1

Design of Spur and Helical Gears

1. Introduction:
Gears are used to transmit power between two shafts. Disadvantage of belt and pulley
arrangement is the slip, which reduces the velocity ratio of the system is absent in a gear drive. In a
gear drive the maximum power loss is about 5% in general and it is reduced to 1% in spur gear.
Depending upon the size, shape and orientation of the teeth with respect to the axis of the wheel there
are various classifications among gears such as spur gear, helical gear, bevel gear, worm gear, spiral
gear, herringbone gear etc. In worm gear number of teeth can be as low as one, and hence large speed
reduction is possible in a single stage. Spur gear have the most simple geometry (shown in Fig. 1), in
which teeth is made parallel to the axis of the gear blank. In most of the cases profile of the spur gear
will be either Involute or Cycloidal.
cord
T1
Gear A1 A
T

To
Involute

Pinion

Base circle
Fig. 1 A pair of mating spur gears Fig. 2 An Involute

The ratio of the angular velocities of the driving gear to the driven gear must be a constant
during the entire period of engagement of a pair of mating gear teeth is known as law of gearing. The
law of gearing demands that all line of action (normal at the point of contact) for every instantaneous
point of contact of a pair of gear teeth in action must passes through the pitch point. Any curved
surface satisfies this condition can be used for making gear profile. However tooth profiles selected
must be the one which can manufactured economically. The most commonly used gear profile is
Involute profile andCycloidal profiles are also found suitable.The profiles that satisfy law of gearing
are also calledconjugate profiles.
An Involute is a curve (shown in Fig. 2) generated by a point on a cord as the cord is
unwrapped from a base cylinder (base circle) as shown in Fig. 2. In Fig. 2, the unwrapped cord is
always normal to the Involute at that point and its length is the instantaneous radius of curvature of the
Involute at that point. Thus the cord is the generating line and it is always normal to the Involute.

The terminology of the profile of a spur gear described in Fig. 3 is as follows

1. Base circle: The circle from which the Involute profile is generated is known as base circle.
2. Pitch circle: The circle that corresponds to the circle of an equivalent rolling cylinders.
3. Root circle: The circle with minimum radius of a gear tooth is known as root circle or Dedendum
circle.
4. Addendum circle: The circle with largest radius of a gear tooth is known as addendum circle
(outside circle).
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Fig. 3, Terminology of Spur Gear

5. Addendum: The radial distance from the top land to the pitch circle is known as the addendum.
For a standard gear addendum is equal to one module.
6. Dedendum: It is the tooth height below the pitch circle or the radial distance between the pitch
circle and the root circle. For a standard gear Dedendum is equal to 1.157 module.
7. Pitch point: The point where the two pitch circles of a pair of mating gears are touches each other
is the pitch point. It is the point where the common tangent drawn to the base circles of the pair of
mating gears cuts the line joining the centres (Fig.4).
8. Tooth thickness: It is the length of the arc measured along the pitch circle from first profile to the
second profile of a tooth. Each tooth consists of two profiles connected through a top land (Fig. 3)
common
tangent Pitch circle
Pitch circle
F d2/2
d1/2  Base circle

Base O2 
P
circle Gear
 O3
Pinion pitch
E point

addendum circles
common
normal
Fig. 4 Two meshing gears
9. Pressure angle: The angle subtended by the line of action (common tangent to the base circles)
and the common tangents to the pitch circles at their point of contact of a pair of mating gears at
the pitch point is called pressure angle. The configuration is given in Fig.4
10. Circular pitch: The length of the arc along the pitch circle from a point on one tooth to the
corresponding point on the adjacent tooth. If ‘d’ is the pitch circle diameter, then the circular pitch
pc is expressed as

