PRINCIPLE OF EPICYCLIC GEARING

Epicyclic gears (or planetary gears) are used in one form or the other in overdrives and
automatic transmissions.
It consists of mainly three components.
1. Sun gear A, which is larger of the two gears.
2. Planet pinion B, and
3. Arm, which connects the two gears through their shafts.
During Operation, each of the three components are locked separately to obtain three
different gear ratios. Locking can be achieved by mechanical, hydraulic, or other means
through a workable system.
 (a) (b) (c)
 When the arm is locked (Fig.(a)) and gear A is imparted a rotation, then gear B rotates in
the direction as shown. The epicyclic gear set, in this configuration, works as a simple
gear train and provides a gear ratio given
= for =0

  the other two configurations (Figs. b-c), the gears A and B are locked respectively and
In
the arm is given a rotation. Consequently gear A and B rotate as shown, and yield the
following gear ratios.
=1+ for = 0
and
=1+ for = 0
The above gear ratios are obtained from algebraic method, which in complicated
epicyelic gear train can also be determined by tabulation method.
Epicyclic (Planetary) Gearbox

An epicyclic gearbox consists of two or more epicyclic gear sets.

It has a sun gear S, a planet gear P, an internal gear A and an arm. The internal gear is
also called annular gear or annulus, and the arm is also known as link.
A yoke (or body) houses the planet gears.
The sun gear is mounted on the driving shaft while the annular gear on driven shalt,
therefore sun and the annular gears are termed as driving and driven gears respectively.
A Planetary gearbox having three planetary gears is most common. The planet gears are
supported on the (not shown in the figure) which is also known as the frame.
Torque consideration

The
  torque transmission from one element (member) to another can be found as follows
when the gears rotate at uniform speeds (no acceleration).

+++

Since pinion rotates about its own axis and is not connected to external members, hence
= 0. lf annulus is fixed then is called braking torque, while and will be driving and
driven torques according to situation. lf there is no loss in power transmission then the
governing equilibrium equation is

++

With proper consideration of directions for speeds and torques.

 Planetary Gear Assembly

To obtain the necessary gear combinations needed for gear reduction, direct drive, reverse,
neutral and overdrive; the planetary gear sets are used in the automatic transmission. The
planetary gear set is always in mesh and consists of pinion gears mounted on a planetary
carrier by shafts or pins, a sun gear (or center gear) and a ring gear (or outer gear) with
internal teeth. Each of the three parts of the planetary gear set can be a driver or a driven
member, depending upon the gear ratio needed. All automatic transmissions use marinate
planetary gear sets, with either a common or separate sun gear, to obtain the three or four
speeds needed to move the vehicle and bring it to cruising speed.
Gear reduction (Fig.) To obtain gear reduction, the sun gear is held stationary while the
ring gear is driven, which causes the planetary gears and carrier to rotate or walk around
the sun gear in the same direction the ring gear turns, but not as fast. This causes the
engine torque to be multiplied since the output shaft is not turning at the same RPM as the
input shaft.

Fig. (a)
Direct Drive (Fig.(a)) To obtain direct drive, the entire
planetary gear set must rotate as a unit by having both
the sun gear and ring gear locked together and being
driven from the same torque input through the planetary
carrier.
Reverse (Fig.(b)) To change the input power flow to a
reverse rotation at the output shaft, the pinion carrier is Fig. (b)
held stationary while the sun gear is driven. It causes
the planetary pinions to turn in the opposite direction, .
which causes the ring gear also to be driven in the
opposite direction as well, thereby providing a reverse
gear to the transmission.
Neutral(Fig.(c)) Obtaining the neutral position where a
torque input is directed into the transmission, but no
torque output is developed at the output shaft, results Fig. (c)
from having nope of the driving members coupled to
the planetary gear set.
Overdrive (Fig.(d)) An overdrive gear ratio is possible
by holding the sun gear and driving the pinion atria,
which causes the pinion gears to move around the
stationary sun gear and drive the ring gear at a faster
speed than the input shah.

