Contents

► Introduction
► Why gears are used?
► Fundamentals of gearing
► Classification of gears
► Gear Making process
► Type of gear boxes
► Material for gear boxes
► Gear lubrication and cooling
► Gear failures
► Trouble shooting
► Market products and specification
Introduction

The term gear is defined as a machine element used to transmit motion and
power between rotating shafts and by means of progressive engagement of
projections called teeth.
Archimedes knew primitive forms of gear before the Christian era. Leonardo de
Vinci used the concept of gear system in many of his proposed machines.
In recent times, however, the technologists and engineers have concentrated
their efforts to device curves for gear teeth, which would provide constant
relative velocity of the gear tooth faces. With the invention of various geometric
curves (such as involutes, cycloids) the gearing system has become very
attractive, quite and continuous.
For the evolution of modern day gearing technology we must acknowledge the
contribution of scientists like Louise, Buckingham, Euler.

Use of Gears :-

To transmit torque/ power from one shaft to another shaft.

Other commonly used power transmitting elements:

 Belt drive

major limitation: Slippage

 Rope drive

 Chain drive major limitation: Discontinuous drive

To avoid slippage and discontinuity during power transmission, the best solution
is gear drive.

► To get desired rotational speed

► To change direction of rotation

► Where distance between drive shaft and driven shaft is very small

Disadvantages of gear drive

• Gear drive is costlier than other drives

• Error during cutting teeth causes vibration & noise while operation

• Gear drive requires proper lubrication for smooth running

• So as usual, designers has to be logical and optimal during selection of drive.

Fundamental of Gearing
How gears transmit power and motion: Concept of friction wheel

The motion and power transmitted by gear is kinematically equivalent to that

transmitted by friction wheel.

Consider two circular wheels A & B mounted on two parallel shafts and the
wheels are pressed against each other. Shafts are mounted on anti-friction
bearings.

When wheel A is rotated by shaft, it will rotate wheel B in opposite direction.

 Force on the system:
1. RN= Normal reaction between two rubbing wheels

(Separation force)

2. T= Tangential force

3. F= Frictional Force (F= µRN),

where µ= co-efficient of friction

When T≤ µRN wheel B will rotated by wheel A

When T> µRN slippage will take place

Slippage prevention :
► Simply by increasing the frictional resistance between the two surfaces. To
increase this frictional resistance, a number of projections (called teeth) are
made on the periphery of both the wheels.

► A friction wheel with teeth cut on it is called gear.

Gear Tooth Terminology:
Important definitions:
►Pitch circle:
It is the imaginary circle that rolls without slip with a pitch circle of a
mating gear.

► Pitch Point:
It is the point of tangency of two pitch circles and is on the line-of-
centers. The pitch point of a tooth profile is at its intersection with the pitch
circle.

►Circular pitch:
It is the distance measured on the circumference of the pitch circle
from a point on the tooth to the corresponding point on the next tooth.
Mathematically,

circular pitch, pc=∏D/T,

where, D= P.C.D. , T= No. of teeth

►Module:
It is the ratio of the pitch circle diameter in millimeters to the
number of teeth.

Mathematically, Module, m=D/T

 The recommended series of the modules in Indian standard are

1, 1.25, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 25, 32, 40, 50.

►Backlash:
It is the distance between the tooth space and the tooth thickness of
mating gear as measured on the pitch circle.

Purpose of backlash:

 prevent gears from jamming together

 making contact on both sides of their teeth simultaneously.

 Lack of backlash may cause noise, overloading, overheating of the

gears and bearings, and even seizing and failure.

Excessive backlash is objectionable, particularly if the drive is frequently

reversing, or if there is an overrunning load as in cam drives. Excess
backlash causes noisy operation.

Backlash does not affect involute action.

►Pressure Angle:
If a tangent is drawn to the involute profile of a tooth at any point on
the curve, and if a radius line is drawn through this point of tangency
connecting this point with the centre of the gear, then the acute angle
included between this tangent and radial line is defined as pressure angle
at that point.

