing is preferable). Can be ex-
pensive.
Worm Compact and cost effective designs for large gear Wear by abrasion is of higher concern than other
ratios. EfFLHQFy can be as high as 90% or as low as gear types, can be expensive. Generate very high
50%, and is lower than for other gear sets. thrust loads. Worm cannot be driven by gear; worm
must drive gear.

Table 15.1: Design considerations for gears.

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Helical Gear Pitches

cn
p
s s

pc pa

(a) (b)

Figure 15.2: Pitches of helical gears. (a) Circular; (b) axial.

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
AGMA Equations for Helical Gears
W t pd K o K s K m K v K b
t =
bw Yh
1
c = pH (Ko Ks Km Kv ) 2

Correction factors are determined as in Chapter 14, except for geometry


factor. This can be approximated from

Yh = Ya Ym

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Helical Gear Geometry Factor
0.70

0.65 500
150
Geometry factor, Ya

0.60
60

0.55
30
0.50

20
0.45 Number of teeth
in mating gear
0.40
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Helix angle, s ()

Figure 15.3: Helical gear geometry factor as a function of helix angle when mating with
a 75-tooth gear. Source: Courtesy of the American Gear Manufacturers Association.

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Correction Factor vs. Helix Angle
1.05
500

Geometry factor modifier, Ym


150

1.00 75

50

0.95 30

20
Number of teeth in mating gear
0.90
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Helix angle, s ()

Figure 15.4: Helical gear geometry correction factor as a function of helix angle. Source:
Courtesy of the American Gear Manufacturers Association.

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Types of Bevel Gears

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Figure 15.5: Types of bevel gears; (a) a straight bevel gear set; (b) a Zerol gear set; (c)
spiral bevel gear set; (d) hypoid bevel gear set. Source: Courtesy of ATI Precision
Gearing.

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Bevel Gear
Pitch apex to back
Crown to back
Pitch apex

Terminology
to crown
n ce ) Crown
a h
d ist widt
e e ne
c on fac r co e Pitch
c
u ter cted Innestan apex
O roje di Dedendum Pinion
(p e
c Face angle
Fa idth angle
w Shaft
angle
Root angle
Pitch
angle
Front Gear
Back angle
angle

Pitch diameter
Outside diameter

Back
cone
angle Back cone
distance

Figure 15.6: Terminology for bevel gears.

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Gear Mounting

(a)

(b)

Figure 15.7: Schematic illustration of the two basic forms of gear mounting. (a) Straddle
mounting, where the gear is located between bearings; (b) overhang mounting. Note
that deep groove rolling element bearings are shown, but often a bearing beFer suited
for thrust load support is required in at least one location.

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Bevel Gear Forces
Straight bevel gears:
Wt T
W = =
cos rave cos

Wa = Wt tan sin
Wr = Wt tan cos

Spiral bevel gears:
Wt
a cos (tan sin sin cos )
W =
Wt
Wr = (tan cos + sin sin )
cos
Figure 15.8: Forces acting on a bevel gear.
where the refers to dierent rotation
directions or spiral direction.

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
AGMA Equations for Bevel Gears

2Tp pd Ko Kv Ks Km Tp E
t = c = Ko Kv Km Ks Kx
bw d p Kx Yb bw d2p Ib

Ko and Kv are dened as for spur gears.


The load distribution factor is:

Kmb + 0.0036b

2
for bw in inches
K m = w
Kmb + 5.6 106 b2w for bw in mm

The crowning factor is, for contact stress:

1.5 for properly crowned teeth
K =
x
2.0 (or larger) for non-crowned teeth
And for bending: q
Kx = 0.211
rc
+ 0.789
Am
0.279
q=
log(sin )
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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Size Factor
Outer transverse module, met Face width, bw, mm

1.6 5 10 20 30 40 50 25 50 75 100 125


1.0
Ks = 1.0 for bw > 114.3 mm (4.5 in.)
1.00
0.9
Ks = 0.4867 + 0.2133/pd

Size factor, Ks
= 0.4867 + 0.008399 met
Size factor, Ks

0.8
0.75
0.7

0.6 0.50 Ks = 0.00492 bw + 0.4375 (bw in mm)


= 0.125 bw + 0.4375 (bw in in.)
0.5 Ks = 0.5 for bw < 12.7 mm (0.5 in.)
Ks = 0.5 for met < 1.6 (pd < 16 in.-1)
0.4 0.25
16 5 2.5 1.25 0.8 0.6 0.5 0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
Outer transverse pitch, pd, in.-1 Face width, bw, in.
(a) (b)

Figure 15.9: Size factor for bevel gears. (a) Size factor for bending stress; (b) size factor
for contact stress or piFing resistance. Source: From AGMA [2010].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Geometry Factor for Contact Stress
(Straight Bevel Gears)
Number of gear teeth