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d
pc  , where Z is the number of teeth on that gear
Z
11. Diametral pitch: An arbitrary number which relates the diameter of the pitch circle of a gear to the
number of teeth by
Z
pd 
d
12. Module pitch: The most commonly used specification of a gear is module pitch. Module pitch is
the ratio of the pitch circle diameter to the number of teeth.
d
m 
Z
Module pitch is the reciprocal of the Diametral pitch.
1
m 
pd
The relation between circular pitch and Diametral pitch is
pc
p c p d   or  
m
13. Interference: Interference in gears is due to the contact between non conjugate profiles. The
portion of the profile lying below the base circle of a gear cannot be an Involute profile. This is
because an Involute is generated from a base circle, and no portion of it can lie below the
generating circle. If due to some reason, the contact between a pair of mating teeth is progressed to
the non Involute portion of the profile, interference occurs, and due to which law of gearing is
violated. The minimum number of teeth on a standard the pinion to avoid interference is
2𝐴
𝑍 = , 𝑓𝑜𝑟  = 20 , 𝑍 = 16
𝐺 1+ + 2 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜙 − 1

2. Kinematics of Helical Gear:

When two helical gears are engaged as in the Fig. 5, the helix angle has to be the same on each gear,
but one gear must have a right-hand helix and the other a left-hand helix.

Fig.5 A pair of Meshing Helical Gears

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When two helical gears are engaged as in the Fig. above, the helix angle has to be the same on each
gear, but one gear must have a right-hand helix and the other a left-hand helix.

In spur gears the line contact is parallel to the axis of rotation; in helical gear the line is diagonal across
the face of the tooth. Hence gradual engagement of the teeth and the smooth transfer of load from one
tooth to another occur. This gradual engagement makes the gear operation smoother and quieter than
with spur gears and results in a lower dynamic factor 𝐾 . Thus, it can transmit heavy loads at high
speeds. Typical usage is automotive transmission for compact and quiet drive.

Fig.6 Developed pitch surface of a helical gear

The helix angle , is always measured on the cylindrical pitch surface shown in Fig. 6. Above and ψ
value is not standardized. It ranges between 15 o and 45o. Commonly used values are 15, 23, 30 or 45o.
Lower values give less end thrust. Higher values result in smoother operation and more end thrust.
Above 45o is not recommended.

Fig. 7 Terminology of a Helical gear teeth

The circular pitch ′𝑝′ and pressure angle 𝜑 are measured in the plane of rotation, as in spur gears.
These quantities in normal plane are denoted by suffix ‘𝑛 , (𝑝 , 𝜑 ) as shown in Fig.7 above.
From geometry we have normal pitch as
𝑝 = 𝑝 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜓
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Normal module 𝑚 is
𝑚 = 𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜓
𝑚 is used for hob selection. The pitch diameter 𝑑 of the helical gear is:
𝑑 = 𝑍 𝑚 = 𝑍 𝑚 / 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜓
The axial pitch 𝑝 is:
𝑝 = 𝑝 / 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜓
For axial overlap of adjacent teeth, 𝑏 ≥ 𝑝 ; In practice 𝑏 = (1.15 − 2) 𝑝 is used. The relation
between normal and transverse pressure angles is
𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜑 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜑 . 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜓
In the case of helical gear, the resultant load between mating teeth is always perpendicular to the tooth
surface. Hence bending stresses are computed in the normal plane, and the strength of the tooth as a
cantilever beam depends on its profile in the normal plane. Fig. 8 below shows the view of helical gear
in normal and transverse plane.

Fig. 8 Equivalent Radius and Virtual number teeth of a Helical gear

The following figure shows the pitch cylinder and one tooth of a helical gear. The normal plane
intersects the pitch cylinder in an ellipse. The shape of the tooth in the normal plane is nearly the same
as the shape of a spur gear tooth having a pitch radius equal to radius Re of the ellipse.
𝑅 = 𝑑/ (2𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜓)
The formative or equivalent number of teeth for a helical gear may be defined as the number of teeth
that can be generated on the surface of a cylinder having a radius equal to the radius of curvature at a
point at the tip of the minor axis of an ellipse obtained by taking a section of the gear in the normal
plane. Mathematically, the equivalent number of teeth (also called virtual number of teeth), 𝑍 , of a
helical gear of equivalent radius 𝑅 :
𝑍 = = 𝑑/(𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜓)
Substituting 𝑚 = 𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜓, and 𝑑 = 𝑍 𝑚
𝑍 =