In gear design, the pressure angle is measured at the pitch point.

 Principle of transmission & conjugate action:
When a pair of gear teeth act together against each other, rotary motion is
produced which is transmitted from the driver to the driven gear. If such a
pair of tooth profiles which are so designed that a constant angular velocity
ratio is produced and maintained during meshing, the two gears are said to
have conjugate action and the tooth profiles are said to have conjugate
curves.

Conjugate action:
In other words, conjugate action is assumed if, ω1/ ω2=constant, where,

ω1= Angular velocity of the driver (generally called pinion)

ω2= Angular velocity of the driven (generally called gear)

In case of conjugate action,

ω1/ ω2= D2/D1

D1= PCD of pinion

D2= PCD of gear

Gear teeth profile:

To produce conjugate action, following tooth profiles are used:

► Involute teeth

► Cycloidal teeth

► Epi-cycloidal teeth & Hypo cycloidal teeth

 Involute curve:
The involute curve is most easily understood as the trace of a point at the
end of a taut string that unwinds from a cylinder. It is imagined that a point
on a string, which is pulled taut in a fixed direction, projects its trace onto a
plane that rotates with the base circle. The base cylinder, or base circle as
referred to in gear literature, fully defines the form of the involute and in a
gear it is an inherent parameter, though invisible.

► Involutes teeth are most commonly used profile for industrial gears.

Cycloidal curve:
► Consider a point, “P” on the perphery of a circle. Now if the circle rolls on a
fixed line, then the contour made by the point “P”, is known as cycloidal
curve.

► If the circle rolls on the outer periphery of another circle (which is fixed),
then the contour made by the point “P”, is known as epi-cycloidal curve.

► If the circle rolls on the inner periphery of another circle (which is fixed),
then the contour made by the point “P”, is known as hypo-cycloidal curve.
Why involute curve is widely used?
The involute curve is almost exclusively used in modern gearing system. The
advantage of involute profile over the cycloidal profile is given below:

► The form of the basic rack tooth is straight-sided, and therefore is relatively
simple and can be accurately made; as a generating toolift imparts high
accuracy to the cut gear tooth. A hob cutter for the cycloidal gear is not as
easily made.

► In cycloidal gears, for a mating pair, there is only one theoretical correct centre
distance for which this will transmit motion maintaining a constant angular
velocity ratio.In case of involute gearing system, the centre distance can be
changed without affecting the angular velocity ratio.This advantage of involute
system is of prime importance as most of the modern gears are corrected ones
having changed centre.Also, in case of gearing systems having standard centre
distance, it is not possible to accurately maintain that distance due to
mounting inaccuracies, misalignments and a number of other diverse factors.
► While the cycloidal tooth profile has double curvature, an involute tooth has
single curvature, which facilitates ease of manufacturing.

► In involute profile as the path of contact is straight line and the pressure angle
is constant, there is constant force acting on the axes. In cycloidal gear, the
pressure angle continuously changes. This results in separating forces of
variable magnitude, which in turn gives rise to unquiet operation.

Disadvantages of involute curve over cycloidal curve

► In case of cycloidal gear, minimum number of teeth can be as low as 6 or 7;
but in case of involute gears, minimum number of teeth is 17.

► The cycloidal teeth is stronger than the involute teeth. There is more
material at the root portion of the cycloidal tooth as compared to an
involute tooth.

► Involute teeth has the problem of interference, but the cycloidal gears do
not have interference and the problem thereof.

Interference & Undercutting

► The maximum length of the line-of-contact is limited to the length of the
common tangent.

► Any tooth addendum that extends beyond the tangent points (T and T') is
not only useless, but interferes with the root fillet area of the mating tooth.
This results in the typical undercut tooth. The undercut not only weakens
the tooth with a wasp-like waist, but also removes some of the useful
involute adjacent to the base circle.