50 60 70 80 90 100
50

45

40
Number of pinion teeth

40

35

30
30

25

20
20

15

10
0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.10 0.11
Geometry factor, Ib

Figure 15.10: Geometry factors for straight bevel gears, with pressure angle =20 and
shaft angle = 90. (a) Geometry factor for contact stress Ib. Source: From AGMA [2010].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Geometry Factor for Bending
(Straight Bevel Gears)
Number of teeth in mate
100
Number of teeth on gear for which geometry factor is desired 13 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 100

90 90

80 80

70 70

60 60

50

40

30

20

10
0.16 0.20 0.24 0.28 0.32 0.36 0.40
Geometry factor, Yb

Figure 15.10: Geometry factors for straight bevel gears, with pressure angle =20 and
shaft angle = 90. (b) geometry factor for bending Yb. Source: From AGMA [2010].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Geometry Factor for Contact Stress
(SpiralBevel Gears) Number of teeth in gear
50 60 70 80 90 100
50

45

40
40
Number of pinion teeth

35

30
30

25

20
20

15

10
0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.14 0.16
Geometry factor, Ib

Figure 15.11: Geometry factors for spiral bevel gears, with pressure angle =20, spiral
angle = 25 and shaft angle = 90. (a) Geometry factor for contact stress Ib. Source: From
AGMA [2010].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Geometry Factor for Bending Stress
(Straight Bevel Gears)
Number of teeth in mate
100
12 20 30 40 50

90
Number of teeth on gear for which

80
geometry factor is desired

70

60

60 80
50
100
40

30

20

10
0.12 0.16 0.20 0.24 0.28 0.32 0.36
Geometry factor, Yb

Figure 15.11: Geometry factors for spiral bevel gears, with pressure angle =20, spiral
angle = 25 and shaft angle = 90. (b) geometry factor for bending Yb. Source: From
AGMA [2010].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Geometry Factor for Contact Stress
(Zerol Bevel Gears)
Number of gear teeth
50 60 70 80 90 100
50

45

40
40
Number of pinion teeth

35

30 30

25

20 20

15

10
0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.10 0.11

Geometry factor, Ib

Figure 15.12: Geometry factors for Zerol bevel gears, with pressure angle =20, spiral
angle = 25 and shaft angle = 90. (a) Geometry factor for contact stress Ib. Source:
From AGMA [2010].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Geometry Factor for Bending Stress
(Zerol Bevel Gears)
Number of teeth in mate
13 15 20 25 30 40 50
100

90

Number of teeth in gear for which


80

geometry factor is desired


70

60

50 60 70 80 90 100

40

30

20

10
0.16 0.20 0.24 0.28 0.32 0.36 0.40

Geometry factor, Yb

Figure 15.12: Geometry factors for Zerol bevel gears, with pressure angle =20, spiral
angle = 25 and shaft angle = 90. (b) geometry factor for bending Yb. Source: From
AGMA [2010].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Design Procedure 15.1: Bevel Gear
Synthesis
This design procedure will assist in the selection of preliminary bevel gear
geometries where the application's load, speed, and desired gear ratios are
known. The discussion will be limited to spiral bevel gears. The approach
is also restricted to 90 shaft angles.
1. An estimate for the required pinion diameter can be obtained from the
pinion torque and gear ratio using Fig. 15.14 for surface piFing and Fig.
15.13 for bending strength. For precision nished gears (which have a
cost penalty), the pinion diameter from piFing resistance can be
multiplied by 0.80. From the two pinion diameter estimates, the larger
value should be selected for further evaluation.
2. The pinion diameter selected in Step 1 is based on using case hardened
steel with a hardness of 55 HRC, and other materials will require a
modication in the pinion diameter. Table 15.2 lists material
modication factors for selected materials. An updated pinion diameter
can be obtained by multiplying the estimate obtained from Step 1 by
the materials factor from Table 15.2.

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Design Procedure 15.1 (continued)
3. Figure 15.15 provides an estimate for the number of teeth that should
be machined into the pinion. Spiral bevel gears can maintain a higher
contact ratio than straight or Zerol bevel gears, so departure from the
recommendation in Fig. 15.15 is not uncommon. Also, note that Fig.
15.15 is for a 35spiral angle, so that a high contact ratio can be
preserved for fewer teeth (see Step 6).

4. The outer transverse diametral pitch, pdo, can be obtained from Eq.
(14.5) as the ratio of the number of teeth in the pinion to the pinion
diameter.

5. The face width of the spiral bevel gear can be obtained from Fig. 15.16
as a function of pinion pitch diameter and gear ratio. The face width
should not exceed 10/pdo, however.

