TITLE OF THE PROJECT:

SIDE GEAR BOX AND RELATED

COMPONENTS OF T-72 TANK
STATION: 505 ARMY BASE WORKSHOP

STUDENTS INVOLVED
CHINMAIYE GANDHI
AKSHAY MALIK
VINAY
 TABLE OF CONTENT
1. INTRODUCTION
2. GENERAL DESCRIPTION
3. FIGHTING DESCRIPTION
4. SIDE GEAR BOX
5. EPICYCLIC GEAR TRAIN
6. CONSTRUCTION OF SIDE GEAR BOX
7. DISTRIBUTOR MECHANISM
8. INTERMEDIATE GEAR BOX
 INTRODUCTION
Soviet importance in the field of Armoured Fighting
Vehicles dates from a large scale programme of
tank development and production initiated in late
twenties. During RUSSIAN Civil war, English and
French models were captured by Reds. Seeking to
modernise their army the communists attempted
to copy, but they found, that the industry is not
geared up for this. The first five year plan, in 1927
gave the required industrial base. By borrowing
ideas and technology from west, the Soviet built
even better tanks. The Christic suspension, the
German torsion bar, the sloping armour of Dutch,
British Vickers engines and many others were
combined to create Russian tanks. The T-26-37
and T 38 light tanks were built by automotive
industry. T-38 was the first tank ever to be air
lifted
In medium tank development, models were evolved
from the British Vickers type. The newly created
tractor industry, which received engines from air
craft plants, produced the medium tank series. In
1931 Walter Christie's advanced design became
the revolutionary tank, the battle tank with
independent suspension, large bogie wheels of the
BT. At first 75 mm and very high power to weight
ratio. The famous T-34 was a direct descendent
gun on T-34 proved too light for German Armour.
However encan tanks but still no match to German
PANTHER. Nevertheless, being simple and robust
T-34 was one of the most successful tanks ever
built. Though T-34 did not possess quality, they
outnumbered German tanks 4:1 and literally
smashed their way into Germany
Today most of the Soviet divisions are mechanised.
The innumerable tanks make USSR as the major
land power in tactical operations. Till 70's Tank T-
34 was in service in some Soviet aided Countries.
With Top speed of 48 kmph, 45 mm armour 500
hp power plants and 85 mm gun, T-34 was an
effective weapon. The tank design Philosophy of
Russians is not to seek costly perfection but to
concentrate on essential
With considerable experience, Soviet designed a
completely new tank T-54, retaining the proven
features of T-34. Chassis, turret, road wheels and
fuel system were newly designed. A 100 mm gun
was mounted on well sloped and rounded turret
The 36 Ton tank developed 520 HP and attained
top speed of 48 kmph with road range of 400 kms.
An improved version of this is T-54A, provided
with stabilisation for gun in vertical plane and with
a fume extractor.T-54 AR has the provision for
deep fording up to 5 meters with the aid of a
snorkel tube.
Tank T-55 is an improved version of T-54,
incorporating modifications.
We have in service Tanks T-55 procured from
RUSSIA CZECHOSLOVAKIA and POLAND. They
are basically of same design except for minor
alterations and gunner, air charging system for
starting and the improvements. It must be
remembered that the basic er assemblies like
transmission, suspension etc.
Then came the T-62 which was a further
improvement of the T-55. it has a 115 mm smooth
bore gun and more of electronics to fire the main
gun more accurately
In the early 70's the Russian army was given the
T-72. It was the latest version in the T-Series and
there appears a quantum jump in the effectiveness
of this one.
Tank T-72 M1 is being manufactured at Avadi,
Chennai.
Tank T-72 is a fully tracked AFV having powerful
armament, reliable armour protection and high
mobility. It carries a crew of three as compared to
four in It carries a crew of three as compared to
four in conventional tank. It is equipped with a
125 mm smooth bore, stabilised both in elevation
and azimuth, a 7.62 mm co-axial machine gun, a
12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on
the Commanders cupola, The main gun is
provided with a high accuracy ensuring lying and
sighting system coupled with an automatic loading
mechanism high rate of effective Fire. The anti-air
craft machine gun is designed to engage both the
aerial and the ground targets.
The tank is equipped to protect the crew from
nuclear radiation and radiological agents.
Provision is made for deep fording, smoke
generation and automatic fire fighting capability. It
carries earth moving eqpt and can be fitted with
KMT-6, mine plough in front of the track. The tank
is fitted with a V-60 engine, which is a 12 cylinder,
4 stroke, multifuel super charged engine
developing 780 hp at 2000 rpm. It can attain a
maximum speed of 60 kmph.
The latest acquisition of the Indian army is theT-
90. It is a state of the art tank and is an improved
version of T-72. It can fire a missile from the main
gun, is protected by the ERA and powered by 1000
hp engine.
General description
The basic components, of the tank are the
hull, turret, weapons and system, power
plant, transmission, track and suspension
system, com facilities and special equipment
(under water stream crossing, CBR
protection, smoke generating, fire fighting
and earth moving). The tank carries its own
vehicle SPTA. The equipment and
mechanisms are arranged in three tank
compartments as driving compartment,
fighting compartment and engine
compartment.

