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The European Rack

Shift Coefficient ··x"
for Americans
Don McViittie
Ge.ar Englinee.rs, Inc .• Sea.ltle. WA

Introduction Basic Rack

The ue of dimensionless factors to describe The definition and equations in this article
gear 'loath geometry seems to have a strong are ba ed on a "basic rack" ill which addendum
appeal 10 gear engineers ..The stress factors I and and dedendum are mea ured from a reference
J, for instance. are well established in AGMA line located where the tooth thieknes and the
literature. The use of the rack shift coefficient space width on the reference line are equal, The
"x" to describe nonstandard gear proportions i . basic rack repre ent the tooth form in the nor-
common in Europe, but is not as commonly used ma] plane of a gear with an infinite number of
in the United States. When it is encountered in teeth .. The normal module of the basic rack is
the Eu ropean literature or in the operating manu- equal to thenormal circular pitch divided by 7t.
als for imported machine tools, it can be a source The normal diametral pitch of the basic rack is
of confusion to the American engineer. equal to 7t divided by the normal circular pitch.
What follows is intended to provide a source The basic rack repre ents the theoretical. gear
for the background and derivations of the "1{" tooth form, not the form of the cutting 11001. No
factor as II edin European standards and pa- allowance i. made for backlash, fini hing stock,
pers. The addendum modification, rack shift, or manufacturing method.
Q
or profile shift factor bas several mathemati- The tandard 20 norma] pres ure angle
cal definitions in the U.S. Most European ba ic rack of ISO S3 is commonly used. This
documents use a specific definition, based on document is va]id for that basic rack and for
a theoretical "zero backlash" gear pair in any other basic rack which meets the criteria
right me h at the nominal center distance. of Fig. I.
(See McVittie, 86 FTM 1 for discussion.) Addendum Modification Factor
The addendum modification factor "x"
(Profitverscniebungsfaktor, "profile shift fac-
tor" in German) represent the distance, in tight
mesh, from the reference line of the basic rack
to the reference circle of the gear (rack shift or
profile sHift) for normal module e 1.0 or normal
diametral pitch = LO.
Sum of X Faetees
The European practice is to define the sum of
Xl + "'2' (Ix) for a theoretical gear pair which
Hg. 1 - Basic rack definition - normal plane.
operates in tight mesh (has. no backlash) on the
34 GEI\.R TECfffllOI.O(lV·
nominal. operating center distance. Table of Symbols
The basic equation can be derived from the
ISO AGMA Definition
basic tooth thickness involute geometry equa- a, C Genter Distance
tions and the requirement. that the sum. of the c Gliearan,ee (ha - hfl
transverse tooth thicknesses at the operating d d Diameter
pitch diameter is equal to the transverse circular IE Tooth Thinning for Backlash
pitch at that diameter .. hal a Addendum
hf Dedendurn
iny Ctwl. + illY ut k Tip Shortening Factor
B Backlash
tan ,un
m m Module
(]) DIN 3992 Eq 9 p p Circular Pi,tch
s t Tooth Thickness
tan un x Addendum Modification Factor
cos p
a III Pressure Angle
(2) DIN 3992 Eq 6 p. 'I' Helix Angle

z 1 +z Table of Subscripts
2
2 Subscript
(nonel At Reference Diameter
(3) DIN 3992 Eq 5
a At Addendum (Tipl Diameter
b At Base Cylinder Diameter
f At Root Diameter
(4) n NormallPllane
o ToollDimensions
X Factor for Each Gear t Transverse Plane
w At Working: Diameter
Th.e values of x for gear and pinion are
Y At Any (Undefilledl D'iameter
chosen somewhat arbitrarily (See Maag. DlN
3992, and lSOrrR 4467 for further information 1 Pinion
on choice ofx factors) according to the operating 2 Gear or iRack
conditions and gear ratio, so that their total is
equal to LX. The theoretical addendum (tip) tion is to be measured must be specified, since
diameters and tooth thicknesses of the two gears there is no recognized convention.
in the gear pair are defined by their X factors, Working Group (WG)2 ofISorrC60 is con-
sidering a draft technical report. DTRI006412,
(5) containing tables which recommend that the
tooth thinning for backlash, called "upper allow-
1t - ance of size", Essn' be a function of the pitch
Sn =(·-+2·oxotanu
2·· .. - -0 )o'm
"
diameter of each part. The values are measured
(6) ISO DTR 1006412 Eq 6 ..4 normal to the helix angle in the reference cylin-
der. The values can be converted as follows:
The actual. addendum. diameters and tooth The transverse circular allowance, Esst' is:
thicknesses ar,e then adjusted (usually reduced)
to control backlash and! tip to root clearance, (7)
Backlash Allowance
A common convention among gear manu- The normal allowance in the base tangent
facturersis to reduce the normal tooth thick- plane, Ebsn' (normal to the tooth surface) is Don IMcVitti,e
is President of Gear En-
ness of each member by the same amount, gineers, tnc., Seattle, WA.
which may be a value in um or a function of ~sn = E SI.· cos ~ • co ilb (8) He is a past president oj
AGMA and Chairman oj
module, such as ..024· mn. This maintains the which can aha be expressed as
the U, S. Technical Advi-
same cutting depth for both members and sory Group for Intefila·
maximizes contact ratio, The direction (nor- (9) tional Gear Standards. He
is a licensed professional
mal, transverse, reference circle, or base tan- engineer in the Stare oj
gent plane) I.D which tile tooth thickness reduc- The resulting transverse circular backlash at Wa,shingIOIi.