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Design Procedure 15.1 (continued)
6. The spiral angle should be selected based on a face contact ratio of 2.0.
AGMA [2003] recommends higher values for smooth and quiet
operation, or high speed applications. Face contact ratios below 2.0 can
be tolerated for some applications, but this is a reasonable value for
preliminary design synthesis. The face contact ratio is given by
Ao pdo bw tan
Crf =
so that Am

Crf Am
tan =
pdo bw Ao
where\
Ao = outer cone distance (see Fig. 15.6).
Am = mean cone distance
pdo = other transverse diametral pitch
bw = net face width
= mean spiral angle at the pitch surface.
Fundamentals of Machine Elements, 3rd ed.
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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Design Procedure 15.1 (concluded)
7. The most common pressure angle for bevel gears is 20, and is
recommended for initial design synthesis. However, higher or lower
pressure angles can be used. Lower pressure angles increase the contact
ratio, reduce axial and separating forces, and increase the tooth slot
widths. However, lower pressure angles increase the risk of undercut
gear teeth and associated high stress concentrations.


The results from this Design Procedure generally are a reasonable starting
point for gear design. As is usually the case, results from this approach
must be modied slightly to produce a useful result. For example, if Fig.
15.15 suggests 32.2 teeth should be used, clearly one should specify 32 or
33 teeth. Also, it is good practice to use blanks that are of standard size, etc.

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Pinion Diameter vs. Torque
Pinion torque, Nm
1.13 11.3 113 1130 11,300 113,000
100 2500
Ng
Gear ratio =
Np

Pinion pitch diameter, mm


1
Pinion pitch diameter, in

2
10 4 250
10

1 25

0.1 2.5
10 102 103 104 105 106
Pinion torque, lb in

Figure 15.17: Estimated pinion pitch diameter as a function of pinion torque for a
number of gear ratios, and based on piFing resistance. Source: From AGMA [2003].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Materials Factor

Gear Pinion
Material Hardness Material Hardness Material factor
Case hardened steel 58 HRC Case hardened steel 60 HRC 0.85
Case hardened steel 55 HRC Case hardened steel 55 HRC 1.00
Flame hardened steel 50 HRC Case hardened steel 55 HRC 1.05
Flame hardened steel 50 HRC Flame hardened steel 50 HRC 1.05
Oil hardened steel 375-425 HB Oil hardened steel 375-425 HB 1.20
Heat treated steel 210-300 HB Case hardened steel 55 HRC 1.45
Cast iron Case hardened steel 55 HRC 1.95
Cast iron Flame hardened steel 55 HRC 2.00
Cast iron Annealed steel 160-200 HB 2.10
Cast iron Cast iron 3.10

Table 15.2: Material factor for pinion diameter estimate for selected gearset materials.
Source: From AGMA [2003].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Pinion Pitch Diameter vs. Torque
Pinion torque, Nm
1.13 11.3 113 1130 11,300 113,000
100 2500
Ng
Gear ratio =
Np 1

Pinion pitch diameter, mm


2
Pinion pitch diameter, in

4
10 10 250

1 25

0.1 2.5
10 102 103 10 4 105 106
Pinion torque, lb in

Figure 15.18: Estimated pinion pitch diameter as a function of pinion torque for a
number of gear ratios, and based on bending strength. Source: From AGMA [2003].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Number of Teeth vs. Pinion Pitch
Diameter
Pinion pitch diameter dp, mm
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
40
Ng Ng

Approximate number of pinion teeth, Np


Gear ratio = =1
Np Np

30 2
3
4
6
20
10

10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Pinion pitch diameter dp, in.

Figure 15.19: Approximate number of teeth for a spiral bevel gear as a function of
pinion pitch diameter for various gear ratios. Source: From AGMA [2003].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Spiral Bevel Gear Face Width
Pinion pitch diameter dp, mm
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
9 225
10 6 5
Ng
8 Gear ratio = 200
Np
7 4 175

Face width bw, mm


Face width bw, in
6 150
3
5 125

4
2 100
3 75
1
2 50

1 25

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Pinion pitch diameter dp, in.

Figure 15.20: Face width of spiral bevel gears operating at a 90 shaft angle. Source:
From AGMA [2003].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Number of Wormgear Teeth

Pressure angle Minimum number of


, deg wormgear teeth
14.5 40
17.5 27
20 21
22.5 17
25 14
27.5 12
30 10

Table 15.3: Suggested minimum number of wormgear teeth for customary designs.
Source: From ANSI/AGMA [1993].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Worm Gear Contact

Figure 15.21: Illustration of worm contact with a worm gear, showing multiple teeth in
contact.

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Worm Forces
Wsw

Wtw into paper


y

Wag out of paper Wsg Waw


W
Wtw
Waw Wtg
Wsw
z
x

(a) (b)

Figure 15.22: Forces acting on a worm. (a) Side view, showing forces acting on worm
and worm gear. (b) Three-dimensional view of worm, showing worm forces. The worm
gear has been removed for clarity.