Fighting description
The fighting compartment occupies the
middle of the tank interior and is separated
from the engine compartment by a bulk head.
The design and layout of the tank permits
free movement of crew inside the tank from
the fighting compartment to driving and back.
The turret mounts a 125 mm smooth bore
gun 2A46, an automatic loading mechanism
and fire control equipment. Right side of the
gun is the commander's seat and left side of
the gun is the gunner's seat. The right gun
mounts PKT co-axial machine gun.
 Side gear box
Side gear box performs the function of transferring
the engine torque from intermediate gear box to
the final drives. It varies the speed for steering,
braking, accelerating and disengaging the engine
from the drive sprockets. All these are achieved by
engaging and disengaging appropriate friction
element in the side gear box. The gearbox provides
seven forward and one reverse speeds. The side
gear box consists of multiple epicyclic geartrains
and hydraulic boosters to achieve the above
functions. Side gear box consists of various parts
like
1. Front flange
2. Middle drum
3. Rear flange (F2 and F3)
4. Final drive
 EPICYCLIC GEAR TRAINS
Epicyclic gearing or planetary gearing is a
gear system consisting of one or more outer
gears, or planet gears, revolving about a
central, or sun gear. Typically, the planet
gears are mounted on movable arm or carrier
which itself may rotate relative to the sun
gear. Epicyclic gear train systems also
incorporate the use of an outer ring gear or
annulus, which meshes wish the planet
gears. Planetary gears (or epicyclic gears) are
typically classified as simple and compound
gears Simple planetary gears have one sun,
one ring, one carrier, and one planet set.
Planetary gears compound planetary gears
involve one or more of the following 3 type of
structures: meshed-planet (there are at least
two more planets in mesh with each other in
each planet train). stepped-planet (there
exists a shaft connection between two planets
in each planet train), and multistage
structures (the system contains two or more
planet sets), Compared to simple planetary
gears, compound planetary gears have the
advantages of larger reduction ratio, higher
torque-to-weight ratio, and more flexible
configurations
The three basic components of the epicyclic
gear are:
Sun The central gear
Carrier: Holds one or more peripheral Planet
gears, all of the same size sun gear meshed
with the sun gear.
Annulus: The outer rings with inward-facing
teeth that mesh win the planet.