Fig. (d)
Compound Planetary Gear Assembly
Since the planetary gear set only provides one reduction and one direct drive in the same
direction of rotation, it is necessary to use two planetary units connected together in series
to obtain the three and four forward speeds. The front and rear planetary gear assemblies,
which comprise the compound planetary unit, are similar in gear arrangement, but
normally differ in size to obtain a different percentage of the reduction.
The compound planetary gear assembly is normally interconnected by a common sun gear
or by long and short pinion gears, intermeshed to each other and both capable of being
either a driving or a driven member. Each pinion grouping is meshed to a sun gear (the
primary and secondary) which are of different sizes to allow power flow through different
stages of gear reduction

Fig. A compound gear assembly consisting of two planetary units in series

Pre-Selective Gearbox

Such a gearbox is mounted with a special mechanism that enables the driver to select
the desired gear set before actual engagement is executed. For that a lever is fitted on
the steering column that moves in an arch sector to the corresponding positions of
various gear ratios marked on it. After pre-selecting the next gear ratio : higher or
lower, the driver has to press the gear change pedal only when he actually wants to
engage the desired gear.
Wilson gearbox is a popular example of this kind.
Hobbs automatic transmission is another example of this kind.
TORQUE CONVERTER

The torque converter is a kind of fluid drive but it

accomplishes a change in the torque by providing
variable gear ratio. For that purpose an additional
member called stator is used in its construction. Its
gear ratio is maximum when starting from rest and
decreases as the vehicle gains speed.

Construction. The construction of a torque converter

is such that it serves as a clutch and also transfers
power from the engine to the transmission under
varying speed conditions.
A typical torque converter consists of
(i) a stator which comprises of a set of stationary
blades.
(ii) a driving torus‘ which is basically a pump
impeller.
(iii) a driven torus which is a turbine.
(iv) a housing connecting the stator through one-way Fig. Sectional view of a torque converter
clutch (or free wheel). showing major components
 Working
The fluid filled-in the torque converter is oil which circulates under pressure within the
housing from one part to the other. The oil is pumped at about 200 kPa by an oil pump
so as to avoid cavitation, a detrimental phenomenon that causes formation of cavities in
the related parts due to low pressure. The direction of oil flow is changed by the
stationary blades in such a way that the oil returns to the pump impeller after passing
through the turbine. Flow of the returning oil supplements the pump in multiplying its
force against the turbine. As the vehicle picks-up the speed, the blades begin to turn
along with the other members of torque converter assembly, and so the torque multiplies.
Thus the power from engine crankshaft is transferred to the turbine shaft through the
housing.
A stator is an additional member of torque converter in contrast to a fluid flywheel
(clutch). In fact, this stator plays a very important role. In the absence of stator, the oil
will enter into the impeller directly, will move the impeller in opposite direction and will
be responsible for power loss. The use of stator helps in changing the direction of oil
from turbine to impeller whose impingement in favourable direction causes toque
multiplication. Maximum torque multiplication is achieved when the turbine is
stationary and impeller runs fast. This situation is termed as ‘stall’. If the speeds of pump
and the turbine become equal, the torque multiplication becomes zero, and the system
becomes equivalent to a direct gear.
Performance of a Torque Converter
The performance characteristics of a typical torque converter is shown in Fig. It depicts
variation in the torque ratio and the efficiency with respect to the speed of driven member.
The maximum torque ratio which is generally 6 : 1 at higher input (driven member) speed,
diminishes to about 4 : 1 with a decrease in speed of the driven member. It also shows that
the highest efficiency is attained at a particular speed and it falls down rapidly above and
below a narrow range of speed It is, therefore, disadvantageous to employ a torque
converter at all the speeds because it involves heavy losses.
To keep losses to a minimum and to improve the transmission efficiency, the following two
possibilities can be explored.
(i) The torque converter can be disconnected at lower and higher speeds and a direct drive
may be chosen instead. However, it can be kept operative at lower speeds since the
auto vehicle runs for a short duration at low speeds.
(ii) The torque converter can be arranged with a double clutch system so that it behaves as
a fluid coupling at higher speeds. This envisages use of a freewheel.