Gear Trains

• A Gear train is a combination of gears used to transmit

motion/power from one shaft to another. The following are
the main types of gear trains:
1. Simple gear train
2. Compound gear train
3. Reverted gear train
4. Epicyclic gear train

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Dept. Of Mechanical Engineering
Gear Terminology
1. Pitch circle. It is an imaginary circle which by pure rolling action,
would give the same motion as the actual gear.
2. Pitch circle diameter. It is the diameter of the pitch circle. The size of
the gear is usually specified by the pitch circle diameter. It is also
known as pitch diameter.
3. Pitch point. It is a common point of contact between two pitch circles.
4. Pitch surface. It is the surface of the rolling discs which the meshing
gears have replaced at the pitch circle.
5. Pressure angle or angle of obliquity. It is the angle between the
common normal to two gear teeth at the point of contact and the
common tangent at the pitch point. It is usually denoted by φ.
The standard pressure angles are 12 ° 14 ° and 20°.
6. Addendum. It is the radial distance of a tooth from the pitch circle to
the top of the tooth.
7. Dedendum. It is the radial distance of a tooth from the pitch circle to
the bottom of the tooth.
8. Addendum circle. It is the circle Dr. Ansumandrawn
Padhi through the top of the22 teeth
and is concentric with the pitch circle.
Dept. Of Mechanical Engineering
 Dr. Ansuman Padhi
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Dept. Of Mechanical Engineering
 Dr. Ansuman Padhi
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Dept. Of Mechanical Engineering
 Terminology of Spur Gear Teeth

Clearance
Fillet radius
Pitch circle
gear diam.
Base Circle

Backlash = (tooth spacing)driven gear – (tooth thickness)driver , measured

on the pitch circle.
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Engineering
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• 9. Dedendum circle. It is the circle drawn through the
bottom of the teeth. It is also called root circle.
• 10. Face of tooth. It is the surface of the gear tooth above
the pitch surface.
• 11. Flank of tooth. It is the surface of the gear tooth below
the pitch surface.
• 12. Top land. The top land is the surface of the top of the
gear tooth.
• 13. Bottom land. The bottom land is the surface of the gear
between the flanks of adjacent teeth.

Dr. Ansuman Padhi

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Dept. Of Mechanical Engineering
• 14. Base Circle. The base circle is an imaginary circle from which the
involute curve of the tooth profile is generated. The base circles of two
mating gears are tangent to the pressure line.
• 15. Velocity Ratio (i)- Velocity ratio is the ratio of angular velocity of
the driving gear to the angular velocity of the driven gear. It is also
called the speed ratio.
• 16. Face Width (b). Face width is the width of the tooth measured
parallel to the axis.
• 17. Fillet Radius. The radius that connects the root circle to the profile
of the tooth is called fillet radius.
• 18. Tooth Space- The width of the space between two adjacent teeth
measured along the pitch circle is called the tooth space. Theoretically,
tooth space is equal to circular tooth thickness or half the circular
pitch.
• 19. Working Depth - The working depth is the depth of engagement of
two gear teeth, that is, the sum of their addendums.

Dr. Ansuman Padhi

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Dept. Of Mechanical Engineering
20. Circular pitch. - It is the distance measured on the
circumference of the pitch circle from a point of one tooth
to the corresponding point on the next tooth. It is usually
denoted by pc.
Mathematically,
Circular pitch, pc = π D/T
where D = Diameter of the pitch circle, and
T = Number of teeth on the wheel.
The two gears will mesh together correctly, if the two wheels
have the same circular pitch.

Dr. Ansuman Padhi

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Dept. Of Mechanical Engineering
21. Diametral pitch. - It is the ratio of number of teeth to the pitch circle
diameter in millimetres.
It is denoted by pd . Mathematically,
Diametral pitch, pd = T/D = π/pc
(pc = π D/T)
where T = Number of teeth, and
D = Pitch circle diameter.

22. Module. - It is the ratio of the pitch circle diameter in millimeters to

the number of teeth.
It is usually denoted by m. Mathematically,
Module, m = D /T
23. Clearance (c) - The clearance is the amount by which the dedendum
of a given gear exceeds the addendum of its mating tooth.
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Dept. Of Mechanical Engineering
24. Backlash. It is the difference between the tooth space and the tooth
thickness, as measured along the pitch circle. Theoretically, the backlash
should be zero, but in actual practice some backlash must be allowed to
prevent jamming of the teeth due to tooth errors and thermal expansion.

