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THE KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF RAVIGNEAUX PLANETARY GEAR SET

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 THE KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF RAVIGNEAUX PLANETARY GEAR SET
KINEMATSKA ANALIZA RAVINJONOVOG PLANETARNOG PRENOSNIKA

Milan Novaković, Blaža Stojanović, Miloš Milisavljević, Slavica Miladinović

Faculty of Engineering, University of Kragujevac, Serbia, e-mail: novakovicbm@gmail.com

Resume: The power transfer is an irreplaceable part in military and automotive industries. The reason of
of every industry. Due to technology improvement, the more and more intense use of these gear sets lies
the mechanisms are working with less and less
in the advantages which they provide, like achieving
losses, but their constructions are becoming more
the high transmission ratios, the compactness,
complex. This essay is dedicated to the planetary
achieving the different degrees of transmission and
gear sets, with a focus on the Ravigneaux planetary
much more
gear set which represents, in fact, improved version
of Simpson’s planetary gear set. The detailed The part which differ the planetary gear sets from
kinematic analysis of the gear set will be explained the others is the existence of units which revolve
in a form of the calculation of the number of around their axes and at the same time around the
revolutions for every gear set, independently to the central unit and the central axis. Their movement is,
axis around which they revolve. by its characteristics, similar to the movement of the
planets, so that’s the reason why they’ve got their
Key words: Ravigneaux planetary gear set,
name.[1] The gears which are spinning only around
planetary mechanism, kinematic analysis of
their own axes are called central or sun gears, while
Ravigneaux planetary gear set.
the ones moving around them are called satellites
(see the Figure 1).
1. INTRODUCTION Ravigneaux planetary gear set mechanism belongs
to the mechanical power gear sets with gradually
The planetary gear sets belong to the group of
changeable transmission ratio which can act either as
mechanical gear sets whose the most common use is
reductor or multiplier. That’s double mechanical
gear set which was invented by Paul Ravigneaux. It
was patented on 28th of July 1949. in France. It is
composed of two sun gears and one central gear with
4 internal teeth and between them two satellites are
placed, bonded with a carrier, which can be seen in
Figure 1. [2, 3].

3
2. THE APPLICATION OF RAVIGNEAUX
PLANETARY GEAR SET
1
The application of the planetary gear sets is made
more difficult due to the use of the following
2 elements, which allow the turning on/turning off or
the blocking of certain elements of the gear set,
which makes the construction more complex and
more expensive.
h 5
These gear sets can accomplish huge transmission
ratios, but it should be mentioned that the degree of
Figure 1. Ravigneaux planetary gear set efficiently is reduced that way. The possibility that
(1,4,5 – central gears; 2,3 - satellites; the space between central gears can be filled by
h – satellite carrier) bigger number of satellites enables the better use of

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interior space and makes possible the compact For kinematic examinations and assignation of
construction of the planetary gear set. The kinematic characteristics of planetary gear sets, to-
application of bigger number of satellites enables the day in the technical literature are most commonly
transfer of the load simultaneously by larger number used:
of gear teeth, which leads to a reduction of the load
 method of plan velocity and number of
and enables the choice of smaller modules. Thanks
revolutions,
to these characteristics, it is used in different
branches of industry, but the most frequent  method of blocking the satellite carrier –
commercial application of Ravigneaux planetary method of Willis,
gear set is in the automotive industry, in construction
of automatic gearboxes.[4.5] The cars which use this  determining the transmission ratio by using
kind of power transfer are: Hyundai Solaris, of the rotation angle,
Mercedes-Benz W7A 700 (Figure 2), Mustang C4,  methods of the current pole and
C6 and many others.[5]
 method of decomposition of complex
motion – method of Swamp [1]
In this essay, for the kinematic analysis, it was used
combined method because other methods, which are
based on graphic methods, are making the situation
more complicated because the construction of the
acceleration plan and the plan of number of
revolutions is pretty long and inconvenient process.
Ravigneaux planetary gear set

Figure 2. The seven-speed automatic gearbox

Mercedes- Benz W7A 700
( 1÷ 3 couplings, 4 ÷7 brakes) [6]

3. METHODOLOGY OF THE ANALYSIS OF

THE PLANETARY GEAR SET
The design of the planetary gear sets implies
previous kinematic analysis of the adopted scheme
of the gear set. The main tasks of the kinematic
analysis are:
h
 determining transmission unit’s position,
 determining velocity and acceleration of
transmission elements,
 defining equations of motion of transmission Figure 3. Scheme of Ravigneaux planetary
elements, mechanism
(1- first central gear;
 determining number of revolutions of 2,3- satellites; 4- second central gear; 5 -
transmission elements and third central gear;
 determining transmission ratios. h- satellite carrier)
From the point of view of rational construction,
determining number of revolutions of certain In Figure number 2 is shown the scheme of
elements and defining of the transmission ratios are Ravigneaux gear set, on which we can see the marks
especially important. An exact defining of these used in the general equations of motion (1):
characteristics can be made difficult, especially in
ncz1  nh   1  io1 (ncz 2  nh )
m
the cases of complex planetary gear sets.
(1)
ncz 2  nh   1  io 2  ncz 3  nh 
m