From the geometry of the limiting length-of-contact (T-T') it is evident that

interference is first encountered by the addenda of the gear teeth digging into
the mating-pinion tooth flanks.
 Interference & Undercutting

Geometry of proper teeth meshing

Tooth correction: One of the method of avoiding undercut, is tooth correction or

tooth enlargement. This is achieved by pinion enlargement (or correction as often
termed), wherein the pinion teeth, still generated with a standard cutter, are shifted
radially ourward to form a full involute tooth free of undercut The tooth is enlarged
both radially and circumferentially.

► Interference condition becomes more severe as the number of teeth on the gear
increases. The limit is reached when the gear becomes a rack. This is a realistic
case since the hob is a rack-type cutter. The result is that standard gears with
tooth numbers below a critical value are automatically undercut in the generating
process. The limiting number of teeth in a gear meshing with a rack is given by the
expression:

► Nc = 2/sin²α

This indicates the minimum number of teeth free of undercutting decreases with
increasing Pressure angle.

► For 14½º the value of Nc is 32, and for 20° it is 17.

System of gear teeth
Following four system of gear teeth is commonly used:

► 14 ½ ° composite

► 14 ½ ° full depth involute

► 20 ° full depth involute

► 20 ° full stub involute

Classification of gears
According to the position of shafts:

► Parallel shaft:

(i) Spur gear: gear teeth are straight along the length and are parallel to the axes.

(ii) Helical gear:

(a) Single helical gear: the teeth are helices and these helices may be left handed
or right handed.

(b) Double helical gear (herringbone gear): these gears are actually two helical
gears of hands, placed side by side and cut on the same blank to obtain composite
unit.

► Intersecting shaft:

(i) Bevel gear:

(a) Straight bevel gear: the gear blank is cone on which teeth are generated. The
teeth are straight.

(b) Spiral bevel gear: the elements are curved in the shape of spiral, so that
contact between intermeshing teeth become gradual and continuous.

► Non-intersecting and non-parallel shaft:

(i) Hypoid gear: these are similar to spiral bevel gears, but have non-intersecting
axes, ie. the axis of the pinion is offset relative to the gear axis.

(ii) Crossed helical gear: these are cylindrical helical gears, but their axes are at am
angle when in mesh and do not intersect.
 (iii) Worm gear: the axes are normally at right angles to each other. The tooth
elements of both the components are helices.

Classification of gears

Gear Making process

Modern methods of producing gear teeth cover a wide variety:

► Machining

► Grinding

► Casting

► Molding

► Forming (drawing, extruding, rolling)

► Stamping

Each method offers special characteristics relating to quality, production quantity,

cost, material and application.
 Machining
Machining constitutes the most important method of generating gear teeth. It is
suitable for high precision gears in both small and large quantities.

Various methods of machining is described below:

► Teeth formation process

► Tooth finishing process

Teeth formation process

Gear Milling:

Basic Principle: After each tooth is milled, gear blank is rotated to the next
cutting.

Disadvantage:

(1)Time consuming

(2) Involves heavy stock removal operation which require high accuracy of
indexing mechanism

Hob generation:
► This is the most widely used method of cutting gear teeth.

► Basic Principle: In this process the work piece rotates in constant relationship with
the cutting tool ie. The gear hob. The rack is in the form of a worm.

► The central section of the hob is identical to that of the worm and gear. The
differences are that the thread of the hob is axially gashed or fluted in several
places so as to form cutting edges, while the sides and top of these teeth are
relieved behind the gash surface to permit proper cutting action. This
arrangement, in eftect, gives an infinitely long rack so that cutting is both steady
and continuous. To generate the full Width of the gear, the hob slowly traverses
the face of the gear as it rotates. Thus, the hob has a basic rotary motion and a
unidirectional traverse at right angles.
► Both movements are relatively simple to effect, resulting in a very accurate
process.

► A further advantage of hobbing is that the hob can be swiveled relative to the
blank axis. This permits cutting helical gears of all angles with the same tooling.

With regard to accuracy, hobbing is superior to the other cutting processes. Gears
can be directly hobbed to ultra-precision tolerances without resorting to any
secondary refining processes.

Gear shaping:

► It’s a continuous generating process.

