Chapter 9 Spur Gear Design

The big picture: What to learn in chapter 9?

• A spur gear has involute teeth that are

straight and parallel to the axis of the shaft
that carries the gear.
1. Describe the action of the teeth of the driving gear on those
of the driven gear.
2. what kind of stresses are produced?
3. How do the geometry of the gear teeth,the materials from
which they are made , and the operating conditions affect
the stresses and the life of the drive system?
 About a spur gear
• A spur gear is one of the most fundamental
types of gears.
• Its teeth are straight and parallel to the axis of
the shaft that carries the gear. The teeth have
the involute( 渐开线 ) form.
• The action of one tooth on a mating tooth is
like that of two convex( 凸轮廓 ),curved
members in contact: as the driving gear
rotates,its teeth exert a force on the mating
gear that is tangential to the pitch circles of
the two gears.
 Consider the action described in the preceding
paragraph:
• How does that action related to the design of
the gear teeth? Figure 8-1
• As the force is exerted by the driving tooth on
the driven tooth, what kinds of stresses are
produced in the teeth? Consider both the
point of contact of one tooth on the other and
the whole tooth. Where are stresses a
maximum?
• How could the teeth fail under the influence of
these stresses?
• What material properties are critical to allow the
gears to carry such loads safely and with a
reasonable life span?
• What are the important geometric features that affect
the level of stress produced in the teeth?
• How does the precision of the tooth geometry affect
its operation?
• How does the nature of the application affect the
gears?
For example,what if the machine that the gears drive
is a rock crusher ( 碎石机 )that takes large boulders(
大石头 ) and reduces them to gravel( 砂砾 ) made up
of small stones? How would that loading compare
with that of a gear system that drives a fan providing
ventilation air( 流通空气 ) to a building?
• What is the influence of the driving machine?
Would the design be different if an electric
motor were the driver or if a gasoline engine
were used?
• The gears are typically mounted on shafts
that deliver power from the driver to the input
gear of a gear train and that take power from
the output gear and transmit it to the driven
machine.Describe various ways that the
gears can be attached to the shafts and
located with respect to each other. How can
the shafts be supported?
 You are the designer
• The teeth must not break;
• They must have a sufficiently long life to
meet the needs of the customer who uses
the reducer.
 We need more data
• How much power is to be transmitted?
• To what kind of machine is the power from
the output of the reducer being delivered?
• How does that affect the design of the gears?
• What is the anticipated duty cycle for the
reducer in terms of the number of hours per
day,days per week,materials that are suitable
for gears?
• Which material will you specify , and what
will be its heat treatment?
 9-1 objectives of this chapter

After completing this chapter,you can do demonstration of

competencies as following:
1. Compute the forces exerted on gear teeth as they rotate
and transmit power ;
2. Describe various methods for manufacturing gears and the
levels of precision and quality to which they can be
produced;
3. Specify a suitable level of quality for gears according to
the use to which they are to be put;
4. Describe suitable materials from which to make the
gears, in order to provide adequate performance for both
strength and pitting resistance;
5. Use the standards of the American Gear
Manufacturers Association (AGMA) as the basis for
completing the design of the gears;
6. Use appropriate stress analyses to determine the
relationships among the applied forces, the geometry of
the gear teeth,the precision of the gear teeth, and other
factors specific to a given application, in order to make
final decisions about those variables.
 9-1 Objectives of this chapter

7. Perform the analysis of the tendency for the contact

stresses exerted on the surfaces of the teeth to
cause pitting of the teeth,in order to determine an
adequate hardness of the gear material that will
provide an acceptable level of pitting resistance for
the reducer ;
8. Complete the design of the gears,taking into
consideration both the stress analysis and the
analysis of pitting resistance. The result will be a
complete specification of the gear geometry,the
material for the gear, and the heat treatment of the
material.
 9-2 concepts from previous chapters

• As learned in chapter 8, key relationships that

you should be able to use include the
following:
pitch line speed = ν t = Rω = ( D / 2)ω
where R = radius of the pitch circle
D = pitch diameter
ω = angular velocity of the gear
Because the pitch line speed is the same for both the pinion
and the gear, value for R, D, and ω can be for either. In the
computation of stresses in gear teeth, it is usual to express the
pitch line speed in the units of ft/min,while the size of the
gear is given as its pitch diameter expressed in inches. Speed
of rotation is typically given as n rpm,that is , n rev/min.
Let’s compute the unit-specific equation that gives pitch
line speed in ft/min:

D in n rev 2π rad 1 ft
vt = ( D / 2)ω = ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
2 min rev 12 in
= (πDn / 12) ft / min (9 - 1)
 Velocity ratio

The velocity ratio can be expressed in many

ways. For the particular case of a pinion
( 小齿轮 ) driving a larger gear.