PRINCIPLES ·
 Carrier is never the input.
Pinion gears can never be input or
output.
 If no member is held fixed, there is no
output.
 If one member is held fixed, and input is
given to second member, the output is
from the third member
 If two members are held fixed, then the
third member is automatically fixed.
 If sun gear is the input, carrier is held,
the annulus gear rotates in opposite
direction, low speed if annulus gear is
input, and carrier is held the sun gear
rotates in high speed, opposite
direction.
Two or more epicyclic gear trains can be
coupled in series to give different gear
ratios, two epicyclic gear trains coupled
in series provides four gear ratios.
Construction of side gear box
The side gear box consists of tour epicyclic
gear trains and another fifth epicyclic gear
train in its final drive. The fifth epicyclic gear
train in final drive, is for final speed reduction
and has a fixed transmission ratio of 5.454
Let the four epicyclic gear trains in the side
gear box be numbered as 1, 2,3 and 4. Each
member of an epicyclic gear train is thus
labelled as A1 (annulus of 1t epicyclic gear
train), CI (carrier I epicyclic gear train) and SI
(sun of It epicyclic gear train) and so on so
forth. There is a common carrier in the side
gear box that consists of C1, C2, C3 and A4.
All these gears are connected and move
together. are six frictional elements in a side
gear box named as-TI, T4, TS, T6, F2 and F3.
The function of these six frictional elements is
as follows: Four frictional brakes: TI, T4, TS
and T6 Two clutches: F2 and F3 (for
interlocking gear members)
The epicyclic gear trains are arranged as
follows-
 First train: S1 on bearings and carrying
the moving friction discs of brake TI and
clutch F2. Planet pinions mounted on CI.
No annulus is provided in the first train.
  Second train: S2 splined on input shaft.
Planet pinions mounted on C2. And A2
the moving friction discs of T6 and F2
 Third train: S3 fixed on input shaft.
Planet pinions mounted on C3.
 Fourth train: S4 carrying the friction
discs of F3 and T4. Planet pinions
mounted on C4. The output is from C4,
which is splined on the output shaft.
 Fifth train (final drive): S5 is fixed on the
output shaft of side gear box. Planet
pinions are mounted on C5, which in turn
is splined to final drive sprocket shaft. A5
is fixed to the final drive housing.
The input shaft of the side gear box drives the
S2 and S3 gears. Carrier C4 drives the output
shaft of the side gear box, which in turn is
the input shaft for final drive.
Each frictional element set consists of a stack
of cerametallic friction discs. These discs are
engaged by pushing them together using
hydraulics. To disengage these frictional
discs, springs which are in between these
discs, tend to expand when the hydraulic
pressure is released and push the friction
discs apart. There are two equalizing ball
devices to neutralize centrifugal n oil used in
the hydraulic system. It is present in F2 and
F3 frictional element. There are all breaking
mechanisms which are used for mechanical
braking.
Each of the six frictional elements is engaged
and disengaged using hydraulic pressure.
When one of the frictional elements needs to
be engaged, the hydraulic boosters pump oil
and apply pressure on the appropriate discs.
When the frictional element needs to be
disengaged, the ensure on the appropriate
discs When the frictional element needs to be
disengaged, the pressure is released and the
oil is drained back to its initial position due to
action of throw out device A tank has two side
gear boxes. One of the side gear box has a
distributor pump and a cyclonic filter
attached to it. The function of distributor
pump is to apply and release hydraulic
pressure t the appropriate frictional elements
in both the side gear boxes independently.
The function of cyclonic filter is to filter the oil
containing any impurity.
 Distributor Mechanism
Distributor mechanism is the hydraulic part
of the control linkages and can be considered
as the nervous system of the system. These
are meant for varying the oil pressure and
directing oil under pressure to and from
boosters of side gear box frictional element
sets during gear engagement depending on
speed range selected during steering and also
during clutch action. Distributing mechanism
case is an iron casting mounted on the body
of side gear box. The clearance between the
distributing mechanism case and the gear
case of side gear box is packed with rubber
gasket. Six holes for delivery of oil to the
boosters of side gear box friction elements are
made on the mating surface of the gear box.
Provided on the front wall of the housing of
distributing mechanism are threaded holes
for supply and for connection to pressure
sending oil. Oil is delivered through supply
hole to the distributing mechanism from the
hydraulic and lubrication system. The hose
from the pressure unit is connected to a hole.
Arranged on the rear of the housing are holes
intended for the pipelines connecting the left
and right distributing mechanism. It has four
mounting holes for the excessive oil to flow
through it. The six channels from where the
oil flows help in engaging and disengaging
different gears.
The distributor is disassembled or stripped
down in the AGGREGATE RESET
DEPARTMENT in the 505 ARMY BASE
WORKSHOP. Parts like gasket, ball and roller
bearings are replaced whereas other parts are
checked for dimensional accuracy. The
dimensional accuracy is checked with the
help of a manual which contains all the data
for dimensions of all the necessary parts.
Parts with dimensional errors of few errors
are rejected as well. High precision is thus
required. After proper cleaning and oiling the
distributor, They are checked for leakages i.e.
if they are in acceptable limits or not. The
whole process of oiling and cleaning and
checking of the distributor system takes
about a day. There are two distributor system
in the tank, one on each side of the tank. It
takes about 3 days for assembling the
distributor system.
INTERMEDIATE GEAR BOX
Intermediate gear box also known as IGB is
an active spur gear train which transmits the
engine power to SGB and also drive various
units. It is also known as transmission gear
unit. FUNCTIONS OF IGB
1. Drives the compressor unit
2. Transmits the drive from starter generator
3. Drives the engine cooling fan
4. Drives the oil scavenging pump.
5. Facilitates the steering of vehicle

The tank T-72 has two independent side

gearbox one for each side track. To transmit
power to these two side gear boxes, gear box
which is connected to the engine on one end
and through a set of intermediate gears, it
transmits same RPM and torque to both the
side gear boxes as input. The intermediate
gear box also provides power to other
components in air tank, like the starter
generator, compressor, oil scavenging pump
and the fan. This is achieved through a
compound spur gear setup. It weighs around
320 kg.
The starter generator acts like both starter
and generator at different instances of time.
When one needs to start a tank, it works like
a starter, where in the motor in it, which is
powered by the battery, runs and thus in
turn, the power is transmitted to engine
crankshaft through the intermediate gear
box. This gives the engine, the initial power to
start the 4 stroke process. Once the engine is
up and running, the battery stops the energy
supply and the motor in starter generator
now works as generator, where in, the power
from the crankshaft which is transmitted
through intermediate gear box turns the coil
in the motor and thus generates electricity
which recharges the battery. This battery is
used to run other various electrical and
electronic components in the tank. The
compressor is used for air compression. This
is done by converting the kinetic energy
coming from the engine and storing it as
compressed air and used for driving other
components. The oil scavenging pump which
is again driven by the engine through
intermediate gear box is used for sucking out
oil used for lubrication purpose and send it to
the reservoir again. The fan which is another
component driven by engine through
intermediate gear box is used for cooling of
the components in engine bay, as the
generate a lot of heat
The intermediate gear box has a torque
reduction ratio of 1:0.706. This means, the
torque that reaches the side gear boxes is
0.706 times smaller than the engine torque at
that RPM. This can be also calculated by
knowing the number of teeth on each gear in
the intermediate gear box. The engine is
connected to the IGB through the coupling.
Drive is transmitted from transmission gear
box to the right side gear box through the
toothed coupling which meshes with the
driven gear of the transmission gear box and
input coupling of the right side gear box.
Transmission to left side gear box is
accomplished through toothed coupling and
the shaft.