technical

Large Bevel Gears for

Crushing Applications
Steve Lovell

Introduction gradually necking down as the feed bronze bushings. And with most of
Large bevel gears drive the crushing stock is crushed and reduced in size. these applications falling within bound-
machines used to process ores and The crushed material progresses its way ary lubrication parameters, the result-
minerals in the hard-rock mining down thru the tapered crushing cham- ing bearing clearances tend to be quite
and aggregates industries. Among the ber by gravity feed, and is finally dis- large. For example, a large gyratory
most common machines of this type charged out the bottom after the desired crusher may have an eccentric bear-
are gyratory (Fig. 1) crushers and cone size reduction has been achieved. ing clearance exceeding .100" (2.5 mm),
crushers (Fig. 2). The gyratory crusher with the resulting floating centerline
is typically the first process step after Machine Motion determining the operating centerline
initial blasting at the mine, or quarry, Crushing action results from the for the bevel gear. Now, imagine an
with the largest such machines capable unique motion of the mantle as automotive-type application, with an
of swallowing rocks as large as 72" (1.8 it gyrates about the machine’s verti- 8" (200 mm) ring gear that’s mounted
meters) and reducing them to fist-size cal centerline. It is perhaps simpler to in sleeve bearings with .009" (0.23 mm)
product. Cone crushers normally see envision the motion of the mantle as radial clearance, and consider where
service in secondary and tertiary crush- a rotating pendulum, i.e. fixed at the the contact pattern might want to go
ing applications where further size top and tracking a circular sweeping under intermittent load conditions.
reduction is required. In each case, the path at the bottom. The heart of the Making things more interesting, imag-
gears for the large machines are now machine is the eccentric, which cre- ine a radial load on the ring gear carrier
approaching 100" (2.5 meters) diameter. ates and transmits the gyrating motion that, with each revolution, moves in an
Both families of machines are consid- to the mantle. The bore of the rotating orbital path about the housing’s fixed
ered quite mature, with only modest eccentric is radially offset and inclined centerline by an amount equal to the
design evolution occurring in recent on the necessary angle to produce the total bearing clearance.
decades. However, during this same desired pendulous motion during oper- Therefore, in addition to the inher-
period, driven by the need for increased ation. The machine’s main shaft fits into ent separating forces and elastic deflec-
throughput, both speed and power rat- the bore of the rotating eccentric and, tions that always occur, crushing appli-
ings have increased significantly for the working together, these two compo- cations must also anticipate the effects
same basic machine designs. The chal- nents form the axis for the path of the of generous bearing clearances and a
lenge for the gear design and manu- gyrating mantle. Finally, drive power bevel gear that follows an orbital path
facturing people is to produce a gear- is transmitted by the bevel gear, which relative to the fixed centerline of the
set that performs reliably within the is firmly mounted to the eccentric pinion. Some machine designs serve
evolving operating conditions of the wherein plain rotary motion is trans- to mitigate the extent of the gear’s
machines they drive. The following sec- formed into the gyrating motion. orbital path by offsetting the gear radi-
tions are intended to help the reader ally — off the eccentric’s centerline — by
understand the unique aspects of these Bearing Design an amount equal to the design bearing
machines, and why crushing applica- The vast body of knowledge about clearance. However, this compensating
tions fall outside the traditional auto- bevel gears has been built around expe- feature does not account for the inevi-
motive paradigm for bevel gears. rience with automotive-type applica- table bearing and shaft wear that natu-
tions including cars, trucks, agricultural rally occurs, where the total bearing
Crusher Operating Principal equipment, and heavy off-road vehicles. clearance can reach 150% of the design
Both types of crushers consist of a These applications all utilize rolling ele- clearance between service intervals.
tapered, conical crushing chamber that’s ment bearings to produce hard/fixed
created by a fixed conical housing that mounting points for the gearset. And Material Combinations
surrounds a gyrating conical mantle. in these more typical applications, the For many years, both gears and pin-
With the mantle placed inside, and in engineer must consider the anticipated ions were made from thru-hardened
close proximity to the housing, these deflection and elastic deformation of materials. As throughput and power
two main components form a tapered the various fixed and moving compo- ratings increased, thru-hardened gears
crushing chamber having a maximum nents of the drive system under load. got harder and the pinions became
opening at the top — where the raw The unique part about crushing carburized and hardened. Hard cut-
feed stock enters the machine — and applications is that the gearset, in nearly ting of pinions came shortly thereafter,
with the tapered chamber opening all cases, is held in alignment with plain once the necessary tooling and skiving

