Introduction to Open Gear Drives

Objective

To provide an overview on “open gear drives”,

their advantages compared to other drive
concepts, technical details of geometry and
different designs.
Further details can be obtained from our follow-
up training material “Inspection of Open Gear
Drives”.

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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Index

ƒ Arrangement of Drive Elements

ƒ Fabrication of Girth Gears
ƒ Girth Gear Profile
ƒ Gear Geometry and Tooth Contact
ƒ Girth Gear Mounting on Kilns and Mills
ƒ Pinion Mounting with Tensioning Elements
ƒ Tiltable Pinion
ƒ Gear Module and Intermeshing

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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Introduction
ƒ Large gear drives have been used in plant engineering for many
decades.
ƒ Usually, single or double-pinion drives are installed in kilns or mills.

ƒ Their main advantage compared to other types of drives, for

example central drives and ring motors, which are more
complicated in design, is the lower investment cost.
ƒ A main disadvantage compared to enclosed gears is the fact that
gear rim and pinion(s) are supported by separate bearings, which
results in difficulties when mounting and aligning the drive
components.

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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Arrangement of Drive Elements
Possible arrangement of drive
elements for ball mills in single
and double-pinion drives

ƒ Single-pinion drive:
up to 4500 KW

ƒ Double-pinion drive:
up to 2 x 3500 KW

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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Fabrication of the Girth Gear

Gear teeth quality of gear rims is 8 to

11, in most cases 9 to 10, and of pinions
7 to 9 in accordance with DIN 3960.
Gear teeth ratio is normally between 6
and 15.
Material of toothed section of gears is
typically made from 34 or 42 CrMo 4 with
approx 220 to 280 HB.
Pinions are made of steel 30 CrNiMo 8,
hardened to approx. 320 HB.
Modern technology also allows the
production of ground pinions made of 17
CrNiMo 6, casehardened to approx. 60
HRC.
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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Girth Gear Profile
The gear drives used in tube mills and
rotary kilns are usually very sturdy in
design and operate at low speeds.
The peripheral speed in mills is normally 6
to 10m/s and in kilns 0.3 to 3 m/s.
The main characteristics are:
ƒ High output torque
ƒ Large center distance
ƒ Medium to large modules
ƒ Tooth width up to approx. 1,200mm,
depending on the drive
Design:
V – shape profile only for castings
T – shape profile for welded girth gears
(nowadays with increased thickness of
bandage instead of additional rips.
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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Gear Geometry and Tooth Traces

Tooth Contact:
Gear drives can be helical
or spur toothed. Helical
gear drives have the
advantage of gradual flank
intermeshing, a higher
contact ratio, softer teeth
contact and lower running
noise. However, they are
more difficult to align.

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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Girth Gear Mounting on Kilns and Mills

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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Girth Gear Mounting on Kilns and Mills

Advantage of bridge/spring plate design:

ƒ Heat shields can be installed between bridge/spring plates and

girth gear to reduce radiation temperature and to avoid
overheating of girth gear.
ƒ Alignment of girth gear after installation is much easier compared
to tangential plate design.
ƒ In case of girth gear reversal: tangential plate pin holes on girth
gear must be re-machined and oversized pins must be installed
(due to wear on old pins and holes)

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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Pinion Mounting with Tensioning Element

Pinions are manufactured as single part with a shaft, e.g.

from a forging blank or as two individual parts. The pinion
then is mounted on the shaft by means of feather keys or
tensioning elements.

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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Gear Drive with Tiltable Pinion

Many efforts were made to solve

the problem of insufficient load
distribution across the face width.
Such designs are based on the
assumption that the pinion has to
adapt to the movements of the
gear rim.
Advantage of tiltable pinions:
ƒ Compensation of alignment
errors
ƒ Optimum load distribution under
any condition
ƒ Very favorable dynamic load
ratios
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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Tiltable Pinion

The pinion is supported by a

universal ball joint and is tiltable
so that it can follow any tilting
movements of the gear rim. The
torque is transmitted by means
of a toothed coupling located
between the pinion and the
shaft.
The unit is equipped with a fluid
grease for long-term lubrication;
re-lubrication is only required
occasionally.

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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Tiltable Pinion – Cost Comparison

ƒ Replacement of standard pinion with tiltable pinion:

approx plus 20 - 30% costs
ƒ Replacement of complete girth gear including tiltable pinion:
approx similar price range
Note: Similar price range is justified with a reduced overall weight.
Due to the improved contact ratio of tiltable pinions, the wide of girth
gear and pinion can be reduced (considering identical load
requirements) - leading to a reduced overall weight of pinion and gear.
Higher machining and manufacturing costs will be compensated by
the reduced material weight savings.
Holcim is recommending tiltable pinions for all mill and kiln girth gear
drives (dimensional limits must be considered).

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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Gear Module and Intermeshing

Modules:
Typical modules for mills are
up to 30mm (25.4 mm) and
for kilns up to 45mm.
The objective is to get an
increased number of teeth
with a lower module without
having to increase the size
of the drive, thus improving
the intermeshing conditions
and the load-carrying
capacity.

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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT
 Tooth Shape Modification
Since recent years more and more larger
case-hardened and ground pinions are
manufactured.
Advantages:
ƒ substantially improved load-carrying
capacity,
ƒ better quality of the ground teeth
ƒ good surface quality
ƒ pinions can be made less wide
resulting in better operational reliability.
Such a pinion design, however,
is only possible when correcting
the flanks in the longitudinal
direction by tip and root relief.

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Holcim Group Support Introduction – Open Gear Drives 12.08.2005/RHT