UNIT-2 Design of Spur Gear

• Terminologies
• Min no of teeth
• Force Analysis
• Beam Strength (Lewis Equations)
• Effective load on Gear Tooth
• Wear Strength of Gear Tooth
• Module calculations based on Beam strength and Wear strength
Spur Gear: Terminologies
 Spur Gear: Terminologies
• Diametral pitch: It is the ratio of number of teeth to the pitch circle diameter in mm.

• Module: It is the ratio of the pitch circle diameter in mm to the number of teeth. It is
usually denoted by m
• The recommended series of modules in Indian Standard are 1, 1.25, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4,
5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 25, 32, 40 and 50.

• Clearance: It is the radial distance from the top of the one tooth to the bottom of
other tooth, in a meshing gear. A circle passing through the top of the meshing gear is
known as clearance circle.

• Total depth: It is the radial distance between the addendum and the dedendum circle
of a gear. It is equal to the sum of the addendum and dedendum.
 Spur Gear: Terminologies
• Working depth: It is radial distance from the addendum circle to the
clearance circle. It is equal to the sum of the addendum of the two meshing
gears

• Tooth thickness: It is the width of the tooth measured along the pitch
circle.

• Tooth space: It is the width of space between the two adjacent teeth
measured along the pitch circle.

• Backlash: It is the difference between the tooth space and the tooth
thickness, as measured on the pitch circle.
Spur Gear: Terminologies
 Spur Gear: Terminologies
• Pitch surface: The surface of the imaginary rolling cylinder (cone,
etc.) that replaces the toothed gear.
• Addendum circle: A circle bounding the ends of the teeth, in a
normal section of the gear.
• Dedendum circle or Root circle: The circle bounding the spaces
between the teeth, in a normal section of the gear.
• Addendum: The radial distance between the pitch circle and the
addendum circle.
• Dedendum: The radial distance between the pitch circle and the root
circle.
• Clearance: The difference between the Dedendum of one gear and the
addendum of the mating gear.
 Spur Gear: Terminologies
• Face of a tooth: That part of the tooth surface lying outside the pitch surface.
• Flank of a tooth: The part of the tooth surface lying inside the pitch surface.
• Top land: The top surface of a gear tooth.
• Bottom land: The bottom surface of the tooth space.
• Circular thickness (tooth thickness): The thickness of the tooth measured on the
pitch circle. It is the length of an arc and not the length of a straight line.
• Tooth space: The space between successive teeth.
• Width of space: The distance between adjacent teeth measured on the pitch circle.
• Backlash: The difference between the tooth thickness of one gear and the tooth
space of the mating gear

• Fillet Radius: The small radius that connects the profile of a tooth to the root
circle.
 Spur Gear: Terminologies
• Pinion: A pinion is the smaller of the two mating gears.
• Gear: A gear is the larger of the two mating gears.

• Velocity Ratio(i): Velocity ratio is the ratio of angular velocity of the

driving gear to the angular velocity of the driven gear. It is also called
the speed ratio.
• Transmission Ratio (i’): The transmission ratio (i’) is the ratio of the
angular speed of the first driving gear to the angular speed of the last
driven gear in a gear train.
 Spur Gear: Terminologies
• Circular
  pitch p: The width of a tooth and a space, measured on the pitch
circle. It is equal to the pitch circumference divided by the number of teeth.
p
• Diametral pitch P: The number of teeth of a gear per unit pitch diameter.
The diametral pitch is hence the number of teeth divided by the pitch
diameter.
P
• The product of the diametral pitch and the circular pitch equals π.
P. p = π
• In metric system, module is used instead of diametral pitch
• Module m: Pitch diameter in mm divided by number of teeth. The pitch
diameter is usually specified in millimeters.
m = D/Z
 Spur Gear: Terminologies
• The centre to centre distance between two gears having Zp and Zg
teeth is given by