76 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | January/February 2019

[www.geartechnology.com]
techniques could be developed. But car- presses capable of handling the very Tooth Configurations
burizing and hard cutting of the gear large pieces. For this reason, many of Following the chronological evolu-
component, having many more teeth, the larger crushers continue to utilize tion of tooth configurations, the old-
was deemed impractical due to period thru-hardened gears in conjunction est crushers utilized straight bevel
cutting tool technology and machine with carburized and skived pinions. gears, and a considerable number of
tool rigidity. Induction hardening of the large gear these machines remain in opera-
In more recent years, carburized and component has also been utilized to tion today. As throughput and power
hard cut versions of the larger gears achieve surface hardening, with sig- ratings increased, and along with
have become a viable option with the nificantly less distortion than would increases hardness, the industry further
advent of larger cutting machines be seen in a free-quenched, carburized responded with skew tooth designs.
reaching the market, and particularly gear. However, this requires specialized Numerous skew tooth cutting machines
with the introduction of five-axis mill- equipment for the inductor to perfectly also remain in operation today — the
ing technology to the gear industry. track the spiral angle and radius of cur- “senior citizens” of the bevel gear
However, distortion control during vature in spiral tooth designs. shop — producing good quality com-
heat treatment continues to be a limit- ponents on busy production sched-
ing factor due to the lack of quench ules. Spiral bevel gears appeared later
TS GYRATORY CRUSHER and, until more recent years, only a
few cutting machines were capable
of producing spiral bevel gears in the
3
larger sizes. This situation has been
2
7
largely remedied with the introduc-
tion of high-precision 5-axis milling
1
4
machines, along with the sophisticated
5
software that supports them.
6

18
9
Design Considerations
The challenge for the engineer is to
10

22
produce a design that will accommo-
19
date the wandering contact that natu-
12
rally occurs in these soft bearing appli-
cations. This accommodation includes:
1) lowering traditional expectations for
23 11
25

contact patch area relative to total avail-

15
able tooth flank area; 2) compensating
for the reduced contact patch area thru
13

20 24

the augmentation of other design attri-

27 14 butes; 3) increasing static backlash and
28

29
16
root clearance values to prevent hard
39
36
34
26
mesh conditions as the gear follows its
orbital path relative the pinion’s fixed
55 37

21
38 centerline and 4) applying a contact test
method and acceptance criteria that
30
40
33 31 41

32 56

42
provide satisfactory operation and life
1 - Spider
17
expectancy given the unique operating
characteristics of these machines.
2 - Spider Arm Shield
53
3 - Spider Cap
44
4 - Spider Bushing
5 - Spider Grease Seal
6 - Spider Grease Hose 43
7 - Shaft End Cover 32 - Eccentric

