Spur Gear

Mechanical Drives
• A mechanical drive is defined as a mechanism, which is intended to transmit
mechanical power over a certain distance, usually involving a change in speed and
torque.
Why are drives required?
1. For variable Torque transmission
2. For Variable speed
3. For getting varying velocities like in shaper.
Classification of mechanical drives
The two broad groups are as follows:
(i) Mechanical drives that transmit power by means of friction, e.g., belt
drive and rope drive.
(ii) Mechanical drives that transmit power by means of engagement,
e.g., chain drives and gear drives.
Selection of a proper mechanical drive
 Flat belts and roller chains are suitable for long centre distances. V-belts have comparatively short
centre distances. Gear drives have the smallest centre distance between two shafts.
 Gear drives are preferred in applications which require constant speed.
 Gear box is used for obtaining variable speed ratio.
 Maintenance of belt drives is relatively simple. It usually consists of periodic adjustment of centre
distance in order to compensate the stretch of the belt. In chain and gear drives, lubrication is an
important consideration in maintenance.
 Flat belt drive is the cheapest, V-belt and chain drives are comparatively costly, and gear drives are
costliest.
GEAR DRIVES
Gears are defined
as toothed wheels
or multilobed
cams, which
transmit power and
motion from one
shaft to another by
means of
successive
engagement of
teeth.
Advantages of Gear Drives
(i) It is a positive drive and the velocity ratio remains constant.
(ii) The centre distance between the shafts is relatively small, which results in compact construction.
(iii) It can transmit very large power, which is beyond the range of belt or chain drives.
(iv) It can transmit motion at very low velocity, which is not possible with the belt drives.
(v) The effi ciency of gear drives is very high, even up to 99 per cent in case of spur gears.
(vi) A provision can be made in the gearbox for gear shifting, thus changing the velocity ratio over a
wide range.
Types Gear Drives
Spur Gear Helical Gear
Helical Gear meshing
Bevel Gear
Worm gear
Selection of Gear
 The factors that are considered for deciding the type of gear are general layout of shafts, speed
reduction, power to be transmitted, input speed and cost.
 Spur and helical gears are used when the shafts are parallel. When the shafts intersect at right angles,
bevel gears are used.
 Worm gears are recommended when the axes of shafts are perpendicular and non-intersecting.
 When the axes of two shafts are neither perpendicular not intersecting, crossed helical gears are
employed.
 The speed reduction or velocity ratio for a single pair of spur or helical gears is normally taken as 6 :
1. On rare occasions, this can be raised to 10 : 1.
 When the velocity ratio increases, the size of the gear wheel increases. This results in increase in the
size of the gearbox and the material cost increases.
 For high speed reduction, two-stage or three-stage constructions are used. The normal velocity ratio
for a pair of bevel gears is 1 : 1, which can be increased to 3: 1 under certain circumstances.
 For high speed reduction, worm gears offer the best choice. The velocity ratio in their case is 60 : 1,
which can be increased to 100 : 1. They are widely used in material handling equipment due to this
advantage.
 Spur gears generate noise in high speed applications, due to sudden contact over the entire face width
between two meshing teeth.
 In helical gears, the contact between the two meshing teeth begins with a point and gradually extends
along the tooth, resulting in quiet operations.
 Helical gears are, therefore, preferred for high speed power transmission.
 From cost considerations, spur gears are the cheapest. They are not only easy to manufacture but
there exist a number of methods to manufacture them. The manufacturing of helical, bevel and worm
gears is a specialized and costly operation.
Law of gearing
• 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’.
• It has been found that only
involute and cycloidal curves
satisfy the fundamental law of
gearing.
 Involute profile

An involute is a curve traced by

a point on a line as the line rolls
without slipping on a circle.
Cycloidal profile
A cycloid is a curve traced by a point on
the circumference of a generating circle
as it rolls without slipping along the
inside and outside of another circle.
The cycloid profile consists of two
curves, namely, epicycloid and
hypocycloid.
An epicycloid is a curve
traced by a point on the circumference
of a generating circle as it rolls without
slipping on the outside of the pitch circle.
A hypocycloid is a curve traced by a point
on the circumference of a generating
circle as it rolls without slipping on the
inside of the pitch circle.
Terminology of gear
Advantages of Involute Profile
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 a given centre
distance.
All involute gears of n module and pressure angle are completely interchangeable.
All involute gears of a given module and pressure angle can be machined from
one single tool.
A slight change in the centre distance, which might be caused by incorrect
mounting, has no effect upon the shape of the involute.
Involute tooth proportions
I. 14.5° Full Depth Involute system:
In this system, interference occurs when the number of teeth on the pinion is less than 23. This
system is satisfactory when the number of teeth on the gears is large. If the number of teeth is small
and if the gears are made by generating process, undercutting is unavoidable.
II. 20° Full Depth Involute System
In this system, interference occurs when the number of teeth on the pinion is less than 17. The 20°
pressure angle system with full depth involute teeth is widely used in practice. It is also
recommended by the Bureau of Indian Standards
Increasing pressure angle improves the tooth strength but shortens the duration of contact.
Decreasing pressure angle requires more number of teeth on the pinion to avoid undercutting.
The 20° pressure angle is a good compromise for most of the power transmission as well as
precision gearboxes.
The 20° pressure angle system has the following
advantages over the 14.5° pressure angle system:
(a) It reduces the risk of undercutting.
(b) It reduces interference.
(c) Due to the increased pressure angle, the tooth becomes slightly broader at the root. This makes the
tooth stronger and increases the load carrying capacity.
(d) It has greater length of contact.
III. 20° Stub Involute System
• The gears in this system have shorter addendum and shorter dedendum. The interfering portion of the tooth,
that is, a part of the addendum, is thus removed. In this system the minimum number of teeth on the pinion, to
avoid interference, is 14.
Involute tooth proportions
 Undercutting and Interference in gear

Backlash is defined as
the amount by which the
width of tooth space
exceeds the thickness of
the engaging tooth
measured along the pitch
circle.
Backlash
Minimum 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,
Force Analysis
Helical Gear
Vitrual No. of teeth
Force analysis