• The gear ratio (i) that is, the ratio of the number of teeth on gear to
that on pinion is given by,
Spur Gear: Terminologies
 Law of Gearing
• The fundamental law of gearing states ‘The common normal to the
tooth profile at the point of contact should always pass through a fixed
point, called the pitch point, in order to obtain a constant velocity
ratio’.
• For a pair of gears to transmit constant angular velocity, the tooth
profile of mating gears should be designed in such a way that the
common normal at the point of contact b/w pair of teeth must always
pass through the pitch point
Law of Gearing
STANDARD SYSTEMS OF GEAR TOOTH
• All standard systems prescribe the involute profile for gear tooth. The
reasons are as follows:
• The involute profile satisfies the fundamental law of gearing at any
centre distance.
• All involute gears of a given module and pressure angle are
completely interchangeable.
• The basic rack of an involute profile has straight sides. It is
comparatively easy to machine straight sides.
STANDARD SYSTEMS OF GEAR TOOTH

There are three standard systems for the shape of gear teeth.
• 14.5° full depth involute system
• 20° full depth involute systems
• 20° stub involute system
• As the number of teeth on the gear is increased, the involute outline
becomes straighter and straighter.
• When the number of teeth is infinity or when the pitch circle radius
approaches infinity, the gear becomes a rack with straight-sided teeth. This
rack is called the ‘basic’ rack, which is standardized in each system of
gearing.
STANDARD SYSTEMS OF GEAR TOOTH
STANDARD SYSTEMS OF GEAR TOOTH
STANDARD SYSTEMS OF GEAR TOOTH
 Gear Trains
• A gear train consists of two or more gears transmitting power from the
driving shaft to the driven shaft. The gear trains are classified into the
following categories:
(i) Simple gear train
(ii) Compound gear train
(iii) Reverted gear train
(iv) Epicyclic gear train
 Gear Trains: Simple Gear Train
• A simple gear train is one in which each shaft carries only one gear.
• In this type of train, the velocity ratio is equal to the number of teeth
on the last driven gear to the number of teeth on the first driving gear.
 Gear Trains: Compound Gear Train
• The main drawback of simple gear train is its large overall dimensions and
weight.
• A compound gear train is one in which at least one shaft carries two gears.
 Gear Trains: Reverted Gear Train
• When the number of teeth on various gears in compound gear train are selected in
such a way that the centre distance between gears 1 and 2 is equal to the centre
distance between gears 3 and 4 then the driving and driven shafts can be located
on the same centre line. This type of arrangement is called ‘reverted’ gear train,
m1 (z1 + z2) = m2 (z3 + z4)
Force Analysis In Spur Gears
 Force Analysis In Spur Gears
• In gears, power is transmitted by means of a force exerted by the tooth of
the driving gear on the meshing tooth of the driven gear.
• Figure shows the tooth of the driving pinion exerting a force PN on the tooth
of the driven gear.
• According to the fundamental law of gearing, this resultant force PN always
acts along the pressure line.
• The resultant force PN can be resolved into two components— tangential
component Pt and radial component Pr at the pitch point as shown in Fig.
• The tangential component Pt is a useful load because it determines the
magnitude of the torque and consequently the power, which is transmitted.
• The radial component Pr is a separating force, which is always directed
towards the centre of the gear
Force Analysis In Spur Gears
The above analysis of the gear tooth force is
based on the following assumptions:

• As the point of contact moves, the magnitude of the

resultant force PN changes. This effect is neglected in
the above analysis.

• It is assumed that only one pair of teeth takes the entire

load. At times there are two pairs, which are
simultaneously in contact and share the load. This
aspect is neglected in the analysis.