3. Gar Failures
Earlier various types of gear failures have been discussed in detail. Under contact conditions, gear
teeth are subjected to Hertzian contact stresses and elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication. Excessive loading
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and lubrication breakdown can cause combinations of abrasion, pitting and scoring. Hertz contact
stresses are the compressive stresses that are developed at the contact zone due to pressure between the
two curved surfaces that are pressed together. The actual contact is over a small area. Even though the
initial contact is over a point (spheres) or a line (cylinders), it becomes over a small area as a result of
the forces that pressing the bodies against each other. Failure typically results in flaking or pitting on
the surfaces of contact.

Failure due to insufficient Defacement due to insufficient

bending strength surface durability
(a) Gear teeth are subjected to Hertz contact stresses, and the lubrication is often elasto-hydrodynamic.
Excessive loading and lubrication breakdown at the contact zone results in various combinations of
abrasion, pitting and scoring.
(1) Abrasive wear is caused by the presence of foreign particles, in gears that are not enclosed. In the
case of enclosed gears that were assembled with abrasive particles present. Abrasive wear is also
present in gears that are lubricated by an oil supply with inadequate filtration.
(2) Scoring occurs at high speeds when adequate lubrication is not provided by the elasto-
hydrodynamic action. Lack of lubrication causes high sliding friction, high tooth loading and high
sliding velocities that produce a high rate of heat in the localized contact region causes welding and
tearing of surfaces apart. Scoring can often be prevented by directing adequate flow of appropriate
lubricant that maintains hydrodynamic lubrication. Surface finish is also an important factor for
scoring. Surface finish as fine as 0.5μm is desirable to avoid scoring.

(3) Pitting or surface fatigue failure: Complex stresses within the contact zone cause surface and
subsurface fatigue failures. Pitting occurs only after a large a number of repeated loading mainly in
the vicinity of the pitch line where the oil film breaks down because of zero sliding velocity.
(4) Tooth breakage due to fatigue. Teeth mainly break off due to fatigue. Each time of engagement,
tooth is subjected to varying load. Hence alternating bending stresses are developed at the root of
the teeth. A crack is liable to develop in the area of maximum stress concentration. If the direction
of rotation is unaltered, the contact is made each time on one side of the teeth and the crack usually
occurs in the tension zone. Under occasional overloads, failure of this type is observed in toothed
wheels.
4. Requirements of gear design:
1. Gear teeth should have sufficient strength to withstand starting loads due to high starting torques
and dynamic loads during normal running.
2. The teeth should have good wear characteristics so that their life will be satisfactory.
3. Use of space and materials should be economical.
4. Lubrication must be satisfactory.
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5. Gear Materials
Gears are commonly made of cast iron, steel, bronze, phenolic resins, acetal, nylon or other plastics.
The selection of material depends on the type of loading and speed of operation, wear life, reliability
and application.
Cast iron is the least expensive. ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) / AGMA grade 20 is
widely used. Grades 30, 40, 50, 60are progressively stronger and more expensive.CI gears have greater
surface fatigue strength than bending fatigue strength. Better damping properties of CI gears enable
them to run quietly than steel.
Nodular cast iron gears have higher bending strength together with good surface durability. These
gears are now days used in automobile cam shafts. A good combination is often a steel pinion mated
against cast iron gear.
Steel finds many applications since it combines both high strength and low cost. Plain carbon and alloy
steel usage is quite common. Through hardened plain carbon steel with 0.35 - 0.6% C are used when
gears need hardness more than 250 to 350 BHN. These gears need grinding to overcome heat treatment
distortion.
When compactness, high impact strength and durability are needed as in automotive and mobile
applications, alloy steels are used. These gears are surface or case-hardened by flame hardening,
induction hardening, nitriding or case carburizing processes. Steels such as En 353, En36, En24,
17CrNiMo6 widely used for gears.
Bronzes are used when corrosion resistance, low friction and wear under high sliding velocity is
needed as in worm-gear applications. AGMA recommends Tin bronzes containing small % of Ni, Pb
or Zn. The hardness may range from 70 to 85 BHN.
Non metallic gears made of phenolic resin, acetal, nylon and other plastics are used for light load
lubrication free quiet operation at reasonable cost. Mating gear in many such applications is made with
steel. In order to accommodate high thermal expansion, plastic gears must have higher backlash and
undergo stringent prototype testing.