Dr. Ansuman Padhi

30
Dept. Of Mechanical Engineering
Simple Gear Train
• When there is only one gear on each shaft, it is known as simple gear train. The
gears are represented by their pitch circles.
• When the distance between the two shafts is small, the two gears 1 and 2 are
made to mesh with each other to transmit motion from one shaft to the other.
• Since the gear 1 drives the gear 2, therefore gear 1 is called the driver and the
gear 2 is called the driven or follower.
• The speed ratio (or velocity ratio) of gear train is the ratio of the speed of the
driver to the speed of the driven or follower and ratio of speeds of any pair of
gears in mesh is the inverse of their number of teeth.

N1 = Speed of gear 1(or driver) in r.p.m.,

N2 = Speed of gear 2 (or driven or
follower) in r.p.m.,
T1 = Number of teeth on gear 1, and
Dr. Ansuman Padhi Dept. Of
Mechanical Engineering T2 = Number of teeth on gear 312.
• The ratio of the speed of the driven or follower to the speed of the driver is known
as train value of the gear train.

• When the distance between the two gears is large. The motion from one gear to
another, in such a case, may be transmitted by either of the following two methods:
1. By providing the large sized gear, or 2. By providing one or more intermediate
gears.
• When the number of intermediate gears are odd, the motion of both the gears (i.e.
driver and driven or follower) is like. If it is even, then the motion of driven will be
in the opposite direction.
• Speed ratio for Driving gear 1 and intermediate gear 2 is N1/N2 = T2/T1. So, for
intermediate gear 2 is in mesh with the driven gear 3 is N2/N3 = T3/T2
• So, the speed ratio of gear train is obtained by multiplying above two relations.

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Mechanical Engineering
 • These intermediate gears are called idle gears, as they do not affect the speed
ratio or train value of the system. The idle gears are used for the following two
purposes:
1. To connect gears where a large center distance is required, and
2. To obtain the desired direction of motion of the driven gear (i.e. clockwise or
anticlockwise).

Compound Gear Train

• When there are more than one gear on a shaft, it is called a compound train of gear.
• whenever the distance between the driver and the driven or follower has to be
bridged over by intermediate gears and at the same time a great ( or much less )
speed ratio is required, then the advantage of intermediate gears is intensified by
providing compound gears on intermediate shafts.

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Mechanical Engineering
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Mechanical Engineering
• The speed ratio of compound gear train is obtained by multiplying the equations:

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Mechanical Engineering
Reverted Gear Train
• When the axes of the first gear (i.e. first driver) and the last gear (i.e. last driven
or follower) are co-axial, then the gear train is known as reverted gear train.

• In a reverted gear train, the motion of the first

gear and the last gear is like.
• Since the distance between the centres of the
shafts of gears 1 and 2 as well as gears 3 and 4
is same, therefore
r1+r2 = r3+r4
• The reverted gear trains are used in automotive
transmissions, lathe back gears, industrial speed
reducers, and in clocks (where the minute and hour
hand shafts are co-axial).

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Mechanical Engineering
Epicyclic Gear Train
• A gear train having a relative motion of axes is called a planetory or an epicyclic gear train.
In an epicyclic gear train, the axis of at least one of the gears also moves relative to the
frame.
• If the arm is fixed, the gear train is simple and gear A can
drive gear B or vice- versa, but if gear A is fixed and the arm is
rotated about the axis of gear A (i.e. O1), then the gear B is
forced to rotate upon and around gear A.
• Such a motion is called epicyclic and the gear trains arranged
in such a manner that one or more of their members move
upon and around another member are known as epicyclic
gear trains.
• The epicyclic gear trains are useful for transmitting high
velocity ratios with gears of moderate size in a comparatively
lesser space. The epicyclic gear trains are used in the back
gear of lathe, differential gears of the automobiles, hoists,
pulley blocks, wrist watches etc.

Dr. Ansuman Padhi Dept. Of

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Mechanical Engineering
Velocity Ratios of Epicyclic Gear Train
Tabular method.

Question 1. In an epicyclic gear train, an arm carries two

gears A and B having 36 and 45 teeth respectively. If the
arm rotates at 150 r.p.m. in the anticlockwise direction
about the centre of the gear A which is fixed, determine
the speed of gear B. If the gear A instead of being fixed,
makes 300 r.p.m. in the clockwise direction, what will be
the speed of gear B ?
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Mechanical Engineering
Question 2. In a reverted epicyclic gear train, the arm A
carries two gears B and C and a compound gear D - E.
The gear B meshes with gear E and the gear C meshes
with gear D. The number of teeth on gears B, C and D
are 75, 30 and 90 respectively. Find the speed and
direction of gear C when gear B is fixed and the arm A
makes 100 r.p.m. clockwise.

Dr. Ansuman Padhi Dept. Of

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Mechanical Engineering