Design of Levers

LEVER
A lever includes a stiff structure that rotates
around a fixed point called the fulcrum.

A lever is defined as a mechanicalevice in the

d form of a rigid bar pivoted about fulcrum to
the multiply or transfer the force.

fulcrum
 Anatomy of the lever
Fulcrum point around which the lever
rotates
Input Force Force exerted ON the lever
Output Force Force exerted BY the
lever
 Lever
The construction of a simple lever is shown in Fig.

F is the force produced by the lever and P is the

effort required to produce that force. The force F is often
called 'load'. The perpendicular distance of the line of
action of any force from the fulcrum is called the arm
of the lever. Therefore l1 and l2 are effort arm and load
arm respectively.
 Lever

Taking moment of forces about the fulcrum,

F x l 2 = P x l1
or
F/P = l1/l2

The ratio of load to effort i.e. (F/P) is called the

'mechanical
arm
advantage'(Iof1/l2fever.
) is The
called
ratiothe 'leverage'.
of the effort arm
i.e.
mechanical
to the load advantageTherefore,
is equal to the
leverage.
 Lever

F x l2=P x l1
or
F/P= l1/l2

It is seen by Eq., that a large force can be exerted by a

small effort by increasing leverage, i.e. increasing
l1 and reducing l2 .

In many applications, it is not possible to

effort
increasearm l1 due to space restrictions.In such
applications, compound levers are used to obtain
more
leverage.
 Three Classes of
Levers
There are three types of lever, based on the relative
positions
of the effort point, the load point and the fulcrum
They are as follows:

First Class - fulcrum between Input and output-

This type of lever is used in applications like the rocker arm for
the overhead valves of internal combustion engine, bell crank
levers in railway signal mechanism and levers of hand pump

Second Class output between fulcrum and input-

This type of lever is used in lever loaded safety valve mounted

on the boilers.

Third Class input between fulcrum and output- This

type of lever is not recommended in engineering applications. A
 Design of Levers
Lever design consists of two aspects

1) Length of lever- which is decided on the basis of

leverage required to exert a given load F by means
of an effort P

2) The cross-section of the lever is designed on the

basis of bending stresses.

3) Fulcrum pin diameter

 Design of Levers
Steps for Design of Lever

1) Force analysis:

In any application, the load or the force F, to

be
exerted by the lever is input.

The effort required to produce this force

is calculated by taking moments about
the fulcrum. Therefore,

F x l2=P x l1
Steps for Design of Lever
The free body diagram of forces acting on the
'first' type of the lever is shown in Fig. R is the
reaction at the fulcrum pin. Since the sum of vertical
forces acting on the lever must be equal to zero,

R=F+P

Free Body Diagram of Forces Acting on First Type of

Steps for Design of Lever
The free body diagram of forces acting on the 'second'
type of the lever is shown in Fig. In this case, the
load and the effort act in opposite direction.
Considering equilibrium of forces in vertical direction,

F=R+P
R=F-P

Free Body Diagram of Forces Acting on SecondType of

Steps for Design of Lever
In above two cases, the forces are assumed to
be parallel. Sometimes, the forces F and P act along
lines that are inclined to one another as shown in Fig.

In such cases, l1 is perpendicular distance from

the
fulcrum to the line of action of force P.

Similarly l2 is perpendicular distance from the

fulcrum
to the line of action of force F
Steps for Design of Lever
In above two cases, the forces are assumed to
be parallel. Sometimes, the forces F and P act along
lines that are inclined to one another as shown in Fig.

In such cases, l1 is perpendicular distance from

the
fulcrum to the line of action of force P.

Similarly l2 is perpendicular distance from the

fulcrum
to the line of action of force F
 Steps for Design of Lever

The magnitude of reaction R is equal to the resultant

of load F and effort P. It can be determined by
parallelogram law of forces. (ii) The line of action of
reaction R passes through the intersection of F and P i.e.
point o & fulcrum
 Steps for Design of Lever

Figure illustrates a bell crank lever with the arms, that

are inclined at angle with one another. The load F and
the effort P act at right angles to their respective arms.
The reaction R at the fulcrum is given by
 Design of Lever Arm
When the forces acting on the lever are
determined, the next step in lever design is to
find out the dimensions of the cross-section of the
lever.

The cross-section of the lever is subjected to bending

moment. In case of two arm lever, as shown in Fig.,
the bending moment is zero at the point of application
of P or F and maximum at the boss of the lever.
 Design of Lever Arm
The cross-section at which bending moment is
the
maximum can be determined by constructing
bending moment diagram. In Fig., the bending
moment is maximum at section XX and it is given by,
 Design of Lever Arm
The cross- section of the lever can be
rectangular,
elliptical or I-section. For rectangular cross-section,

For elliptical cross-section,

where a and b are major and minor axes of the section. Usually,
major axis is
taken as twice of minor axis.

Using the above mentioned proportions,

the dimensions of the cross-section of the lever
can be determined by,
 Design of Fulcrum Pin
The fulcrum pin is subjected to reaction R as shown in
Fig. The forces acting on the boss of lever and the pin
are equal and opposite.

The dimensions of the pin, viz. diameter dp and length lp in

lever boss are determined by bearing consideration and
then checked for shear consideration.

There is relative motion between the pin and the lever and
bearing pressure becomes the design criterion. The
projected area of the pin is (dp x lp). Therefore,
 Design of Fulcrum Pin
For the fulcrum pin, the ratio of length to diameter (lp
/dp) is usually taken between 1 to 2. The outside
diameter of boss in the lever is taken as twice of the
diameter of pin
i.e. (2 x dp). A phosphor bronze bush, usually 3mm thick
is
fitted inside the boss to reduce the friction.

The permissible bearing pressure for phosphor bronze

bush is 5 to 10 N/mm . Lubricant is provided between
the pin and the bush to reduce the friction.