6. Gear Design Using Lewis Equation:

Lewis considered gear tooth as a cantilever beam with static normal force F applied at the tip as shown
in Fig.9.

Fig.9 Forces on a spur gear tooth

Assumptions made in the derivation are:
1. The full load is applied to the tip of a single tooth in static condition.
2. The radial component is negligible.
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3. The load is distributed uniformly across the full face width.

4. Forces due to tooth sliding friction are negligible.
5. Stress concentration in the tooth fillet is negligible.

The Fig. 8 shows forces acting at the tip of a gear tooth. Consider the bending stress at the section ‘X-
X’ (root of the tooth)
=
Where the moment of inertia the at the root is
𝐼=
And ‘y’ is the distance from the neutral axis to the extreme point at the root section of
the tooth
𝑦 = 𝑡 ⁄2
The Mending moment at the root due to the tangential tooth load is
𝑀 = 𝑃 ℎ and the bending stress 𝑓= 𝜎
Substituting in the first equation

⁄
= 𝑃ℎ× ∴ 𝑃 = 𝜎 𝑏
In the above equation values of ‘t’ and ‘h’ depends on the circular pitch 𝑝
Let
𝑡 = 𝑥. 𝑝 and ℎ = 𝑘 𝑝
𝑃 = 𝜎 𝑏

𝑃 = 𝜎 𝑏𝑝
Let y is the Lewis from factor or tooth factor defined as
𝑦=
𝑃 = 𝜎 𝑏𝑝 𝑦
But 𝑝 = 𝜋 𝑚 where ‘m’ is the module pitch
𝑃 = 𝑏𝜎 𝜋 𝑚𝑦
Pt at permissible bending stress is called the static beam strength ‘F s’
𝐹 = 𝑏[𝜎 ]𝜋 𝑚𝑦
Where [𝜎 ] is the permissible bending stress or design bending stress. Let Y = π y, which is
known as modified Lewis form factor, then
𝐹 = [𝜎 ]𝑏 𝑚𝑌
7. Buckingham’s Dynamic Load Equation:

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According to Buckingham, small machining error and deflection of teeth under load cause
periods of acceleration, inertia forces, and impact loads on the teeth similar to variable
Loads superimposed on a steady load. The total maximum instantaneous load on the
teeth or dynamic load is
𝐹 = 𝐹 + 𝐹
and

0.164𝑉𝑚 𝑐𝑏+𝐹𝑡
𝐹 =
0.164𝑉𝑚 +1.485 𝑐𝑏+𝐹𝑡
where 𝐹 – dynamic load in 𝑘𝑔
𝐹 – transmitted load in 𝑘𝑔 (tangential load)
𝐹 – increment load due to machining errors and the pitch line velocity
𝑉 – pitch line velocity gear drive in m/min
b – face width of the gear in cm
c – factor depending on machining error
8. Wear Strength:
The failure of the gear tooth due to pitting occurs, when the contact stress between two meshing teeth
exceeds the surface endurance strength of the material. In order to avoid this type of failure, surface
hardness should be selected in such a way that the wear strength of the gear tooth is more than the
effective load between the meshing teeth. Analysis of wear strength is done by Buckingham based on
the Hertz’s stress theory.
P
d1

2w

Deformation at the
contact zone
d2

Fig.10 Two Cylinders Pressed under a Force 2P

According to Hertz theory, when the cylinders shown in Fig above are pressed together with a force
‘2P’, the contact stress is given by

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𝜎 =
Due to ‘2P’, deformations occurred at the point of contact and ‘w’ is the half width of the deformation
at the point of contact.
( )
𝑤=