► Cutter is a gear with cutting edges. Profile is generated with number of

enveloping cuts produced by the cutter teeth.

► It is time consuming as time is lost during return stroke of cutter and half of
the total machining time is spent in metal removal.

Gear grinding:
Although grinding is often associated with quantity fabrication of high quality
gears as a secondary refining operation, it is also a basic process for producing
hardened gears. In addition, many high-precision fine-pitch gears have their teeth
entirely ground from the blank state.

► There are a number of distinct advantages to ground gears. These are listed
as follows:

1. Achievement of high precision is possible because the process can remove very
little material in the final pass.

2. Grinding results in a much finer surface finish than any machining process.

3. Hardened steel alloys can be ground.

4. Residual surface stresses are minimal.

Gear grinding:

► Ground gears’ superior load carrying capacity is not only due to the
hardened alloys higher mechanical properties, but also because of the finer
surface finish. A fine finish enables maintenance of a good continuous oil
film versus boundary lubrication and breakthrough. The result is higher
load capactry along with reduced wear and longer useful life.

► Although there are distinct advantages for ground gears, there are some
limitations and disadvantages. These are:

1. Grinding is limited to ferrous materials.

2. Hard metals grind better than soft ones.

3. Grinding of helicals and worms has limitations that possibly involve

profile deviations and removal.

4. Pro-grind hobbing requires special protruberance hobs to provide grind

wheel clearance at the root.

5. Gear grinding machinery is scarcer than hobbing machines.

6. Grinding is a secondary operation which increases total gear cost

► Despite involving higher cost and other limitations, ground gears are always
superior in precision and strength.
Tooth finishing process
Lapping:
► Gear finishing process, used after heat treatment.

► It improves surface finish, correct distortions and improved wear life.

► Lapping also contribute to have proper backlash, between meshing teeth.

Other tooth finishing operations are shaving, honning, etc.

Type of gearbox
Generally following gearboxes are used in industries:

► Helical gearbox

► Bevel-helical gearbox

► Worm gearbox

► Heli-worm gearbox

► Geared motor

Material
Gear steels may be divided into two general classes:

► the plain carbon

► the alloy steels.

Alloy steels are used in the industrial field, but heat-treated plain carbon steels
are also common.

The advantages obtained from using heat-treated alloy steels in place of heat-
treated plain carbon steels are as follows:
 1) Increased surface hardness and depth of hardness penetration for the same
carbon content and quench.

2) Ability to obtain the same surface hardness with a less drastic quench and,
in the case of some of the alloys, a lower quenching temperature, thus giving
less distortion.

3) Increased toughness, as indicated by the higher values of yield point,

elongation, and reduction of area.

4) Finer grain size, with the resulting higher impact toughness and increased
wear resistance.

5) In the case of some of the alloys, better machining qualities or the

possibility of machining at higher hardness.

There are generally two types of heat treated alloy steels:

► Volume hardened steel (or through hardened steel)

► Case hardened steel

Volume hardened steel (or through hardened steel)

Thru-hardening steels are used when great strength, high endurance limit,
toughness, and resistance to shock are required. These qualities are governed by
the kind of steel and treatment used. Fairly high surface hardnesses are
obtainable in this group, though not so high as those of the casehardening steels.
For that reason, the resistance to wear is not so great as might be obtained, but
when wear resistance combined with great strength and toughness is required,
this type of steel is superior to the others. Thru hardening steels become
distorted to some extent when hardened, the amount depending upon the steel
and quenching medium used.

When the grinding of gear teeth is not practicable and a high degree of accuracy
is required, hardened steels may be drawn or tempered to a hardness that will
permit the cutting of the teeth. This treatment gives a highly refined structure,
great toughness, and, in spite of the low hardness, excellent wearing qualities.
Case hardened steel
► Casehardening steels with their extremely hard, fine-grained (when
properly treated) case and comparatively soft and ductile core are generally
used when resistance to wear is desired. Casehardening alloy steels have a
fairly tough core, but not as tough as that of the full-hardening steels.