• The analysis is valid under static conditions, i.e., when

the gears are running at very low velocities. In
practice, there is dynamic force in addition to force
due to power transmission. The effect of this dynamic
force is neglected in the analysis.
 Force Analysis In Spur Gears
• In examples of gear tooth forces, it is always required to find out the
magnitude and direction of two components.
• The directions of two components Pt and Pr are decided by constructing the
free-body diagram as shown in Fig.
 Number of Teeth
• In the design of gears, it is required to decide the number of teeth on
the pinion and gear.
• There is a limiting value of the minimum number of teeth on the
pinion.
• As the number of teeth decreases, a point is reached when there is
interference and the standard tooth profile requires modification.
• The minimum number of teeth to avoid interference is given by
 Number of Teeth
• In practice, giving a slight radius to the tip of tooth can further reduce
the value of Zmin
• Theoretical and practical values of the minimum number of teeth on
the pinion are as follows:
 Number of Teeth
• In a multi-stage gearbox consisting of two or three stages, the velocity
ratio at each stage should not exceed 6 : 1.
• The intermediate speeds, in this case, are arranged in geometric
progression.
• If i’ is the total transmission ratio, i.e., the ratio of angular velocity of
the first driving gear to that of the last driven gear, then the speed
reduction at each stage (i) is obtained in the following way.
 Facewidth
• In the design of gears, it is required to express the face width in terms
of the module.
• In the Lewis equation, it is assumed that the tangential force Pt is
uniformly distributed over the entire face width.
• In practice, the optimum range of the face width is
(8 m) < b < (12 m)
• In the preliminary stages of gear design, the face width is assumed as
ten times of module.
BEAM STRENGTH OF GEAR TOOTH (LEWIS EQUATION)
• Lewis equation is considered as the basic equation in the design of
gears.
• In the Lewis analysis, the gear tooth is treated as a cantilever beam as
shown in Fig.
• The tangential component (Pt ) causes the bending moment about the
base of the tooth.
BEAM STRENGTH OF GEAR TOOTH (LEWIS EQUATION)

• The Lewis equation is based on the following assumptions:

• The effect of the radial component (Pr), which induces compressive
stresses, is neglected.
• It is assumed that the tangential component (Pt) is uniformly
distributed over the face width of the gear. This is possible when the
gears are rigid and accurately machined.
• The effect of stress concentration is neglected.
• It is assumed that at any time, only one pair of teeth is in contact and
takes the total load.
BEAM STRENGTH OF GEAR TOOTH (LEWIS EQUATION)
• It is observed that the cross-section of the tooth
varies from the free end to the fixed end.
• Therefore, a parabola is constructed within the
tooth profile and shown by a dotted line in Fig.
• The advantage of parabolic outline is that it is
a beam of uniform strength. For this beam, the
stress at any cross section is uniform or same.
• The weakest section of the gear tooth is at the
section XX, where the parabola is tangent to
the tooth profile.
BEAM STRENGTH OF GEAR TOOTH (LEWIS EQUATION)
BEAM STRENGTH OF GEAR TOOTH (LEWIS EQUATION)

In this equation, Y is called the Lewis form factor.

BEAM STRENGTH OF GEAR TOOTH (LEWIS EQUATION)

• Equation (a) gives the relationship between the tangential force (Pt)
and the corresponding stress σb
• When the tangential force is increased, the stress also increases.
• When the stress reaches the permissible magnitude of bending
stresses, the corresponding force (Pt) is called the beam strength.
• Therefore, the beam strength (Sb ) is the maximum value of the
tangential force that the tooth can transmit without bending failure.
Replacing (Pt ) by (Sb), Above eqn is modified in the following way:
 BEAM STRENGTH OF GEAR TOOTH (LEWIS EQUATION)

• Above Equation is known as the Lewis Equation.

• In order to avoid the breakage of gear tooth due to bending, the beam strength
should be more than the effective force between the meshing teeth.
Sb ≥ Peff
• In the design of gears, it is required to decide the weaker between the pinion
and gear
Sb = mbσbY
• It is observed that m and b are same for pinion as well as for gear.
• When different materials are used, the product (σbY) decides the weaker
between pinion and gear.
• When the same material is used for the pinion and gear, the pinion is always
weaker than the gear
BEAM STRENGTH OF GEAR TOOTH (LEWIS EQUATION)
 PERMISSIBLE BENDING STRESS
• Earle Buckingham has suggested that the endurance limit stress of
gear tooth is approximately one-third of the ultimate tensile strength of
the material. In this chapter, we will use this approximate value.
Therefore,
 Effective Load on Gear Tooth

• We know that

• The above value of the tangential component, depends upon rated power and rated
speed.
• In practical applications, the torque developed by the source of power varies during
the work cycle. Similarly, the torque required by the driven machine also varies.
• In gear design, the maximum force (due to maximum torque) is the criterion. This
is accounted by means of a service factor.
• The service factor Cs is defined as
 Effective Load on Gear Tooth
• The service factor Cs is defined as

where (Pt ) is the tangential force due to rated torque (Mt ).

 Effective Load on Gear Tooth
• When gears rotate at very low speed, almost at zero velocity, the transmitted load (P t )
can be considered to be the actual force present between two meshing teeth.