ωp n P RG DG N G
velocity ratio = VR = = = = = (9 - 2)
ωG nG R P D P N P
 Gear ratio
A related ratio,mG,called the gear ratio, is often used in
analysis of the performance of gears. It is defined as the ratio
of the number of teeth in the larger gear to the number of the
teeth in the pinion,regardless of which is the driver. Thus, mG
is always greater than or equal to 1.0. When the pinion is the
driver, as it is for a speed reducer, mG is equal to VR. That is,
Gear ratio = m G = N G / N P ≥1.0 (9 - 3)
The pressure angle,φ, is an important feature that characterize
the form of the involute curve that makes up the active face of
the teeth of standard gears. See Fig.8-13,Fig.8-12.
That angle between a normal to the involute curve and the
tangent to the pitch circle of a gear is equal to the pressure angle.
 9-3 Forces on gear teeth

• To understand the method of computing stresses in

gear teeth, consider the way power is transmitted by
a gear system.
Torque = power/rotational speed = P (9 - 5)
n
The input shaft transmits the power from the coupling to
the point where the pinion is mounted. The power is
transmitted from the shaft to the pinion through the key.
The teeth of the pinion drive the teeth of the gear and thus
transmit the power to the gear. But again, power
transmission actually involves the application of a torque
during rotation at a given speed.
 Torque

The torque is the product of the force acting tangent

to the pitch circle of the pinion times the pitch
radius of the pinion.
we use the symbol Wt to indicate the tangential
force. As described,Wt is the force exerted by the
pinion teeth on the gear teeth.
But if the gears are rotating at a constant speed
and are transmitting a uniform level of power, the
system is in equilibrium. Therefore, there must be
an equal and opposite tangential force exerted by
the gear teeth back on the pinion teeth. This is an
application of the principle of action and reaction.
• To complete the description of the power
flow, the tangential force on the gear teeth
produces a torque on the gear equal to the
product of Wt times the pitch radius of the
gear. Because Wt is the same on the pinion
and the gear, but the pitch radius of the gear
is larger than that of the pinion,the torque on
the gear (the output torque) is greatest than
the input torque. However, note that the
power transmitted is the same or slightly less
because of mechanical inefficiencies. The
power then flows from the gear through the
key to the output shaft and finally to the
driven machine.
• Gears transmit power by exerting a force by the
driving teeth on the driven teeth while the reaction
force acts back on the teeth of the driving gear.
• Fig.9-2 shows that, a single gear tooth with the
tangential force Wt acting on it. But this is not the
total force on the tooth. Because of the involute form
of the tooth, the total force transferred from one tooth
to the mating tooth acts normal to the involute profile.
This action is shown as Wn. The tangential force Wt
is actually the horizontal component of the total force.
To complete the picture, note that there is a vertical
component of the total force acting radially on the
gear tooth, indicated by Wr.
 Diametral pitch
• The diametral pitch,Pd,characterizes the
physical size of the teeth of a gear. It is
related to the pitch diameter and the number
of teeth as follows:
Pd = N G / DG = N P / DP (9 - 4)
• Transmitted force,Wt, is based on the given
data for power and speed. It is convenient to
develop unit-specific equations for Wt because
standard practice typically calls for the
following units for key quantities pertinent to
the analysis of gear sets:
• Forces in pounds (lb);
• Power in horsepower (hp) (Note that 1.0hp =
550lb⋅ft/s.)
• Rotational speed in rpm, that is , rev/min
• Pitch line speed in ft/min;
• Torque in lb⋅in
• The torque exerted on a gear is the product of the
transmitted load, Wt, and the pitch radius of the gear.
The torque is also equal to the power transmitted
divided by the rotational speed. Then

T = Wt ( R) = Wt ( D / 2) = P / n
then
2p 2 P(hp) 550lb ⋅ ft / s 1.0 rev 60 s/min 12 in
Wt = = ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
Dn D(in) ⋅ n(rev / min) hp 2π rad ft
Wt = (126000)( P) /(nD)lb (9 - 6)
Power is also the product of the transmitted force, Wt,
and the pitch line velocity:
P =Wt ⋅v t

Then, solving for the force and adjusting units,

P P (hp) 550 lb / s 60 s/min 12 in
Wt = = ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ (9 - 7)
vt Vt ( ft / min) 1.0 hp ft
also compute torque in lb ⋅ in :
P P (hp) 550 lb ⋅ ft/s 1.0 rev 60 s/min 12 in
T= = ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ ⋅
ω n(rev / min) 1.0 hp 2π rad ft
T = 63000( P) / n lb ⋅ in (9 - 8)
 • These values can be computed for either the pinion
or the gear by appropriate substitutions.
• The pitch line speed is the same for the pinion and
the gear;
• The transmitted loads on the pinion and the gear are
the same, except that they act in opposite directions.
The normal force,Wn, and the radial force,Wr, can be
computed from the known Wt by using the right triangle
relations evident in Fig.9-2.

Wr = Wt tan θ (9 - 9)
Wn = Wr / cos φ (9 - 10)
where φ = pressure angle of the tooth form
 Fr1
n1

Ft1

Ft2

n2
Fr2

analysis of Forces on spur gear teeth

• These forces cause the stresses in the gear teeth;
• These forces act on the shaft; in order to maintain
equilibrium, the bearings that support the shaft must
provide the reactions. Fig.9-1 shows the free-body
diagram of the output shaft of the reducer.