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
AGMA Equations for Wormgears
Wt dg Wf dwm
Input power rating: hpi = +
2Z 2 cos

where
C s d 0.8
gm bw Cm Cv English units
Wt = C s d 0.8
gm bw Cm Cv
SI units
75.948

See the text for Cm and Cv. Wf is given by:
Wt
W f =
cos cos n

and

0.150 vt = 0 ft/min

= 0.124 exp 0.074vt0.645 0 < vt 10 ft/min

0.103 exp 0.110vt0.450 + 0.012 10 ft/min < vt

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Materials Factor

Manufacturing Pitch Units for pitch diameter


Process diameter in. mm
Sand casting d 64 mm (2.5 in.) 1000 1000
d 64 mm 1190 476.5 log d 1859 476.5 log d
Static chill cast d 200 mm (8 in.) 1000 1000
or forged d > 200 mm 1412 455.8 log d 2052 455.8 log d
Centrifugally cast d 625 mm (25 in.) 1000 1000
d > 625 mm 1251 179.8 log d 1504 179.8 log d

Table 15.4: Materials factor, Cs, for bronze worm gears with the worm having surface
hardness of 58 HRC. Source: From AGMA [2010a]

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Materials Parameter
Mean gear pitch diameter, d (mm) Center distance, cd (mm)
63.5 127 254 508 720 1016 1524 2286 20 30 40 50 60 70 75
1000 1000
Ce n
St trifu
gall
900 at y
ic
Materials factor, Cs

ch

Materials factor, Cs
ill
c 900
Sa

800 as
to
nd

rf
ca

or
s

g
t

ed
700
800

600

500 700
2.5 5 10 20 30 40 60 90 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Mean gear pitch diameter, d (in.) Center distance, cd (in.)
(a) (b)

Figure 15.23: Materials parameter Cs for bronze worm gears and worm minimum
surface hardness of 58 HRC. (a) Materials factor for center distances cd greater than 76
mm (3 in.); (b) Materials factor for center distances cd less than 76 mm (3 in.). When
using part (b), the value from part (a) should be checked, and the lower value used. See
also Table 15.4. Source: From AGMA [2010a].

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Design Procedure 15.2: Worm Gear
Synthesis
The approach is restricted to coarse pitch cylindrical worm gears operated at
right angles. It is recognized that high power transmission at high speeds
will require ne-pitch teeth. It is assumed that the worm and worm gear
speeds are known, as is the input power.

1. A pressure angle needs to be selected based on the design application.
Higher pressure angles lead to higher tooth strength, but have the
drawback of higher bearing reaction loads and worm bending stress, as
well as resulting in fewer teeth in contact. Lower pressure angles are
beFer suited for high speed and quiet operation. Table 15.3 lists the
customary pressure angles for worm gears.
2. The minimum number of teeth in the worm gear is given in Table 15.3.
More teeth can be selected if the center distance is not a design constraint.
3. The number of teeth in the worm is then obtained from Eq. (15.36).

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Design Procedure 15.2 (continued)
4. The worm pitch diameter usually falls between the following ranges:
c0.875 c0.875
d
dw d English units
3.0 1.6
c0.875 c0.875
d
dw d SI units
2.0 1.07
Where cd is the the center distance between the axes of the worm and
worm gear.
5. The worm gear pitch diameter is calculated as
dg = 2cd dw
6. The axial pitch of the worm gear is
dg
px =
Ng

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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Design Procedure 15.2 (continued)
7. Fig. 15.20 illustrates the required face width of the worm, which is given
as 2 2
dgt dg
bww = 2 a
2 2

A slightly larger face width should be used to allow for manufacturing


and assembly tolerances. However, most worm gears have between two
and three teeth in contact at all times, so using bww = 5px gives a
reasonable face width, allowing an extra axial pitch before and after
contact.
8. If px 0.160 in. ~ (4.06 mm), the worm gear face width can be determined
from 2
bwg = dw
3
9. and if px < 0.160 in. ~ (4.06 mm),

2 2
bwg = 1.125 (do + 2c) (do 4a)
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Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Worm Face Width

dg dgt
-a
2 2

bww

Figure 15.24: Worm face width.

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2014 CRC Press
Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson
Mixer Gears

Speed Torque

Tmax=
20 ft-lbf

Maximum
current

Motor current, A

Figure 15.25: The gears used to transmit Figure 15.26: Torque and speed of motor
power from an electric motor to the as a function of current for the industrial
agitators of a commercial mixer. Source: mixer used in the case study.
Courtesy of Hobart, Inc.

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2014 CRC Press
Schmid, Hamrock and Jacobson

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