Seminar Description: Gears 101: The Basics of Gears William Mark McVea, Ph.D., P.E.

Gears 101: The Basics of Gears

Seminar Description:
The intent of this seminar is to give the attendee a high-level and fundamental understanding of
gear nomenclature, geometry, and arrangements. Starting with the basic definitions of gears,
conjugate motion and the “Laws of Gearing”, the attendee will be taken through a tutorial of
gear nomenclature, geometry concepts, tooth interactions, and very high-level application
considerations, manufacturing processes, and inspection techniques. The intent of this seminar
is to provide gear novices with a general understanding of gearing and the fundamentals of
rotary motion transfer through gear-trains.

Learning Objectives:
The objectives of this seminar are to:
• Thoroughly explore common gear types and configurations
• Learn the fundamental principles of gearing and relationships of motion
• Enhance knowledge of basic design considerations, nomenclature and inter-relationship
of gear forms and motions

Benefits of Attending:
By attending this seminar, you will be able to:
• Understand the “Law of Gearing”, conjugate action and involute profiles
• Gain familiarity with the various definitions and terms used in gearing
• Understand the function and operation of all gear arrangements
• Appreciate the requirements to design and specify gear systems
• Be exposed to the various manufacturing processes and inspections techniques
commonly used in industry today

Who Should Attend:

The intended audience for this seminar is anyone involved in any technical aspect of gear
systems, who do not possess the fundamental knowledge of the topic. This would include
Engineers new to the field of gearing, Sales and Marketing people responsible for interacting
with Gear Engineers, component suppliers, vehicle platform powertrain development specialists
who have not been previously involved in gear system specification or design.
This seminar will appeal to anyone who is interested in gears, gear systems, design
development or measurement and inspection techniques and has no previous experience in the
field.

Seminar Content
• Principles of Gears
• Purpose of Gears
• Basic Concepts
o Law of Gearing
Seminar Description: Gears 101: The Basics of Gears William Mark McVea, Ph.D., P.E.

o Common Tooth Forms

• Classification of Gears
• Definitions and Terms Used in Gearing
• Gear Tooth Action
• Conjugacy
• Gear Geometry and Nomenclature
o Tooth Nomenclature
o Blank Nomenclature
• Gear Arrangements
o Simple Gear Train
o Compound Gear Train
• Ratios: What they mean and how to calculate
• Epicyclic
o Configurations (Solar, Planetary, Star)
o Ratios
• Gear Measurement and Inspection
• Charts
o Involute
o Lead
o Red Liner
• Dimension Sheet

Instructor Biography:
Dr. William Mark McVea is founder and Chief Technical Officer of KBE+, Inc. KBE+ designs and
develops complete powertrains for automotive and off-highway vehicles. It also develops and
delivers professional development seminars for the automotive industry and its supplier base.
Dr. McVea holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology,
a Ph.D. in Design Engineering from Purdue University and is a licensed Professional Engineer.
He was formerly a manager of the CAE group within a tier one, powertrain supplier to world
automotive markets; a consulting engineer in vehicle dynamics, with Gear Consultants, Inc.; a
project manager of traction systems for off-highway vehicles with Clark-Hurth International;
research laboratory supervisor, developing geared traction devices with Gleason Power
Systems, Inc. He has taught and lectured at Purdue, Michigan State and Syracuse Universities.
He is published extensively on the topics of transmission systems, automated design assistant
systems, knowledge systems and knowledge based engineering in general. He also holds a
dual position as both a professor of Vehicle Dynamics in the Mechanical Engineering
department and a professor of Information Technology in the B. Thomas Golisano College of
Computing and Information Sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He also teaches
at Purdue University in their Automotive Sciences department.