► But wear resistance combined with toughness, these steels are more
effective, and a same size of properly case-hardened gear combination can
transmit more torque, compared to a gear pair made of volume hardened
steel.

Material of gear/ gearbox generally used in Indian industries

► Helical gears:

(a) Volume hardened steel (or through hardened steel)

Pinion: EN 19 (Hardened & Tempered), Hardness: 280-320 BHN

Gear: EN 24 (Hardened & Tempered), Hardness: 230-280 BHN

(b) Case hardened steel

Pinion & Gear: SAE 8620 or 17CrNiMo6 or EN 356, Case Hardness: 55 Rc, Core
Hardness: 180-210 BHN

► Bevel Gears:

Same as helical gears

► Worm Gears:

Worm shaft: C45

Worm wheel: Phosphor Bronze

► Housing: CI FG 400 IS 210 or Fabricated (IS 2062)

► Modern gear technologists are trying to develop new alloying materials for
gears, to increase gear strength, with compact and reduced size.

► Apart from steels, other materials also used for gears (depending upon
requirement), ie:

Die Cast Alloys, Sintered Powder Metal, Plastics, etc.

Gear box lubrication
► Gearbox lubrication:

► All gears are delivered from manufacturer without oil.

► Before start up, the gear should be filled with oil recommended.

► Oil should be filled to oil level indicator.

► The oil level should be checked regularly. The checking must be made while the
drive is stationary.

► Sometimes, bearings are normally oil lubricated on primary side and grease
lubricated on secondary side.

► First oil change should take place after running-in period. Drain oil immediately
after stop while oil is still worm. Second oil change should take place after 200
working hours. Afterwards, oil change is recommended after period of 2000-
4000 working hours depending on working conditions.

► The oil in the sump carries out lubrication of the gears and bearings
automatically. Units are fitted with filler, oil level indicator and breather for easy
routine inspection and maintenance. For low speed application, grease or forced
feed lubrication may be necessary. Maximum heat dissipation is achieved by
means of a radial fan for directing high velocity air over the cooling ribs of gear
case. For higher capacities, the units are provided with cooling coils in the lower
part of the housing for allowing cool water passing through a suitable port
entry. With pressure lubrication, oil cooler can be mounted in the oil circuit to
achieve more efficient and effective cooling.
Gear failure
Causes for gear failure:

Surface fatigue:

(a) Case exfoliation

(b) Initial pitting

(c) Progressive pitting

Scuffing:

(a) Light scuffing

(b) Heavy scuffing

Abrasive wear:

(a) Foreign matter in the lubricant (scoring)

Tooth breakage:

(a) Brittle fracture resulting from high shock load

(b) Excessive loading causing fatigue fracture

► Plastic deformation

► Smooth chemical wear

Tooth Pitting
► Pits are formed when material is flaked off the tooth surface near or below
the pitch line due to heavy contact pressure.

► This is the removal of small bits of metal from the surface, due to fatigue,
thereby leaving small holes or pits. This is caused by high tooth loads
leading to excessive surface stress, a high local temperature due to high
rubbing speeds, or inadequate lubrication. Minute cracking of the surface
develops, spreads and ultimately results in small bits breaking out of the
tooth surface.
Tooth Pitting
Tooth Scuffing:

Tooth Scoring
Tooth breakage
Tooth breakage occurs due to:

► Repeated overloading

► Impact load during meshing

► Uneven distribution of load due to misalignment of axes

Remedies:

► Increase tooth bending strength

► Proper design of the gear teeth

► Use large chamfer at the end of the tooth

► Proper assembly of the drive system to avoid misalignment.

Plastic deformation
► Sometimes, due to over loading, uneven stress distribution and misalignment,
gear teeth does not break, but it got distorted, and permanent plastic
deformation takes place.

Remedies:

► Proper hardness of the gear teeth

► Proper design of the gear teeth

► Proper assembly of the drive system to avoid misalignment.