Where 𝜎 is the contact compressive stress in 𝑁⁄𝑚𝑚

𝑃 is the force pressing the two cylinders in N
𝑤 is the half width of deformation in mm
𝑙 is the axial length of the cylinders in mm
𝐸 , 𝐸 are the modulus of Elasticity in 𝑁⁄𝑚𝑚 , and  is the poisons ratio. Substituting in 𝜎
1 1 2 2
𝜋𝑙 𝑑 +𝑑 +
𝑑1 𝑑2
(𝜎 ) =
( )
1 2
1 1 = 1 1
2𝑃(1−𝜇2 ) 𝐸 +𝐸 (1−𝜇2 ) 𝐸 +𝐸
1 2 1 2
1 1
+
𝑟1 𝑟2
(𝜎 ) =
𝜋(1−𝜇2 ) 1
+
1
𝐸1 𝐸2

Where 𝑟 , 𝑟 are the radii of the two cylinders. Now following assumptions are made
1. The cylinders are made of isotropic materials
2. The elastic material is not exceeded
3. Dimensions of 𝑟 , 𝑟 are very large compared to the width ‘2b’
Then take 𝜇 = 0.3, The equation for contact stress 𝜎 is

𝜎 = 0.35

When we apply the above equation to the gear profile, ‘𝑙’ becomes the face width ‘b’ of the gears,
𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟 be the radius of curvature of the profiles at their point of contact. The radius of curvature of
the pinion profile at the point contact is obtained from the figure below

Fig. 11 A pair of mating gear profiles

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𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛼 = , ∴ 𝑟 =

Same manner, radius of curvature of the gear profile at the point contact is
𝑟 =
Now
= 𝑎𝑛𝑑 =

+ = +
Defining a ratio factor Q as
𝑄= for external gears and 𝑄 = for internal gear
Substituting 𝑑 = 𝑚 𝑍 and 𝑑 = 𝑚 𝑍
𝑄= and =

+ = =
+ = =
The force acting along the pitch line normal to the profile is
𝑃=𝑃 =
The axial length of the gears is the face width ‘b’, so that 𝑙 = 𝑏

𝜎 = 0.35 = 𝜎 = 0.35
.
𝜎 =

Now the load factor 𝑘 is defined as

𝑘=
.
∴ 𝑃 = 𝑏𝑄𝑑 𝑘
Wear Strength: The wear strength is the maximum value of the tangential force that the tooth can
transmit without pitting. Complex stresses within the contact zone cause surface and subsurface fatigue
failures. Pitting occurs only after a large a number of repeated loading mainly in the vicinity of the
pitch line where the oil film breaks down because of zero sliding velocity. Replacing 𝑃 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑆
𝑆 = 𝑏𝑄𝑑 𝐾
The above equation is known as the Bukingham’s equation for wear strength. In the equation 𝜎 is
called Surface endurance strength.

For a pair of gears made of steel with 20o pressure angle the load factor 𝒌 is evaluated as
= + = = (8.14)
. × /

𝑘=
.
.
= × 𝑘𝑔𝑓/𝑐𝑚
. . ×
.
𝑘= 𝜎 𝑘𝑔𝑓/𝑐𝑚

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𝜎 is the surface endurance strength of the material in fatigue, its design value is given by
[𝜎 ] = 𝐶 𝐻𝐵𝑘 𝑘𝑔𝑓/𝑐𝑚 (8.16)
For carbon steel 𝐶 = 25, for the surface hardness less than 350 HB, 𝑘 = 1.0
[𝜎 ] = 25 × 1.0 × 𝐻𝐵 = 25 𝐻𝐵 𝑘𝑔𝑓/𝑐𝑚
.
𝑘= (25 𝐻𝐵 ) 𝑘𝑔𝑓/𝑐𝑚

𝑘 = 1.335 𝑘𝑔𝑓/𝑐𝑚 = 0.13 𝑁/𝑚𝑚

Drawbacks of Lewis equation are:

1. The tooth load in practice is not static. It is dynamic and is influenced by pitch line velocity and
manufacturing defects.
2. The whole load is carried by single tooth is not correct. Normally the load is shared by more
than one pair of teeth at the beginning of contact.
3. The greatest force exerted at the tip of the tooth is not true because the load is shared by more
pair of teeth at the beginning. Contact will be reduced to a single pair much later.
4. The stress concentration effect at the fillet is not considered.

