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A worked Example
Problem
Select a pair of spur gears from a catalogue that are suitable for transmitting 2kW of power between parallel shafts and reducing speed from 500 RPM to 100 RPM. assume that there must be at least 12 teeth from undercutting considerations.

Solution
It is usual to start with a small module and firstly select teeth numbers for speed reduction - full geometric information can then be obtained for each gear. To acheive the desired speed reduction choose a pinion of 12 teeth and a wheel of 60 teeth from the list of preferred standard numbers of gear teeth. The gear facewidths in this example are taken from Hinchcliffe Precision Components Catalogue. Values of velocity and maximum bending stress can then be calculated for a range of values of the module.

Pitch line velocity can be calculated from known speeds and pitch circle diameters. The pitch line velocity is calculated from, v = pi m Tpnp / 60 or v = pi m Twnw / 60

Bending stress may be determined for each gear using Lewis equation. The Lewis form factors, from the table, are 0.230 and 0.410 respectively.

The maximum tooth bending stresses are calculated from

stp = P / (m f Yp v K) and stw = P / (m f Yw v K)

The following table shows the results:

Module, m 2 2.5 3 4
Facewidth, F(mm) 25 30 35 45
- Pinion Wheel Pinion Wheel Pinion Wheel Pinion Wheel
Pitch Dia, D(mm) 24 120 30 150 36 180 48 240
Centre dist, C(mm) 72 90 108 144
Velocity, V(m/s) .628 .785 .943 1.26
Velocity ok? Yes Yes Yes Yes
Velocity factor, K .905 .884 .864 .827
- Pinion Wheel Pinion Wheel Pinion Wheel Pinion Wheel
Max. bending stress, st(MPa) 307 171 167 57 102 93 47 26
Stress ok? None Some Some All All All All All
Material (Allowable stress) Gear suitability and (Relative cost) based on £5 units at June 1991.
EN8 (131 MPa) No (1) No (3.8) No (1.5) Yes (5.3) Yes (1.8) Yes (10.9) Yes (2.5) Yes (19.8)
EN8 InH (117 MPa) No (1) No (3.8) No (1.5) Yes (5.3) Yes (1.8) Yes (10.9) Yes (2.5) Yes (19.8)
EN24 (221 MPa) No (1.2) Yes (4.5) Yes (1.7) Yes (6.2) Yes (2.1) Yes (12.7) Yes (2.9) Yes (23)
EN24 InH (183 MPa) No (1.2) Yes (4.5) Yes (1.7) Yes (6.2) Yes (2.1) Yes (12.7) Yes (2.9) Yes (23)
EN32 (217 MPa) No (1.2) No (4.5) No (1.7) Yes (6.2) Yes (2.1) Yes (12.7) Yes (2.9) Yes (23)
EN32 InH (276 MPa) No (1.2) No (4.5) No (1.7) Yes (6.2) Yes (2.1) Yes (12.7) Yes (2.9) Yes (23)
Gear-pair suitability None Some All All

The calculations show that 2 Mod is unsuitable as the pinion is overstressed for all materials. 2.5 Mod may be used with stronger pinion material and any material may be used at 3 Mod and 4 Mod.

The least expensive alternative is at 2..5 Mod, using EN24 for the pinion and EN8 for the wheel.