• However, in most of the cases, the gears rotate at an appreciable speed and it becomes
necessary to consider the dynamic force resulting from the impact between mating teeth.

• The dynamic force is induced due to the following factors:

(i) inaccuracies of the tooth profile;
(ii) errors in tooth spacing;
(iii) misalignment between bearings;
(iv) elasticity of parts; and
(v) inertia of rotating disks
 Effective Load on Gear Tooth
• There are two methods to account for the dynamic load

• Approximate estimation by the velocity factor in the preliminary stages of

gear design and precise calculation by Buckingham’s equation in the final
stages of gear design.

• It is difficult to calculate the exact magnitude of dynamic load in the

preliminary stages of gear design.

• To overcome this difficulty, a velocity factor Cv developed by Barth is used.

The values of the velocity factor are as follows:
Effective Load on Gear Tooth

Applicable for Preliminary stage of

gear design
 Effective Load on Gear Tooth
• In the final stages of gear design, when gear dimensions are known,
errors specified and the quality of gears determined, the dynamic load is
calculated by equations derived by Earle Buckingham.
Peff= (CsPt+Pd)
where, (Pd) is the dynamic load or additional load due to dynamic
conditions between two meshing teeth.
• The dynamic load6 is given by
 Effective Load on Gear Tooth

• where,
Pd = dynamic load or incremental dynamic load (N)
v = pitch line velocity (m/s)
C = deformation factor (N/mm2)
e = sum of errors between two meshing teeth (mm)
b = face width of tooth (mm)
Pt = tangential force due to rated torque (N)
 Effective Load on Gear Tooth
• The deformation factor C depends upon the modulus of elasticity of
materials for pinion and gear and the form of tooth or pressure angle. It is
given by,

Values of k for various tooth forms are

k = 0.107 (for 14.5° full depth teeth)
k = 0.111 (for 20° full depth teeth)
k = 0.115 (for 20° stub teeth)
 Effective Load on Gear Tooth

• The error e is given by,

e = ep + eg
where, ep = error for pinion eg = error for gear
• The error depends upon the quality of the gear and the method of
manufacture.
• There are twelve different grades from Gr. 1 to Gr. 12 in decreasing
order of precision7.
• The expected error on the gear tooth is considered to be equal to
tolerance. :
 Effective Load on Gear Tooth
• The tolerances for adjacent pitch error (e) are given in Table. These
tolerances are calculated by using the following basic equation
Estimation of Module Based on Beam Strength
• In order to avoid failure of gear tooth due to bending,
Sb > Peff
 Wear Strength of Gear tooth
• The failure of the gear tooth due to pitting occurs when the contact stresses
between two meshing teeth exceed the surface endurance strength of the
material.
• Pitting is a surface fatigue failure, characterized by small pits on the surface of the
gear tooth.
• In order to avoid this type of failure, the proportions of the gear tooth and surface
properties, such as surface hardness, should be selected in such a way that the
wear strength of the gear tooth is more than the effective load between the
meshing teeth.
• The analysis of wear strength was done by Earle Buckingham, in his paper ‘The
relation of load to wear of gear teeth’, which was submitted before the American
Gear Manufacturing Association (AGMA) in 1926.
• Buckingham’s equation gives the wear strength of the gear tooth.
 Wear Strength of Gear tooth
Pt= bQd’p K
• This equation gives a relationship between the tangential force Pt and the
corresponding Load stress factor (K).
• Pitting occurs when the contact stress reaches the magnitude of the surface
endurance strength. The corresponding value of Pt is called wear strength.
• Therefore, the wear strength is the maximum value of the tangential force
that the tooth can transmit without pitting failure.
• Replacing (Pt ) by (Sw), Above equation can be written as,
Sw= bQd’p K
Where Q= ratio factor
K= Load Stress factor
Wear Strength of Gear tooth
Wear Strength of Gear tooth

This equation is applicable

only when both the gears are
made of steel with a 20°
pressure angle.
 Wear Strength of Gear tooth
• In order to avoid failure of gear tooth due to pitting,
Sw > Peff
• Introducing a factor of safety,
Sw = Peff (fs) (a)
• The recommended factor of safety is from 1.5 to 2
 Wear Strength of Gear tooth

We Know

b
C