Reduction Gear

Steam turbine
Why reduction gear?
• Turbine efficiency is high when work at high speed
• Turbine used to run at 6000 rpm
• Ship propeller efficiently perform at low speed (around 100rpm)
• For the efficient operation of both these components we introduce
the reduction gear between them.
Gear ratio
Single reduction gearing :
Mainly used for turbine driven
alternators and pumps.
The limit for single reduction gearing is
about 30: 1 since a 150 mm diameter
pinion would require a 4.5 m diameter
wheel, which is too large.
A typical single reduction gear ratio is
about 22: 1 with turbine speed about
2000 rev/min.
Hunting Tooth arrangement
• If the speed ratio of two meshing gears is to be say 10:1 and the
pinion is to have 25 teeth, the number of teeth in the wheel is not
made exactly 250, since if it is, the same tooth of the pinion wheels
would engage with the same tooth of the wheel at every revolution of
the wheel. If the number is made 251, then it will require 25
revolutions of the wheel before the same pair of teeth engage, thus
ensuring that every tooth of the wheel engages in turn with every
tooth of the pinion. This gives better running and more even wear.
Double reduction
Gearing
For main propulsion the high turbine speeds
needed for high pressure and high efficiency
operation require reductions of over 50 : 1
Double reduction gearing is commonly used
with turbines whose speeds go up to about
7000 rev/min
where large slow running propellers are
used triple reduction gearing would be
employed for turbine speeds of 6000
rev/min or more.
A typical double reduction could be:-turbine
speed 6600 rev/min, propeller speed 100
rev/min, 66 : 1.
Gear ratio
• Rounded off typical speeds would be:
• Triple reduction h.p. 600011 400 rev/min 14001 400 rev/min 4001 80
rev/min
• Double reduction 1.p. 42001700 rev/min 7001 80 rev/min
What type of gear is
used
Double Helical gear
Why Double Helical?
• If a single helical gear drives another, the forces between the teeth
act in a plane which is inclined to the plane of the gears, consequently
there is a transverse component causing rotation, and an axial
component causing end thrust. In order to balance the end thrust,
turbine gears are almost invariably double-helical, i.e. there are two
sets of teeth on each wheel, the helix of one set being of opposite
hand to that of the other. The resultant end thrusts therefore cancel
one another
Pinion and Wheel
 Gear Lubrication
The gears are lubricated from the main oil
supply, the lubricating points being the pinion
and wheel bearings
The pinion and wheel teeth are lubricated by
oil sprayers.
Oil at a pressure of 2.0-2.75 bar is projected
through the sprayers into the mesh of the
teeth,
the tips of the sprayers being situated only
25.0-50.0 mm from the point at which the
teeth mesh.
There may be three or more such sprayers on
each face of a double-helical arrangement, and
on the astern as well as on the ahead side.
The oil is introduced into the gear bearings in
much the same manner as for the turbine
journal bearings
Different
Arrangements
Interleaved, split secondary
means that the right-hand and left-
hand helical teeth faces of the
secondary reduction are placed
sufficiently far apart in the fore-and-
aft direction that the entire primary
reduction can be accommodated
between them.

Interleaved, split primary

is the same in principle, but having
the secondary reduction located
between the right hand and left hand
helical teeth faces of the primary
reduction
Different
Arrangements

Tandem means that the primary and secondary reductions are in two
separate athwartship planes, the secondary reduction being usually, but
not necessarily, aft of the primary reduction.
Articulated means that there is a flexible coupling, and also usually a quill
shaft, between the primary and secondary reductions.
Single tandem means that one primary pinion gears with one primary
wheel.
Dual tandem means that one primary pinion gears with two primary
wheels.
 Different
Arrangement
Compared with the single tandem arrangement, dual
tandem has the outstanding advantage
that for each primary pinion there are two primary gear
contacts instead of one, and two secondary gear contacts
instead of one.
For any given torque therefore, the individual tooth loads
are reduced, and a greater proportion of the total number
of teeth in the pinions and wheels is usefully employed.
This offers the possibility of using a reduced tooth face
width and a smaller tooth pitch, the latter allowing smaller
diameter pinions and wheels to be used for any given
reduction ratio.
A review of modern turbine gears appears to indicate that
the dual tandem arrangement is most favoured, but that
single tandem gears may show an advantage where extra
height between the propeller shaft and the turbine shaft(s)
is dictated by the preferred machinery arrangement.
Epicyclic gearing
• In recent years, epicyclic gearing has been used for some marine
turbines instead of the more orthodox single or double-reduction
double-helical gears. In some cases, part of the reduction gear has
been made epicyclic and part traditional. The main advantage of
epicyclic gearing is that if it is judiciously designed, the reduction gear
unit can be quite compact, resulting in a worthwhile saving in the
space occupied. It is not possible to cover every aspect in a book of
this nature, but it is hoped that the following notes will explain the
principles involved, and illustrate the features of epicyclic gearing.
Pitting
Pitting New gear teeth may have variations in
surface smoothness and hardness, and the high
and hard spots carry most of the initial loading
under cyclic conditions. This local intense cyclic
loading results in sub surface fatigue and fine
fatigue cracks Lubricating oil can enter these cracks
and intense hydraulic pressure, caused by the
closing of the teeth upon re-engagement, can lift
out metal particles from the sur- face of the gear.
The defect is generally more pronounced at or near
the pitch line since this is the region of maximum
load on the gear
Scoring
If the oil film between the teeth breaks down, metal
to metal con- tact between surface asperities can
occur resulting in local fusion or welding. This is
caused by high temperature generated by friction as
the surface asperities move across each other under
high load. As sliding continues the welded metal is
tom apart and the tooth working surface damaged. It
is normally found on the softer of the two gears in
mesh and usually occurs during recession since the
damage is generally found on the dedendum of the
wheel and the addendum of the pinion
Flaking
Flaking Usually confined to
case hardened gears and
could be caused by poor heat
treatment combined with any
condition which stresses the
metal beyond its yield point.
Flakes of hardened metal
break away from the surface
due to the high load.