ME 110 : Elements of Mechanical Engineering

Power Transmission : Chain and Gear Drive

Course Instructor : Dr. Abhilash Singh

Department of Mechanical Engineering
National Institute of Technology Karnataka
 Mechanical Drive
▪ The mechanisms which are used to transmit the required motion and power from one shaft to
another shaft are called mechanical drives.
▪ These drives are extensively used in automobiles, workshops, processing and transport industry.

• Belt Drive • Chain Drive

• Gear Drive • Clutches

ME110 Elements of Mechanical Engineering, Dr Abhilash Singh

Gear Drives
 Gear Drive - Introduction
✓ In gear drives, gear engage with each other and thus transfer the revolution & torque of the input (drive) shaft to
desired value on output (driven) shaft.
✓ Gears are toothed members which transmit power/motion between two shafts by meshing without any slip. Hence,
gear drives are also called positive drives.
✓ In any pair of gears, the smaller one is called pinion, and the larger one is called gear immaterial of which is driving
the other. The motion and power transmitted by gears is kinematically equivalent to that transmitted by frictional
wheels or discs.
 Gear Drive (contd..)
Advantages
• It is a positive drive (no slip) so power transmission
is highly efficient.
• Used for small centre to centre distance. Bulky if
used for large centre to centre distances.
• It can transmit very large power compared to belt or
chain drive
• It can transmit motion at very low velocities (clocks
and watches). Which are not possible with belt
drives.
Disadvantages
• Complicated manufacturing
• High maintenance cost.
• Need Careful lubrication and cleanliness
• Need precise alignment of shafts
ME110 Elements of Mechanical Engineering, Dr Abhilash Singh 5
Classification of Gear
1. According to the position of axes of the shafts.

a. Parallel
1. Spur Gear
2. Helical Gear
3. Rack and Pinion
b. Intersecting
• Bevel Gear
c. Non-intersecting and Non-parallel
• Worm wheel and worm gears
Spur Gear
✓ Teeth is parallel to axis of rotation
✓ Transmit power from one shaft to another parallel shaft
✓ Contact between mating gears will be along a line- higher power transmission
✓ Instantaneous line contact when teeth mesh will result into high noise
✓ Used in washing machines, and automobile gear boxes.
Spur Gears - Types

External Set: Opposite Movement Internal Set: Movement in the same direction
Helical Gear
✓ The teeth on helical gears are cut at an angle to the face of the gear in the form of helix.
✓ Contact between mating gears is curvilinear.
✓ This gradual engagement makes helical gears operate much more smoothly and quietly than spur gears
✓ One interesting thing about helical gears is that if the angles of the gear teeth are correct, they can be mounted on
perpendicular shafts, adjusting the rotation angle by 90 degrees.
✓ The main disadvantage of helical gears is that it produces end thrusts on the driving and driven shafts.
✓ Helical Gears can be used for transmitting motion between parallel shafts as well as between perpendicular shafts.
 Herringbone gears / Double helical gears
✓ HERRINGBONE Gears are pairs of Helical Gears. These gears are used for large power transmission.

✓ To avoid axial thrust, two helical gears of opposite hand can be mounted side by side, to cancel resulting thrust forces.

✓ Herringbone gears are mostly used on heavy machinery.

Rack and Pinion Gear
✓ It is a special case of spur gear in which one gear is having infinite diameter called "Rack".
✓ Rack and pinion gears are used to convert rotation (From the pinion) into linear motion (of the rack)
✓ Application
✓ lifting mechanisms (vertical movement), horizontal movement, steering systems to change the direction of cars,
lathe machine, drilling machine and measuring instrument.
 Bevel gear
✓ When power is required to be transmitted from one shaft to another shaft which are intersecting to each other then
bevel gears are used. Generally, the angle between two shafts is 90⁰.
✓ A good example is seen as the main mechanism for a hand drill. As the handle of the drill is turned in a vertical direction,
the bevel gears change the rotation of the chuck to a horizontal rotation.
✓ The teeth on bevel gears can be straight, spiral.
✓ Locomotives, marine applications, automobiles, printing presses, cooling towers, power plants, steel plants, railway track
inspection machines, etc.
 Bevel gear - Types

Bevel Gear
Bevel gears have the shape of a truncated
cone.
Size of the gear tooth decreases towards the
apex of the cone.
Spiral Bevel Gears
Bevel gears are used for intersecting inclined
shafts
These gears are used to transmit power
between two shafts at any angle, generally the
shafts are at right angles
They are used to slow speed applications

Straight Bevel Gears

 Types of Gear Drives (contd..)
Worm Gear
• Worm gears are used for power transmission
between non-intersecting shafts that are
generally at right angles to each other
• Worm gearing consists of worm and worm
wheel
• Worm is a threaded screw and is used as the
driver
• Worm wheel is a toothed wheel
• Teeth of the worm wheel remain engaged
with the threads of the worm
• Worm gears are used for high speed
reduction (100 : 1)
ME110 Elements of Mechanical Engineering, Dr Abhilash Singh
Types of Gear
 Definitions in Gear Drive
𝑉𝑝 Let
𝜔1 = angular speed of driving pulley
1 2 𝜔2 = angular speed of driven pulley
𝑇1 = No. of teeth on gear
𝑇2 = No. of teeth on pinion

