MODULE 3 (SPUR GEARS)

Gears
➔ are machine elements that transmit motion by means of successively engaging teeth.

SPUR GEARS
Spur Gears have toothed elements that are straight and parallel to the shaft axis and they are used to transmit motion and power without slippage
between parallel shafts.

Gear Teeth Nomenclature:

Gear Terms and Definitions:

1. Addendum ➔ height of tooth above pitch circle or the distance between the pitch circle and the top of the tooth.

2. Addendum Circle ( or Outside Circle) ➔ the circle that bounds the outer ends of the teeth.

3. Arc of Action ➔ arc of the pitch circle through which a tooth travels from the first point of contact with the mating tooth to the point where the contact
ceases.

4. Arc of Approach ➔ arc of the circle through which a tooth travels from the point of contact with the mating tooth to the pitch point.
5. Arc of Recess ➔ arc of the pitch circle through which a tooth travels from its contact with the mating tooth at the pitch point to the point where the
contact ceases.

6. Axial Plane ➔ in a pair of gears it is the plane that contains the two axes, in a single gear, it may be any plane containing the axis and the given point.

7. Backlash ➔ the amount by which the width of a tooth space exceeds the thickness of the engaging tooth on the pitch circles.

8. Base Circle ➔ the circle from which an involute tooth is generated or developed.

9. Base Helix Angle ➔ the angle, at the base cylinder if an involute gear, that the tooth makes with the gear axis.

10. Base Pitch ➔ in an involute gear it is the pitch on the base circle or along the line of action.

11. Normal Base Pitch ➔ is the base pitch in the normal plane.

12. Axial Base Pitch ➔ is the base pitch in the axial plane.

13. Center Distance ➔ the distance between the parallel axes of spur gears and parallel helical gears, or between the crossed axes of helical gears
and worm gears. Also it is the distance between the centers of the pitch circles.

14. Central Plane ➔ in a worm gear this is the plane perpendicular to the gear axis and contains the common perpendicular of the gear and the worm
axes.

15. Chordal Addendum ➔ the height from the top of the tooth to the chord subtending the circular-thickness arc.

16. Chordal Thickness ➔ length of the chord subtended by the circular thickness arc (the dimension obtained when a gear tooth caliper is used to
measure the thickness at the pitch circle.

17. Circular Pitch ➔ length of the arc of the pitch circle between the centers or other corresponding points of adjacent teeth.

18. Normal Circular Pitch ➔ is the circular pitch in the normal plane.

19. Circular Thickness ➔ the length of the arc between the two sides of a gear tooth, on the pitch circles unless otherwise specified.

20. Normal Circular Thickness ➔ is the circular thickness in the normal plane.

21. Clearance ➔ the amount by which the dedendum exceeds the addendum of the mating tooth. It is also the radial distance between the top of a
tooth and the bottoms of the mating tooth space.
➔ the dedendum minus the mating addendum.

22. Central Diameter ➔ the smallest diameter on a gear tooth with which the mating gear makes contact.

23. Contact Ratio ➔ the ratio of the arc of action to the circular pitch. It is sometimes thought of as the average number of teeth in contact. For involute
gears, the contact ratio is obtain most directly as the ratio of the length of action to the base pitch.

24. Cycloid ➔ the curved formed by the path of a point on a circle as it rolls along a straight line. When this circle rolls along the outer side of another
circle, the curve is called an Epicycloid; When it rolls along the inner side of another circle it is called a Hypocycloid.

25. Dedendum ➔ the depth of tooth space below the pitch circle or the radial dimension between the pitch circle and the bottoms of the tooth space.

26. Diametral Pitch ➔ the ratio of the number of teeth to the number of millimeters of pitch diameter.

27. Normal Diametral Pitch ➔ is the diametral pitch as calculated in the normal plane and is equal to the diametral pitch divided by the cosine of helix
angle.

28. Effective Face Width ➔ that portion of the face width that actually comes into contact with mating teeth, as occasionally one member of a pair of
gears may have a greater face width than the other.

29. Efficiency ➔ the actual torque ratio of a gear set divided by its gear ratio.

30. External Gear ➔ a gear with teeth on the outer cylindrical surface.

31. Face of Tooth ➔ that surface of the tooth which is between the pitch circle to the top of the tooth.

32. Face Width ➔ the length of the teeth in axial plane.

33. Fillet Curve ➔ the concave portion of the tooth profile where it joins the bottom of the tooth space. The approximate radius of this curve is called
the fillet radius.