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Where are: So, Ravigneaux planetary gear set will be marked
with Latin letter R and the corresponding concepts
 ncz1 – number of revolutions of first central will follow the marks of the Figure 4.
gear(gear 1, Figure 3),
4.1. Concept
 ncz 2 – number of revolutions of second
central gear (gear 4, Figure 3), This concept represents Ravigneaux gear set in case
where the central gear 4 is blocked (Figure 5). The
 ncz 3 – number of revolutions of third central starting point is the general equation (1) where
gear (gear 5, Figure 3), ncz1  n1 ; ncz 3  n5 ; ncz 2  n4 . The number of
 nh – number of revolutions of satellite necessary general equations of motion are always
one less than the number of central gears, so in this
carrier, case there are two of them. While their defining, it is
 m – number of external couplings between recommended to follow the power flow, i.e. the
gears in the gearbox from one central gear to longest path from the input to the exit, from the gear
another and number 1 through the gear 4 and then up to the
output gear 5. Marks z1  z5 represent the number of
 io1 , io 2 – kinematic transmission ratios of
gear teeth of the corresponding gears.
corresponding classical mechanical gear set.
Following equation is being used to determine self-
rotating speeds of satellites:

ns   1  ik   ncz1  nh 
m
(2)
The proof for the above mentioned equations can be
seen in the literature [1].

4. KINEMATIC ANALYSIS
Using the different coupling, the brake, etc. it is h
possible to block one of the transmission elements
and reach certain transmission ratio, or even change
the spinning direction of the output gear. If it’s Figure 5. Concept R154
supposed that the gear number 5 is connected to the
output shaft, there can be seven possible gear ratios The starting point are the general equations (1):
which can be reached by this gear set. In this essay it
n1  nh   1 io1  n4  nh 
m
will be explained in details the process of obtaining
the formulas of velocities and trans-mission ratios of
only one concept while the rest of them can be seen Where:
in the literature [5]. System of labeling is being z2 z3 z4 z4
necessary to create due to characteristic of planetary m  3; io1     ; n4  0
z1 z2 z3 z1
gear sets to easily change gear ratios depending on
which element is blocked i.e. its application as  m – number of external couplings between
gearbox. Due to characteristic of planetary gear sets gears, from 1st to 4th gear and
that it is easily possible to change the transmission
ratio depending on which element is blocked: due to  io1 – kinematic transmission ratio, from 1st
the application of planetary gear sets as gearboxes, to 4th gear.
the need for the system of labeling is created. To
remove doubts a-bout labeling and types of concepts After commutation of the given values from the last
in this essay, following system from the literature equations following expression is obtained:
will be used [1] (Figure 4). n1  nh  io1  nh 
n1
immobile element n1   io1  1 nh  nh 
Conceptinput _ output io1  1

Figure 4. Labeling of the planetary gear sets

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The number of revolutions for the satellite carriers: After commutation of the given values from the last
equations:
z1
nh  n1 (3)
z4  z1 n2  i1  n1  nh 

The second general equation is:  z1  z1 z4

n2  i1  n1  n1    n1 
 z4  z1  z2 z4  z1
n4  nh   1 io 2  n5  nh 
m

The number of revolutions of satellite number 2:

Where:
z1 z4
z z z n2   n1 (6)
m  1; i o 2  3  5   5 ; n4  0 z2  z4  z1 
z4 z3 z4

 m – number of external couplings between The negative value of number of revolutions of

satellite 2 shows that it revolves in the opposite
gears, from 4th to 5th gear and
direction of direction of revolutions of gear 1, i.e.
 io 2 – kinematic transmission from 4th to 5th input.
gear. Verification:
After ordering the expression: To successfully determine equation for verification
the number of revolutions calculated by expression
 nh  io 2  n5  nh 
(6), it is necessary to observe the system in the
z5 opposite direction:
1
io 2  1 z1 z4
 n5  nh  n1  n2ps   1 i2  n5  nh 
m

io 2 z4  z1 z5
z4 Where:
The number of revolutions output gear: z3 z5 z5
m  1; i2   
z2 z3 z2
z1  z5  z4 
n5  n1 (4)
z5  z4  z1   m – number of external couplings between
gears, from 2nd to 5th gear and
It is recommended to always express the
characteristic through the same one, relatively  i2 – kinematic transmission from 2nd to 5th
speaking, it is recommended to express the gear.
depended values from their dependent ones.
After the arranging of earlier equation:
Transmission ratio of the planetary gear set:
 z z  z  z1 
z5  z4  z1  n2ps  i2  n5  nh   i2  n1 1 5 4  n1 
i pp 
n1

n1
 (5)  z5  z4  z1  z4  z1 
n5 z1  z5  z4  z1  z5  z4 
n1
z5  z4  z1  n2ps  n1
z1 z4
(7)
z2  z4  z1 
To determine the number of self-rotation of
satellites, equation (2), is used: This verification proves the veracity.
n2   1 i1  n1  nh 
m
By making analogy with the process used for
calculation of the number of revolutions of satellite
Where is: 2, same approach is followed for calculating the
number of revolutions of other satellite i.e. gear 3.
z1
m  1; i1 
n3s   1 i1  n1  nh 
m
z2

 m – number of external couplings between Where:

gears, from 2nd to 1st gear and
z2 z1 z1
m  2; i1   
 i1 – kinematic transmission ratio from 2nd z3 z2 z3
to 1st gear.
 m – number of external couplings between
gears, from 3rd to 1st gear and