Assuming no slip of the two surfaces: 𝑉𝑝 = 𝜔1 𝑟1 = 𝜔2 𝑟2

𝜔1 𝑁1 𝑟2
= 2𝜋𝑁1 𝑟1 = 2𝜋𝑁2 𝑟2 = =
𝜔2 𝑁2 𝑟1

✓ Gear Ratio
• The gear ratio represents the relationship between the number of teeth on two meshing gears. It is the ratio of teeth
on the gear to that of on the pinion.
𝑇1 2𝜋𝑟1 𝑟1 𝑇1 𝑟1 𝜔2
𝐺𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = ⇒ 𝐺𝑅 = = ⇒ = =
𝑇2 2𝜋𝑟2 𝑟2 𝑇2 𝑟2 𝜔1
Definitions in Gear Drive
Pitch Cicle:-The pitch circle is a theoretical circle where the
teeth of one gear effectively "mesh" with the teeth of
another gear. For mating gears, the pitch circles are tangent
to each other.
Pitch Diameter: The diameter of the pitch circle is called the
pitch diameter. This dimension is critical in calculating gear
ratios and ensuring proper engagement between gears.
Pitch Point: The point on the pitch circle where the gear
teeth of two gears in mesh theoretically contact each other.
Module: The module of a gear, which is the ratio of the pitch
diameter to the number of teeth, is defined based on the
pitch circle.
M=D/T
 Definitions in Gear Drive
Circular pitch -
The circular pitch of a gear is the distance between two adjacent teeth, measured
along the pitch circle.
The formula for the circular pitch of a gear is P = πD/T.

Circular pitches of the meshing gear teeth must be equal.

Definitions in Gear Drive
✓ VELOCITY RATIO
• It is the ratio between the speed of the driven shaft and the speed of the driving shaft (driver).

Let 𝐷1 = diameter of driving pulley

𝐷2 = diameter of driven pulley
𝑁1 = speed of driving pulley
𝑁2 = speed of driven pulley

𝑁2 𝐷1 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛

= ⇒ =
𝑁1 𝐷2 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟
Applications of Gear Drives

Differential
gear drive
is in motor
vehicles

Lathe Machine

The joint of robot's link

actuated by planetary gear
system
Gear Trains
 Gear Trains
• Series of gear wheels in which each gear is
mounted on a separate shaft
• Gears in between Driver and Driven gear called
idler gears
• When the distance between input and output
shafts are large, then either a large size gear or
one or more intermediate gears
• However providing large gears are
inconvenient
• If the no. of intermediate gears are odd then
both input and output shafts rotate in same
direction, and if even, then they rotate in
opposite directions
ME110 Elements of Mechanical Engineering, Dr Abhilash Singh 22
GEAR TRAINS
✓ A gear train is two or more gear working together by meshing their teeth and turning each
other in a system to generate power and speed
✓ It reduces speed and increases torque.
✓ Electric motors are used with the gear systems to reduce the speed and increase the torque.
Types of Gear Trains

➢ Simple gear train

➢ Compound gear train

➢ Reverted Gear Train

➢ Planetary gear train

 Simple gear train
✓ A simple gear train consists of two or more gears meshed, with each gear having a unique shaft. The input and output
shafts are connected by these gears, providing a direct transfer of motion.
✓ All odd numbered gears move in in one direction and all even numbered gears in opposite direction.
✓ All the gears can be in straight line or in zig-zag manner.
✓ Intermediate gears have no effect on the speed ratio and are know as idlers.
✓ Commonly found in various machinery and mechanical systems where a single-stage gear reduction or speed increase is
sufficient.
 Compound gear train
✓ When a series of gears are connected in such a way that two or more gears are rotate about an axis with the same
angular velocity, called compound gear train.
✓ Compound gear trains are utilized when multiple stages of gear reduction or speed increase are necessary.
✓ Ideal for applications requiring precise control of both speed and torque.
✓ Widely used in automotive transmissions, industrial machinery, and clock mechanisms.
Reverted Gear Train

ME110 Elements of Mechanical Engineering, Dr Abhilash Singh 27

 Planetary/Epicyclic Gear Train
• Planetary gear trains are having one or more
gears orbiting about the central axis of the train
• Used for very high speed reductions with gears
of moderate size in lesser space
• Seen in Automobile gear box and wrist watches

ME110 Elements of Mechanical Engineering, Dr Abhilash Singh 28

 Planetary gear train (Epicyclic gear train)
✓ A gear train having a relative motion of axes is called Planetary gear train or Epicyclic gear train.
✓ A complex gear configuration known as a planetary gear train enables versatile and compact power transmission.
✓ Consists of a central gear (sun gear), surrounding gears (planet gears), and an outer ring gear (annulus).
✓ Planet gears rotate around the sun gear while also spinning about their own axes, resulting in varied gear ratios, torque
outputs, and motion patterns.
✓ Commonly used in automatic transmissions, robotics, and diverse systems requiring efficient and adaptable power
transmission solutions.
In a certain gear train, the driver has 24 teeth while the follower
has 8 teeth. For every _______ turns of the driver, the follower
turns 36 times
 Belt Drive
Power Transmitted by a Belt-

 = Angle of contact in radians along which the belt touches the pulley, at the centre) /Angle of lap
 = coefficient of friction between the belt and pulley

T1 and T2 = Tensions in the tight side and slack side of the belt respectively in newtons,
r1 and r2 = Radii of the driving and driven pulleys respectively in meters,
v = Velocity of the belt in m/s.

Power transmitted = (T1 – T2) ν Watt

Note- Solve few questions based on the given concept

Thank You !