The Copperbelt University

School of Engineering
Mechanical Engineering Department
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TUTORIAL 2024
Course name: Machine Design

Course code:EM 411

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Design Problem

Answer ALL questions in this section.

2
3

Gear box
V-Belts

Electrical Motor

Figure 1: Mixing mechanism. (Dimensions are in inches. Take 25 mm to 1 inch)

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Figure 1 shows the functional design of a V-Belt drive and spur gear train Mixing mechanism.
The Mixing stirrer is driven by the combination of the gear train and the V belt drives as shown
in Figure 1. The V belt material has Yield tensile strength of 12MPa and density of 1200kg/m3.
The V belt angle is 38 degrees and the coefficient of friction between the belt and the pulleys is
0.25. The factor of safety for the belt material is 1.5. The mixing process requires 500kJ of
energy in 10 seconds to completely mix the concentrate when the mixing speed is 60 rpm. The
center distance between the belt drive pulleys is limited to 1200mm apart. Allow 2.5mm
clearance between components.

The spur gear train has addendum and dedendum equal to one and half times the module and one
and a quarter times the module, respectively. The gear box efficiency is 98%. The belt drive
efficiency is 95%. The inlet gear stage ratio is 6.00. The Shafts and Gears are made of EN24
steel materials with tensile Yield strength of 660 MPa and ultimate tensile strength of 850MPa
after heat treatment. Gears material factor of safety is 2. The modulus of rigidity of EN24 steel is
80GPa and Young’s modulus 200GPa. To avoid gear tooth surface pitting the 245MPa pressure
is allowable.

There are lots of electrical motors with speed 1450rpm in the store room. The Gear box input
pulley diameter is 300mm . The total gear tooth dynamic and geometry factor is 13.5 for both
bending and surface contact effects. Gears Pressure angle is 20 degrees. The Maximum gearbox
size is restricted to 300mm x 300mm base and 550mm-in height. The Gearbox casing all round
thickness is 15mm apart from the bearing housings while Gear tip to Gearbox casing wall
clearance is 2.5mm. The gears 1 through 4 are to assembled as shown. The ball rolling bearings
available have width of 30mm. The device for electrical motor gradual start must be installed in
the Distribution Box (DB). The acceleration due to gravity is 9.81m/s2. The time required to
replace a V Belt is estimated to be 10 minutes and storage space can be estimated from the belt
cross section area. The belt prices are as shown in Table 2.

Design the 2 subsystems of the Mixing mechanism for maximum power transmission as follows:

1. Present all given design data in a table form as shown in Table3; describe and state the
criteria for the given design data. (10 Marks)

2. Determine the electrical motor power rating if the motor efficiency is between 70% to
96%. (6 Marks)

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 3. Design the V- belt drive for maximum power transmission as follows:

a. Determine diameter of the pulley fitted on the electrical Motor shaft. (5 Marks)

b. Determine the minimum belt lap-angle for the V belt drive. (2Marks)

c. Determine the economical number of V-belts and belt section required.(15 Marks)

4. Design the Gear box for maximum power transmission and no interference as follows:

a. Determine the number of teeth for all 4 gears shown. (8 Marks)

b. Determine the module for the gears. It must be the same for both stages.
(2Marks)

c. Determine the root and addedum circle diameters for all 4 gears shown. (6 Marks)

d. Determine the gear tooth thickness and width to prevent tooth breaking and
pitting. (8 Marks)

5. Using the attached ASME design code (see Annex), design the input Shaft (the shaft on
which the pulley is mounted) for gradual start loading as follows:

a. Sketch a neat topology drawing of the input gear shaft. (2 Marks)

b. Determine all the forces acting on the input gear shaft. (12 Marks)

c. Determine the smallest diameter for the input gear shaft. (6 Marks)

d. Determine the dimensions of the shaft Key way at the seat of the pulley on the
input shaft if the shaft key material is EN8 with Yield strength and ultimate
tensile stress are 250MPa and 340MPa, respectively. (6 Marks)

e. Draw and dimension the designed input gear shaft. Note the standard step sizes of
transmission shafts are: 25 mm to 60 mm with 5 mm steps, 60 mm to 110 mm with 10
mm steps , 110 mm to 140 mm with 15 mm steps and 140 mm to 500 mm with 20 mm
steps . (4 Marks)

f. Determine the critical angular speed of the Gearbox input shaft. (8Marks)

…………………………………………………………..End …….………………………………………………………..

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 Annex

Table1: Table for Formulae

Bending Stress �=
Mc
K
� = ����� ����ℎ ������� ��� ������� ������� ������
�

Pitting effects �� = ���������� �����

�∗ �� � �∗ = ��������� �����'��������
�=
2��(��� �) � = ����� ����ℎ ������� ��� ������� ������� ������
b = tooth width
� = �������� �����
P=allowable pressure
young’s modulus � = 2�(1 + �) G= modulus of rigidity
V= poison’s ratio

Effective young’s �
�∗ =
modulus 1 − �2

Table2: V Belt section

SPZ SPA SPB SPC
Belt width 10 13 16 22
Belt height 8 10 13 18
Price per belt K85.00 K95.00 K130.00 K190.00

Table3: Design Data

S/No. Data description Criteria
1
2
3

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Table 4: ASME Design Code

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