JULY/AUGUST 1993 35
 the working diameter is at function of allowance, skiving, or grinding, a more detailed study is
center distance, and tooth accuracy. (See AGMA required to estimate the fim hed root diameter.
2002 for more information.) (See Appendix E, Sec. E60f AGMA 2[8.01 for
Tip Sbortening for Clearance more informatlon.)
When Lx. > 0, the tips of external gear pairs Convention. for Signs
should be shortened to maintain standard tip to For external gear, the value of x i positive
root clearance. The reduction :in clearance is whenthetooth thickne s is increased arid the
often ignored for small value. of Ix, but for value of Ix is positive when the center distance
larger values the addendum hould be shertened i greater than standard.
by k· mo' The same convention can be used for inter-
nal gears jf the sign of the center distance is
k= considered negative. "Long addendum" inter-
aal gears have a negative x. This convention is
+ Zz [inV a"..,l - inv ~
ZI I ( cos '0; )]
--.'
2 . tan ~
----··----1
co I~ cos <Xwt -
common but is not. universal.
Intemal 'Gears
(0) Maag Eq 68 The equations in thi article are arranged for
external gears. With a few exceptions, they can
Tip diameters of intern aJ gear pairs should be be u ed for internal gears if the internal. diam-
checked for clearance and interference with cut- eters, center distance, and number of teeth are
ters and mates by calculation of actual cutting made negative. The convention for signs must
and mating conditions. be checked carefully. One trap i divi ion by a
Actual Root Diameter and. Cleaeance negative value to. calculate all involute func-
The European method doesn't. calculate the tion, which must be positive, h is good pro-
actual root diameter of gear which are thinned. gramming practice to take the absolute value of
for backlash by feeding the cutler to greater the quotient before calculating the angle from
depth. When the actual root diameters are cal- the iavolute function. I.
culated, the addendum diameter required for
standard clearance can be calculated more ac- Appendix - Derivations of Equation 9
curately from Eq .. 11. ~so :: Esst • cos ~ • CD P
. b

Essn '
= --cos P • cos '0;. • cos I~b
Il Po r.t Pbn
The root diameter at maximum tooth thick- cos ... =····p·- co "'b=':"-
t Pbt
ness can be calculated as follows:
Pbn Pbl
cosa =-- cos a =-
n Pn I PI
d(",d.-2.(h-x .• m + Essn .)i02) cos~ (9)
ao 1I 2. tan ~ • cos fi
References:
Equation 12 is ba ed 011. the assumption that.
American Gear Manufacturers As oclatien AGMA
the cutter addendum, hao is measured as shown 908. Geometry Factors/or Determining the Pilling Resis-
ill Fig .. 1 for the basic rack, If the gear i to be tance and Bending SIre/lgth of Spur and Helical Gear
Teeth.
finished in a second operation, as by shaving. DIN 3992. Profilverschiebung bei Stimrddem mil
AUSstnller:;alrnnng.
ISO 53. Cylindrical Gears for General and Heavy
Engineering - Basic Rack.
ISO/DTR 10064/4,. Part 2. Inspection Related to Ra-
dial Composite Deviations, Runout, Tooth Thickness, and
Backlash.
]SOfTR 4467. Addendum ModiJjcariol10/ the Teetb
..- 0/ Cylindrical Gears /01' Speed·Reducing and Speed-
" ...- ........
~r...... '" .... Increasing Gear Pairs.
/ ....
t;a: Diameter <, Lorenz. Gear Curling Tools. 1961.
- lRefer,enCIi Diameter I " Maag. Maag Gear Book. 1990.
i McVittie.Don. "De cribing Nonstandard Gears-c-An
I Alternative to the Rack Shift Coefficient." AGMA 86 fTM
L ALso in Gear Technology, Vol. 5, No. I, January!
Fig. 2 - Addendum modification February, J 988, p, lOff.

36 G.EAR TECHNOLOGY