Testing
54
8 - Threaded Mainshaft Sleeve 33 - Gear 51
9 - Headnut 34 - Pressure Ring 47
35
10 - Filler (Burn-out) Ring 35 - Center Wear Ring
36 - Gear Cover
The contact testing technique for
11 - Mainshaft
12 - Upper Mantle 37 - Gear Cover Liners 46
48
13 - Lower Mantle 38 - Arm Liner
39 - Outer Wall Liner
crushing applications needs to account
14 - Backing Material
15 - Mantle Core 40 - Gear Carrier
16 - Split Contact Oil Seal 41 - Countershaft Housing
49 45
42 - Countershaft

for the wandering contact that nat-

17 - Mainshaft Thrust Ring
18 - Top Shell Liners 43 - Countershaft Seals
19 - Top Shell 44 - Countershaft Bearings
45 - Hydraulic Cylinder
urally occurs as the gear’s rotational
20 - Middle Shell 52
21 - Bottom Shell 46 - Piston
22 - Upper Concave 47 - Piston Wear Ring
50
48 - Upper Piston Bushing
axis, mounted in soft bearings, follows
23 - Middle Concave
24 - Lower Concave 49 - Lower Piston Bushing
25 - Concave Locking Pin 50 - Mantle Position Indicator
26 - Concave Support Ring 51 - Wiper Ring
27
28
-
-
Dust Seal Bonnet
Dust Seal Ring
52
53
-
-
Piston Seal
Eccentric Lubrication Hose
an orbital path with respect to the pin-
29 - Dust Seal Retainer 54 - Mounting Ring
30
31
-
-
Inner Eccentric Bushing
Outer Eccentric Bushing
55
56
-
-
Counterweights
Pinion ion’s fixed centerline.
When utilizing a test machine with
Figure 1  TS Gyratory Crusher. (Illustrations property of FLSmidth A/S, used with permission.)

January/February 2019 | GEAR TECHNOLOGY 77

 technical

both horizontal (H) and vertical (V) runout value is identified, as are the the extent to which the contact patch
axes adjustment capability, the H and V teeth that best align with the remaining intrudes on the tooth extremities, and
axes are sequentially adjusted to mimic three cardinal coordinates around the whether backlash and root clearance val-
the orbital motion of the gear, and to gear. Testing is then a straightforward ues are diminished to dangerous levels at
simulate the resulting contact patch proposition, with contact patch size and these extreme settings.
movement that naturally occurs dur- location being evaluated, along with Design simulation programs can pre-
ing operation. This results in contact backlash and root clearance values, at dict what happens to the contact patch
tests being performed at five different the four pre-marked tooth positions and backlash as the gear moves around
test machine settings as follows: 1) with representing the four cardinal coor- its orbital path. They can also aid in
the gear and pinion both set on basic dinates around the gear. And prior to predicting what type of crowning and
centers; 2) with the pinion moved out this offsetting routine, the contact patch tooth thinning is required to achieve
(H-plus); 3) with the pinion moved in should first be evaluated with the gear the desired results. However, these
(H-minus); 4) with the pinion moved runout set at zero, thereby producing simulations provide only an informed
up (V-plus); and 5) with the pinion the five test results described in the starting point for the tooth cutting pro-
moved down (V-minus). In each of the foregoing procedure for a test machine grams; actual results of software outputs
five tests, the gear remains set on basic with both H and V axis adjustment. should always be validated thru one of
centers, with each pinion offset move- With either of the above testing the above-described testing regimens.
ment being equal to the uncompen- arrangements, an additional test can be Fortunately, cutting programs produced
sated bearing clearance. performed with offset values set to rep- directly from simulation software will
At each of the five test machine set- resent operating conditions when bear- typically allow adequate opportunity
tings, the contact patch should be ing/shaft wear reach the point at which for further development and tweaking,
of an acceptable shape and size, and bearing replacement should occur. As once the initial contact test results are
remain within the allowable window a practical ® matter, the scope of such observed.
Raptor 2000 Cone Crusher
of movement; and, observing the pre- testing should be limited to evaluating
scribed standoff values (no-go
zones) with respect to the tooth
extremities. In addition, minimum
backlash and root clearance val-
1
ues must be observed at each of
the four test machine settings to 3