34. Flank of Tooth ➔ that surface which is between the pitch circle and the bottom land. The flank includes the fillet.

35. Helical Overlap ➔ the effective face width of a helical gear divided by the gear axial pitch; also called the Face Overlap.

36. Helix Angle ➔ the angle that a helical gear tooth makes the gear axis.

37. Highest Point of Single Tooth Contact ➔ the largest diameter on a spur gear at which a single tooth is in contact with the mating gear.

38. Internal Diameter ➔ the diameter of a circle coinciding with the tops of the teeth on an internal gear.
39. Internal Gear ➔ a gear with teeth on the inner cylindrical surface.

40. Involute ➔ the curved formed by the path of a point on a straight line, called the generatrix, as it rolls along a convex base curve. This curve is
generally used as the profile of gear teeth.

41. Land ➔ the top land is the top surface of the tooth, and Bottom land is the surface of the gear between the fillets of adjacent teeth.

42. Lead ➔ the distance a helical gear or worm would thread along its axis one revolution of it were free to move axially.

43. Length of Action ➔ the distance on an involute line of action through which the point of contact moves during the action of the tooth profile.

44. Line of Action ➔ the path of contact in involute gears. It is the straight line passign through the pitch point and the tangent to the base circles.

45. Lowest Point of Single Tooth Contact ➔ the smallest diameter on a spur gear at which a single tooth of one gear is in contact with its mating
gear.

46. Module ➔ the ratio of pitch diameter in millimeter to the number of teeth. English module is the ratio of the pitch diameter in inches to the number
of teeth.

47. Normal Plane ➔ a plane normal to the tooth surface at a point of contact, and perpendicular to the pitch plane.

48. Outside Diameter ➔ the diameter of the outside circle.

49. Pitch ➔ the distance between similar, equally spaced tooth surfaces, in a given direction and along a given curve or line.

50. Pitch Circle ➔ a circle the radius of which is equal to the distance from the gear axis to the pitch point.

51. Pitch Diameter ➔ the diameter of the pitch circle.

52. Pitch Plane ➔ in a pair of gears it is the plane perpendicular to the axial plane and tangent to the pitch surfaces.

53. Pitch Point ➔ this is the point of tangency of two pitch circles and is on the line of center.
54. Pitch Surface ➔ the surface of the rolling cylinder that the gear may be considered to replace.

55. Plane Rotation ➔ any plane perpendicular to a gear axis.

56. Pressure Angle ➔ the angle between the tooth profile and a radical line at its pitch point. In involute teeth, the angle between the line of action and
the line tangent to the pitch circle.

57. Principal Reference Planes ➔ these are a pitch plane, axial plane, and transverse plane, all intersecting at a point and mutually perpendicular.

58. Ratio of Gearing ➔ ratio of the numbers of teeth on mating gears.

59. Roll Angle ➔ the angle subtended at the center of a base circle from the origin of an involute to the point of tangency of the generatrix from any
point on the same involute.

60. Root Circle ➔ a circle coinciding with or tangent to the bottoms of the tooth spaces.

61. Root Diameter ➔ diameter of the root circle.

62. Tangent Plane ➔ a plane tangent to the tooth surfaces at a point or line of contact of material is removed near the tip of the gear tooth.

63. Tip Relief ➔ an arbitrary modification of a tooth profile whereby a small amount of material is removed near the tip of the gear tooth.

64. Tooth Thickness ➔ the width of tooth measured along the pitch circle.

65. Tooth Space (Space Width) ➔ the space between the teeth measured along the pitch circle.

66. Total Face Width ➔ the actual width dimension of a gear blank.

67. Transverse Plane ➔ a plane perpendicular to the axial plane and to the pitch plane.

68. Trochoid ➔ the curve formed by the path of a point on the extension of a circle as it rolls along the curve or line. It is also the curve formed by the
path of a point on a perpendicular to a straight line as the straight line rolls along the convex side of a base curve.

69. True Involute Form Diameter ➔ the smallest diameter on the tooth at which the involute exits. Usually this is the point of tangency of the involute
tooth profile and the fillet curve. This usually referred to as the TIP diameter.

70. Undercut ➔ a condition in generated gear teeth when any part of the fillet curve lies inside a line drawn tangent to teh working profile at its lowest
point.

71. Whole Depth ➔ the total depth of a tooth space, equal to addendum plus dedendum, also equal to working depth plus clearance.

72. Working Depth ➔ the depth of engagement of two gears, that is, the sum of their addendums.

Basic Equations:
Gear Pinion

N2
N1
Pinion ➔ is the smaller gear of the two mating gears.