Gear Design Procedure

1. Select the material for pinion and gear, and find the material properties (8.5, 1.9,1.40)
o
2. Select the tooth profile & pressure angle, if not given assume 20 involute
3. When both pinion and gear are made of same material pinion is weaker. When pinion and gear are
made of different material, product of [𝜎 ]𝑦 is the deciding factor. Lewis eqn. is used that wheel
for which [𝜎 ]𝑦 is lower.
4. Find out the transmitted load
𝐹 = 𝐻𝑃 × 𝑜𝑟 𝐾𝑊 × , 𝑉 = 𝑚⁄𝑠 (𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦)
×
5. Find out the dynamic load
𝐹 = 𝐹 𝐶 , where 𝑐 is the velocity factor (8.51)
6. Apply the Lewis Eqn.
𝐹 = [𝜎 ]𝑏𝑦𝑃 , 𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑏 = 3 − 4 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑃 (9 to 12 m) (8.50)
7. For the design the gear 𝐹 ≥ 𝐹 (8.51)
8. Calculate the Buckingham’s Dynamic load 𝐹 (8.51)
9. Calculate the Wear strength of the gear tooth 𝐹 (8.51)
10. Check the design 𝐹 ≥ 𝐹 (8.51)

Example 1: A 14 KW, 1200 rpm motor drives a compressor at 300 rpm, through a pair of spur gear
having 20o stub teeth. The centre distance between the shafts is 400 mm. Design the gear
drive and check the design for dynamic loading conditions and for mechanical wear.
Assume service factor 𝑘 = 1.25 for light shocks and 8-10 hrs/day.

Solution: Given 𝑁 = 1200 𝑟𝑝𝑚, 𝑁 = 300 𝑟𝑝𝑚, 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑃 = 14 𝐾𝑊,

𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝛼 = 20 (𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑏), 𝐶𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑛𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑎 = 40 𝑐𝑚
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𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑖 = 4, gear materials are selected from the Table 7 (8.5)
𝑃𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 ∶ 15𝑁𝑖 2 𝐶𝑟 1𝑀𝑜 15
𝐺𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 ∶ 𝐶45
Strength of Pinion (15𝑁𝑖 2 𝐶𝑟 1𝑀𝑜 15)
Design bending and compressive strengths (corresponding to i = 4) (8.5)
[𝜎 ] = 3000 𝑘𝑔𝑓 ⁄𝑐𝑚 [𝜎 ] = 9500 𝑘𝑔𝑓 ⁄𝑐𝑚
Strength of Gear (𝐶45)
[𝜎 ] = 1350 𝑘𝑔𝑓 ⁄𝑐𝑚 [𝜎 ] = 5000 𝑘𝑔𝑓 ⁄𝑐𝑚
The pitch diameters are calculated from the given center distance

= 400

And the known velocity ratio i

(𝑑 ⁄𝑑 ) = 4,
∴ 𝑑 = 160 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑 = 800 − 160 = 640 𝑚𝑚
Lewis form factor for 20o stub teeth is
.
𝑦 = 0.175 − (8.51)
.
𝑦 = 0.175 − (Substituting d in cm, module m is to be in cm)

For pinion with 20o pressure angle

𝑦 = 0.175 − 0.0594𝑚
For involute gear with 20o pressure angle
𝑦 = 0.175 − 0.0148𝑚
[𝜎 ] 𝑦 = 3000(0.175 − 0.0594𝑚) = 525 − 178.2 𝑚
[𝜎 ] 𝑦 = 1350(0.175 − 0.0148𝑚) = 236.25 − 19.98 𝑚
For any positive value of the module ‘m’
[𝝈𝒃 ]𝒑 𝒚 𝒑 > [𝝈𝒃 ]𝑮 𝒚𝑮 , Hence gear is weaker and design is for the gear
The design power is
𝑃 = 1.25 × 14 = 17.5 𝐾𝑊
The mean pitch line velocity (can be calculated based on pinion or gear, assuming d is in mm)
× ×
𝑣 = = = 10.05 𝑚⁄𝑠
×

