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8. GEAR TRAINS
A gear train is a combination of several gear arranged in a chain
fashion such that the follower of one combination is the driver of
the next, and so on.
Gear trains are widely used in many kinds of mechanisms
whenever a change in speed or torque of rotating members is
required.
8.1. ANGULAR VELOCITY RATIO
Angular velocity ratio is the ratio of the output angular velocity to
the input angular velocity and it is designated by e.



In gear trains it is necessary to identify sense of rotation for each
gear.
In a simple gear train, in many drive applications, an idler gear is
used to bridge over the space between the driver and follower.
) 1 (
input
output
driver
follower
e
e
e
e
e
= =
2
This idler gear does not affect the velocity ratio of the system.
The velocity ratio e in a gear train is determined in terms of the
number of teeth of the drivers and followers in the chain.
For the external gear train shown in fig (a),ignoring the sense of
rotation, the angular velocity ratio is



The diametral pitch of a pair of gears in mesh is defined as



Noting that the peripheral velocity at the point of contact to be
) 2 (
input
output
e
e
e
=
) 3 (
d
N
diameter pitch
gear the on teeth of number
P = =
) 4 (
3 3 2 2
d d V e e = =
3
The velocity can be determined in terms of the diametral pitch.






the velocity ratio is given by



where, N
2
= number of teeth on the driver, and
N
3
= number of teeth on the follower.







) 6 (
) 5 (
3
2
2
3
3
3
2
2
N
N
or
P
N
P
N
V
=
= =
e
e
e e
) 7 (
3
2
2
3
N
N
e
input
output
= = =
e
e
e
e
4
For the internal gear train shown in fig (b), the velocity ratio is
given by


It can be written also




where the sign is to be placed by inspection.
In general, for a gear train where some gears are drivers and
others are followers, the velocity ratio is given by
) 9 (
3
2
N
N
f ollower the on teeth of number
driver the on teeth of number
e
input
output
=
= =
e
e
) 8 (
3
2
2
3
N
N
e
input
output
+ = + = =
e
e
e
e
) 10 (
f ollower the on teeth of numbers teeth of product
driver the on teeth of numbers teeth of product
e
input
output
=
= =
e
e
5
For the gear train shown in the figure below, the velocity ratio is
found as follows:







For the gear train the velocity ratio is


which, in terms of the teeth numbers, is obtained to be



6
5
5
6
3
4
3
3
4
2
3
2
2
3
1
N
N
e
N
N
e
N
N
e
= =
= =
= =
e
e
e
e
e
e
) 11 (
3 2 1
e e e e =
) 12 (
6
5
4
2
N
N
N
N
e =
6
From the above velocity ratio equation, it can be noted that:
i. the idler gear 3 does not affect the velocity ratio, and
ii. the velocity ratio is given by



In analyzing gear trains, it is convenient to express angular
speeds in revolutions per minute, rpm.

8.2. TYPES OF GEAR TRAINS
Gear trains are of three types.
i. A simple gear train is one in which only one gear is mounted on
each shaft (see fig 1)
the gears are in pure series connection
the gear ratio is usually limited to the ratio 1:10
otherwise, the gear set will become very large and expensive.
) 13 (
follower the on teeth of numbers teeth of product
driver the on teeth of numbers teeth of product
e =
7
ii. A compound gear train is one in which
more than one gears are mounted on
the gear shaft. (see fig 2)
arranged in parallel or parallel-series
iii. A planetary or epicyclic gear train is
one in which the mounting shaft of one
or more gear is not stationary relative
to mounting shafts of other gears.
Planetary gear shafts rotate about sun
and/or ring gear shafts.

8.3. REVERTED GEAR TRAIN
When the axes of the first and last
gears are co-axial, the gear train is
known as a reverted gear train.

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The circular pitch p is defined as


For the same diametral pitch P,


From this we obtain the relationship





and the velocity of the output shaft is given by

) 14 (
N
d
p
t
=
) 15 (
P N
d
p
t t
= =
) 16 ( ) ( ) (
) (
1
) (
1
) (
2
1
) (
2
1
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
N N N N
N N
P
N N
P
d d d d
+ = +
+ = +
+ = +
) 17 (
1
4
3
2
1
4
e e
N
N
N
N
=
9
8.4. PLANETARY GEAR TRAINS
A planetary gear train is one in which the axes of some of the
gears may have planetary motion.
A planetary gear train includes a sun gear, about which one or
more planet gears rotate, and a planet gear carrier or arm.
Have two degree of freedom.




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8.5. METHODS OF ANALYSIS OF PLANETARY GEAR TRAINS
There are three methods of the analysis of planetary gear trains
i. the formula method
ii. the tabulation method, and
iii. the instantaneous center method
8.5.1. Solution of Planetary Gear Trains by Formula Method
Consider the planetary gear train shown
Gear 2 is the sun gear and arm 3 is the planet carrier.
Gear 4 and 5, the planet gears fixed to the arm, revolve about
the sun gear while also rotating about their own axes.



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The velocity of gear 2 relative to the arm 3 is

Also, the velocity of gear 5 relative to the arm is

Dividing equation (19) by equation (18), we obtain


Equation (20) expresses the relative velocity of gear 5 relative to
gear 2 where both velocities are taken relative to the arm 3.
The ratio (e
5
-e
3
)/(e
2
-e
3
) is the same whether the arm is rotating
or not, and is proportional to the tooth numbers.
i.e. the ratio is the angular velocity ratio of the gear train.
) 18 (
3 2 23
e e e =
) 19 (
3 5 53
e e e =
) 20 (
3 2
3 5
23
53
e e
e e
e
e

=
( )
( )
) 21 (
3 2
3 5
e =

e e
e e
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Equation (21) is expressed in a more convenient form as


where ,
e
F
is the angular velocity of the first gear in the train
e
L
is the angular velocity of the last gear in the train
e
A
is the angular velocity of the arm or planet gear carrier,

is velocity of last and first gears relative to the arm.
This ratio is equal to the product of teeth numbers of driver
gears over product of teeth numbers on driven gears.
Note: In applying equation (22) the following conditions must
be satisfied.
i. The last and first gears must be gears that mesh with the gear or
gears that have planetary motion
ii. The first and last gears must be on parallel shafts because angular
velocities must be parallel in order to treat them algebraically.
( )
( )
) 22 (
FA
LA
A F
A L
e
e
e
e e
e e
=

=
FA
LA
e
e
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8.5.2 . Solution of Planetary Gear Trains by Tabulation Method
Consider the planetary gear train composed of a sun gear 2, a
planet gear carrier 3, a planet gear 4 and an internal gear 5
which is in mesh with the planet gear as shown below.









Given certain values for the speed of the sun gear and the
planet gear carrier, we want to determine the speed of internal
gear.
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In applying the tabulation method, we carry out the following
three steps.
i. First, lock the gears to the arm and rotate the arm one
positive turn. This causes the gears to rotate one positive
turn with the arm.
ii. Next, fixing the arm, rotate one or more of the sun gears and
apply the relation for the angular velocity ratio.
iii. Tabulate the resulting motion and add the turns of each gear
in steps (i) and (ii) to satisfy the given conditions of motion.



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8.6. PLANETARY GEAR TRAINS WITH TWO INPUTS
A planetary gear train with two inputs is shown below.
The output speed is obtained by superposing as follows:







( ) ( ) ) 23 (
1 2
2 2 1 1 fixed held fixed held out
e e
e e
e e e + =
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