ensure that adequate clearance

exists and that hard mesh condi-
tions will not occur during opera- 4
5 2

tion. With straight and skew tooth 23

designs, contact patch movement 7

and changes in backlash are great- 8

est when test machine settings 12

9
are adjusted in the V-plus and 11
10

V-minus directions. With spiral 15

tooth designs, contact patch move-
18
ment and changes in backlash are
greatest with test machine adjust- 16
6
17

ments in the H-plus and H-minus

19

24
directions. 20

When using a test machine

with no vertical axis of adjust- 21
22
ment (V-plus/minus), the gear is 13

radially offset, relative to the test 14

machine’s horizontal axis of rota-

tion, by an amount equal to the
uncompensated bearing clearance.
This arrangement produces radial
runout of the gear, simulating its
orbital path relative to the pinion’s 7 - Torch Ring 13 - Main Frame 19 - Counterweight
1 - Hopper
fixed centerline. Once the proper 2 - Bowl
3 - Adjustment Cap
8 - Mantle
9 - Bowl Liner
14 - Main Frame Liner
15 - Main Frame Seat Liner
20 - Gear
21 - Countershaft
offset (radial runout) value has 4 - Drive Ring
5 - Feed Plate
10 - Socket Liner
11 - Adjustment Ring
16 - Tramp Release Cylinder
17 - Main Shaft
22 - Pinion
23 - Wedge
been accurately set, the gear tooth 6 - Head 12 - Clamping Cylinder 18 - Eccentric 24 - Arm Guard

that best aligns with the maximum

Figure 2  Raptor 2000 Cone Crusher from FLSmidth.

78 GEAR TECHNOLOGY | January/February 2019

[www.geartechnology.com]
Summary requires special attention to 1) avoid Steve Lovell is a
Although all bevel gears share many overload conditions at tooth extremities journeyman machinist,
having learned his trade
commonalities in design and manu- and 2) prevent dangerous hard mesh in Navy and civilian
facturing, those destined for crushing operating conditions. To avoid these machine shops, with
applications must possess certain key unwanted consequences, mating com- brief career excursions
characteristics that fall outside the auto- ponents are machined with additional working as a foundryman
and a welder. Following
motive paradigms routinely observed crown and backlash, and are finally early years as a craftsman, he held various
by the greater bevel gear industry today. tested by a method that simulates the management positions at Ingersoll-Rand
These key characteristics are not widely gear’s orbital path relative to the pinion. (Pump Group) and the Fuller Company
(Minerals Processing), and most recently
understood within the engineering The advent of precision 5-axis mill-
as director of quality for FLSmidth Minerals.
community, and it goes without saying ing has extended the effective size range Having worked with more than 30 suppliers
that far fewer gear manufacturers are and improved efficiency in manufac- of large open gearing on all six inhabited
adequately informed on the technical turing of large bevel gears. As a pos- continents, he is an innovator, technical
writer, mentor, and recipient of awards
requirements for these applications. itive result, this new technology has in technological leadership. Following
For crushing applications, the gear’s introduced many new sources for the retirement from full-time employment in
operating axis depends on plain bronze buyers of large bevel gears. Conversely, 2010, Lovell remains active today as a
bushings to maintain alignment, and a broader supplier base also serves to consultant for organizations in and around
the global mining and cement industries.
these require generous oil clearance to further dilute an already-limited under- Stephen.lovell1@gmail.com
survive under boundary lubrication standing of what’s required for crushing
conditions. The wide bearing clear- applications.
ances, working in tandem with gyrat- The preceding sections of this arti- For Related Articles Search
ing crushing forces, cause the gear’s cle are aimed at improving the reader’s bevel gears
pitch cone to take on an orbital path depth of knowledge with respect to these
at www.geartechnology.com
relative to the pinion’s fixed operating unique applications and, hopefully, serve
centerline. as the impetus for more dilligent research
The resulting wandering con- when approaching that next crusher gear-
tact imparted on mating pitch cones set order.

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