The tangential load on the tooth

𝐹 = 𝐾𝑊 × 𝑘𝑔 (8.50)
. ×

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering NSS College of Engineering Palakkad-8

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𝐹 = 17.5 × 1000⁄(9.81 × 10.05) = 177.5 𝑘𝑔𝑓

The dynamic load on the gear tooth
𝐹 = 𝐹 ×𝐶 (8.50)
Select 𝐶 based on pitch line velocity range. For the speed range 5-20m/s carefully cut wheels are
recommended. The velocity factor for carefully cut wheels
𝐶 = (6 + 𝑣 )⁄6 = (6 + 10.05)⁄6 = 2.675 (8.51)
𝐹 = 177.5 × 2.675 = 474.813 𝑘𝑔𝑓
Lewis equation for beam strength
𝐹 = [𝜎 ]𝑏𝑦𝑃 = [𝜎 ] 𝑏 𝑦 𝜋 𝑚 (8.51)
Take 𝑏 = 10𝑚 , and 𝑦 = 0.175 − 0.0148𝑚
𝐹 = 1350 × 10 × 𝜋 (0.175 − 0.0148𝑚)𝑚
𝐹 = 7422 𝑚 − 627.69 𝑚
The strength of the beam should be greater than the dynamic load, so that
𝐹 ≥ 𝐹
7422 𝑚 − 627.69 𝑚 ≥ 474.813
On solving you get the module pitch in cm
𝑚 > 0.256 𝑐𝑚.
Table containing Standard module pitch is available in PSG data book page (8.2). For the known pitch
diameter 160 mm of the pinion, 5 mm module is appropriate.
∴ 𝑚 = 5 𝑚𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ 𝑏 = 10 × 5 = 50 𝑚𝑚 (8.2)
𝑍 = 𝑑 ⁄𝑚 = 160⁄5 = 32,
𝑍 = 𝑑 ⁄𝑚 = 640⁄5 = 128
𝐹 ≅ 1777.04 𝑘𝑔𝑓
(i) Buckingham’s Dynamic Load
. ( )
𝐹 =𝐹 + (8.51)
. .

The factor 𝑐 = 12300𝑒 (20 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑏), 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒 = 0.025 (carefully cut gears of 5 mm module) (8.53)
Here 𝑉 − 𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑐ℎ 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑚⁄𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝑉 = 10.05 × 60 = 603 𝑚⁄𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝐴 = 𝑐𝑏 + 𝐹 = 12300 × 0.025 × 5 + 177.5 = 1715
0.164 × 603 × 1715
𝐹 = 177.5 + = 1057.42 𝑘𝑔𝑓
0.164 × 603 + 1.485√1715
(i) Wear strength of the gear tooth (surface endurance strength) using
𝐹 = 𝑑 𝑄𝑘𝑏 (8.51)
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering NSS College of Engineering Palakkad-8
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𝑄 = 2𝑖 ⁄(𝑖 + 1) = 2 × 4⁄(4 + 1) = 1.6 (8.51)

𝑘= (8.51)
.
𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝐸 = 𝐸 = 𝐸 = 2.15 × 10 𝑘𝑔𝑓 ⁄𝑐𝑚 (8.14)
× ×
𝑘= = = 5.681
. . × . ×
𝐹 = 64 × 1.6 × 5.681 × 5 = 2908.7 𝑘𝑔𝑓
𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐹 ≥ 𝐹
𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑒 2908.7 > 1057.42 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆
Details of the designed gear drive (for 20o stub teeth) (8.22)
Pinion Gear
Pitch diameter 160 mm 640 mm
Face width (10𝑚) 50 mm 50 mm
Module (𝑚) 5 mm 5 mm
Addendum (0.8𝑚) 4 mm 4 mm
Tip diameter (20o stub teeth: 𝑑 + 2 × 0.8𝑚) 168 mm 648 mm
Root diameter (𝑑 − 2𝑚) 150 mm 630 mm
No. teeth (𝑑 ⁄𝑚) 32 128

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering NSS College of Engineering Palakkad-8