Smooth chemical wear

Cause:

► Presence of mineral impurities in the lubricant

Remedies:

► Case harden the teeth

► Use proper and pure lubricant

Good surface finish

Trouble shooting
Common defects in gearbox:

► Gear heating up

► Gearbox leakage

► Gearbox noise

► Gearbox vibration

► Oil seal whistle

Gearbox heating up
► High surrounding temperature may cause heating up

► Over loading: If gear box is heating considerably right from the beginning of
its installation, immediate attention should be paid in the fact whether
gearbox was properly selected, taking into account all the factors under
which it is required to operate.

► Use of wrong lubricant: Depending upon the conditions of working, proper

lubricant must be used.

► Excessive churning: High viscosity of oil or over filling of the gearbox will
produce excessive churning losses consequently heating up the gearbox.

► Bearing clearance not proper: Improper bearing clearance may allow the
axial floating of shaft and bearing damage.

► Misalignment: Misalignment between the shaft of gearbox and the prime

mover and or the driven load causes non uniform load on bearing and
shafts. Whenever possible, use common base plate for motor and gearbox
or else proper alignment should be done.
Gearbox leakage
Due to over filling, the oil level may rise above the mark and upto the level of oil
seal, and there fore leakage could start.

► Leakage may very rarely take place through joint faces between top and
bottom half or end caps in which case tightening of bolts and screws will
stop leakage, if not then a fresh layer of good jointing compound will have
to be applied to the joint faces.

► Any slight damage to the lips of the oil seals due to wear or misuse could
start leakage, in which case they need to be replaced.

Gearbox noise
Causes of noisy gearbox operation:

► Bearing worn out

► Worn out gears

► Foreign particle in the gearbox, may be mixed with lubricant

► Excessive backlash

► Tooth contact not proper

► Eccentric running of shaft

► Proper action to be taken so that, these errors can be eliminated.

Gearbox vibration
► Vibration is another area for concern. Solid foundation and perfect
alignment is required for the gearbox. Couplings should be well balanced to
avoid vibration.
Oil seal whistle
► A dry condition of oil seal lips, which allowed to continue, will char and ruin
oil seal lips. Smear the oil seal lips with lubricant and do not let it remain
dry even when stored for a long time.

Market products and specification

Specification:

► Type of gearbox

► Transmitted power

► Ratio=Input RPM/Output RPM

► Duty condition

► Type of loading- application

► Type of prime mover

Name of some gearbox manufacturing company used in

Indian Industries:
► New Allenberry Works

► Greaves

► Elecon

► Shanthi

► Flender

► SEW
Designation of gearbox
Example:

► Helical/ Bevel-helical Gearbox:

► Make: New Allenberry Works

► Unit brand name: Helimax

CS C H 110

Type of gearbox Number of stage Special case Centre distance

CS-Helical A-Single stage H-Foot mounted (last stage)

CK-Bevel B-Double stage hollow output shaft

C-Triple stage A-Shaft mounted

D-Quadruple stage hollow output shaft

V-Vertical output shaft

Example:

► Geared motor:

► Make: New Allenberry Works

► Unit brand name: Optimax

Gear unit Motor unit

R. 93. 52 V DC 90S - 4

Type Size Size Type Size No. of poles

(only 2 gear casing)

No. of stage No. of stage

Type of gear unit (for geared motor, New Allenberry make):
► R- foot mounted with co-axial or offset output shaft & with one or two gear
casing

► RF- flanged type with co-axial or offset output shaft & with one or two gear
casing

► R..F-foot cum flanged type with co-axial or offset output shaft with one or
two gear casing

► RUF-flanged type with extended hub and shaft and with co-axial or offset
output shaft with one or two gear casing.

Type of motor:

► DC-three phase with squirrel cage face mounting motor

► DF-three phase with squirrel cage flange mounting motor

Example:
► Worm Gearbox:

► Make: New Allenberry Works

► Unit brand name: Allroyd

S U M 3

Type of gearbox Metric unit Centre distance (in

inches)

SU-Underdriven

SO-Overdriven

SV-Vertical output shaft

For different manufacturer, specification changes; so example given here is

only indicative.