- 10 -
  i1 – kinematic transmission ratio from 3rd to z1 z4
n3ps  n1 (9)
1st gear. z3  z4  z1 
After commutation of given values in the previous This verification proves the veracity.
line:
Equations that determine the number of self-
z z4
n3 s  i1  n1  nh   n1 1  revolution of the satellites can be verified by
z3 z4  z1 checking their interrelation, wherein its well-known
that they should have opposite directions of
Number of revolutions of the satellite 3: revolution as well as that they should have kinematic
z1 z4 gear ratio as in the following expression:
n3 s  n1 (8)
z3  z4  z1  z1 z4
n1
n2 z 2  4  z1 
z z
Verification:   3 (10)
n3 z z
1 4 z2
n1
To successfully determine equation for verification z3  z4  z1 
the number of revolutions calculated by expression
(8) it is necessary to observe the system in the
opposite direction:
5. CONCLUSION
n3ps   1 i2  n5  nh 
m
In analogy to calculation from the previous chapter,
Where: depending on the input, detailed analysis of velocity
of elements of Ravigneaux gear set can be done.
z5
m  0; i2  Number of revolutions in correspondence to number
z3 of teeth of every element of Ravigneaux gear set is
shown in table 1. It is clear that, while choosing the
 m – number of external couplings between
adequate number of gear teeth depending on the
gears, from 3rd to 5th gear and
need, it is necessary to pay attention on getting the
 i2 – kinematic transmission ratio from 3rd highest possible number of varieties of transmission
to 5th gear. ratios. It should be highlighted that, in case of
having two blocked gears, the whole system is
After the arranging of earlier equation: acting like a coupling, so the transmission ratio is 1.
The detailed derivation of kinematic equations of
z5 z1 z4
n3ps  i2  n5  nh   n1  each of mentioned concepts in the table 1 can be
z3 z5  z4  z1  seen in literature [5].

6. LITERATURE

[4] S Ilić, B.Stojanović, Systematization of

[1] S. Tanasijević, A. Vulić, Mehanički planetary gear set configurations which are
prenosnici – planetarni prenosnici i implemented in automatic transmissions,
varijatori Kragujejevac 2006. Technical diagnostics, Vol.14, No.4, pp. 21-
26, ISSN 1451-1975, 2015
[2] B. Stojanović, M. Blagojević, Mechanical
Transmitters, Kragujevac 2015. [5] M. Novaković, the kinematic analysis of
Ravigneaux planetary gear set, Master
[3] A. Wenbourne, Ravigneaux Planetary
thesis, Kragujevac, 2015.
Transmission, SELMEC 2006.
[6] H. Naunheimer, B. Bertsche, J. Ryborz, W.
Novak, Automotive Transmissions –
fundamentals, selection, design and
application, 2011

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 Table 1. Specific values of Ravigneaux planetary gear set [5]
Conceptions
R154 R15h Rh15 Rh45 R45h 1
R45

z4  z1 z4  z1
n1 input input immobile nh nh immobile
z1 z1

z1 z4 z1 z1 z4 z4 z4 z1
n2  n1  n1 nh  nh n4 n4
z2  z4  z1  z2 z2 z2 z2 z2  z1  z4 
Number of revolutions

z1 z4 z1 z1 z4 z4 z4 z1
n3 n1 n1  nh nh  n4  n4
z3  z4  z1  z3 z3 z3 z3 z3  z1  z4 

z1 z4  z1
n4 immobile  n1 nh immobile input input
z4 z4

z1  z5  z4  z1 z5  z1 z5  z 4 z4 z4  z5  z1 
n5 n1 n1 nh nh n4 n4
z5  z4  z1  z5 z5 z5 z5 z5  z1  z4 

z1 z4
nh n1 immobile input input immobile n4
z4  z1 z1  z4

z5  z4  z1  z5 z5 z5 z5 z5  z1  z4 
i pp 
z1  z5  z4  z1 z5  z1 z5  z4 z4 z4  z5  z1 

Key:
 n1 , n2 , n3 , n4 , n5 – number of revolutions a-  i pp – transmission ratio of Ravigneaux
round their own axes, planetary gear set
 nh – number of revolutions of satellite a-  z1 , z2 , z3 , z4 , z5 – number of gear teeth.
round central axis,

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