1. Center Distance, C

C =
D1 + D 2
C=
(T 2 + T1 )
2 2P d

T1 Gear Ratio + 1

  m (T2 + T1 )
C= C=
2Pd 2

2. Diameter, Teeth and Speed Relations:

D1N1 = D2N2
N1 D 2 T2
T1N1 = T2N2 = =
N 2 D1 T1
3. Speed and Gear Ratio
Speed of Driver N1
Speed Ratio = =
Speed of Driven N2

T2
Gear Ratio =
T1

4. Pitch line Velocity, V

V = πD1N1 = πD2N2

5. Diametral Pitch, Pd
No. of Teeth T
Pd = =
Pitch Diameter (inches) D

6. Circular Pitch, PC
Circumference of Pitch Circle
Pc =
No. of Teeth
D
Pc =
T

Thus, PC x Pd = 

Pc (millimeters) =  x module

7. Module, m
Pitch Diameter (mm) D(mm)
m = =
No. of Teeth T

D (mm) = m (T)

8. English Module, me
Pitch Diameter (inches)
me =
No. of Teeth
D(inches)
me =
T
1
me =
Pd

where:
 T1 = no. of teeth of the driver (pinion)
D1 = diameter of driver (pinion)
N1 = speed of driver (pinion)
T2 = no. of teeth of the driven gear
D2 = diameter of driven gear
N2 = speed of driven

9. Base Circle Diameter, Db:

Db1 = D1 cos θ (pinion)

Db2 = D2 cos θ (gear)

10. Power Transmitted by Spur Gears

Power = 2 x Torque x Speed

11. Strength of Spur Gears

Ft = transmitted load or tangential force

Torque Power
= = Fr
D DN Fn
2
 Pitch Circle
Ft
Pressure Line
Ft
Fn = Normal Load =
cos

Fr = Separating Load = Ft tan  = Fn sin 

where:

D = pitch diameter
N = speed
 = pressure angle

12. Torque Produced at the Center of a Gear, T:

D D D D
T = Fn b = Fn cos = Fn cos = Ft
2 2 2 2

D = pitch circle diameter

Db = base circle diameter
Fn = normal load
Ft = transmitted load

13. Transmitted Loads, Ft

Modified Lewis Equations (Vallance):

A. For ordinary industrial gears operating at velocities up to 2000 feet per minute:
S fY 600
Ft = w
P 600 + V

B. For accurately cut gears operating at velocities up to 4000 feet per minute
S fY 1200
Ft = w
P 1200 + V

C. For precision gears cut with a high degree of accuracy and operating at velocities of 4000 feet per minute and over
S fY 78
Ft = w
P 78 + V

where:
SW = safe stress
f = face width
Y = form factor
P = diametral pitch
V = pitch line velocity = DN
D = pitch diameter
N = speed

14. Dynamic Load on Gear Teeth (Vallance)

 0.05V(C f + Ft )
Fd = Ft + Fi = Ft +
0.05V + C f + Ft
where:
Fd = total equivalent load applied at pitch line, lb
Ft = tangential load required for power transmission, lb
Fi = increment load (variable load), lb
C = a factor depending upon machining errors

15. Gear Tooth Proportions 14 ½ , 20 and 25 degree Pressure Angle

Item 14.50 Full Depth 20o and 25o Full

Involute Tooth Depth Involute
Tooth
Addendum, a 1/Pd 1/Pd
Dedendum, b 1.157/Pd 1.25/Pd
Working Depth, hk 2/Pd 2/Pd
hk = ag + ap hk = ag + ap
Whole Depth, ht 2.157/Pd 2.25/Pd
ht = a + b ht = a + b
Clearance, c 0.157/Pd 0.25/Pd
Tooth Thickness, t 1.5708/Pd 1.5708/Pd
Outside Diameter, Do (T + 2)/Pd (T + 2)/Pd
Do = Dp + 2a Do = Dp + 2a
Root Diameter, Di Di = Dp – 2b Di = Dp – 2b

where:
Pd = diametral pitch
a = addendum
b = dedendum
Dp = pitch diameter
T = no. of teeth

16. Internal Gears

INTERNAL GEARS have their teeth cut parallel to their shafts like spur gears, but they are cut on the inside of the gear blank. An internal gear meshes
an external gear, the rotation will be in the same direction.
(D − D1 )
(a). C = 2
C

(b). D1N1 = D2N2

T1N1 = T2N2