Rolling as pure rotation

The pure rolling is a combination of pure rotation and translation. Obviously, it cannot be termed
as pure rotation as far as the actual motion is concerned. We can, however, exploit the fact that the disk
in rolling is actually rotating at any given instant - not over a period but for an instant. This enables us with
a very powerful alternative technique to analyze rolling motion.

The alternative consideration assumes rotation about an axis passing through the point of contact
and perpendicular to the plane of rotating disk. Each particle can be considered to rotate about the axis
instantaneously i.e. at a particular instant. Clearly, this is an equivalent analysis paradigm that gives the
same result as when rolling motion is considered as combination of rotation and translation.

Rolling motion as pure rotation

Each particle of the body can be considered to rotate about the axis through the contact point with same
angular velocity.

Under this alternative analysis framework, the angular velocities of all particles about this instantaneously
stationary axis are considered same. Importantly, this unique angular velocity is equal to angular velocity
of rolling (ω). Depending on the linear distance of the particles from the contact point, their linear velocity
varies. This alternative framework is consistent with the fact that linear velocities of the particles away
from the point of contact are indeed greater as worked out in previous module titled " Rolling motion ".

Rolling motion as pure rotation

The particles of the body away from the contact point moves with increasing speed.
Equivalence of pure rolling

The most important aspect of the equivalence of analysis frameworks, as described earlier, is that rolling
motion, which is a combination of pure translation and rotation in physical sense, is described in terms of
pure rotation only for the analysis of the motion. In this analysis, we do not need to consider translation
at all, as if the rolling body were stationary.

In the nutshell, the equivalent description of rolling in terms of pure rolling has following important
considerations :

1. The axis of rotation through contact point is parallel to central axis. This axis is instantaneously at rest
and is also referred as "Instantaneous axis of rotation (IAOR)"

2. Each particle of the body is rotating about IAOR with an angular velocity given by :

where "Vc" is the linear velocity of center of mass and "R" is the radius of the disk.

3. The linear velocity of any of the position within the rotating disk is obtained by using the relation,

The vector notation of the relation above is important. It emphasizes that the linear velocity is directed
such that it is perpendicular to both angular velocity vector (ω) and position vector (r). In the figure below,
the vector ω is into the plane of figure i.e. angular velocity vector is perpendicular to xy-plane. The velocity
vector being perpendicular to angular velocity vector, therefore, lies in xy-plane. Further, the velocity
vector is perpendicular to the positions vector drawn from the point of contact. Note that this is the
requirement of pure rotation. The linear velocity should be tangential to the circular path of the particle
about the axis in pure rotation.

Rolling motion

The linear velocity is tangential to the circular path of the particle about the instantaneous axis.

We must note that all velocity vectors are drawn perpendicular to position vectors, which are drawn
from the point of contact "A". The magnitude of the velocity is given by :
where "r" is the linear distance of the position from the point of contact and "ω" is the angular velocity
about the new axis through the point of contact or the axis through center of mass.

We can validate the assumption of rolling as pure rotation by calculating velocities of some of the positions
(A,B,C,D and E) on the rim of the rotating disk.

These results are same as obtained by considering pure rolling motion equivalent to the combination of
pure rotation and pure translation. As such, the equivalence of pure rolling as pure rotation about an axis
through the point of contact and perpendicular to the plane of rotating disk is indeed true. It is also evident
from the calculation details that this approach of analyzing rolling motion is simpler than the earlier
approach as far as calculation of linear velocities of different positions within the rotating disk is
concerned.

For calculating velocities of the positions on the rim of the rotating disk, there is a convenient
trigonometric relation that can be used with ease. We consider a position on the rim of the disk making
an angle θ with the vertical at the point of contact. The base of the triangle AB is the diameter of the circle.
As such the angle ADB is a right angle (angle subtended by diameter on the circumference is right angle).

The linear velocity of the particle at the rim of the rotating disk, therefore, is :
Problem: A ring rolls on a horizontal plane with a constant velocity, "v". Find the speed of a particle on
the ring, making an angle "θ" with the center as shown in the figure.

Solution : We can not apply the formula as derived earlier directly. Here, the given angle is at the center
of the ring and not at the point of contact as needed to use the formula directly. Now, the linear velocity
of the particle is given as :

In order to find "r" i.e. "AB", we drop a perpendicular from the center of the circle.

In the right angle ACD, we have :

Putting this expression for "r" in the equation :

But, we know that "ωR" equals speed of the center of mass.

As given in the question, the speed of the center of mass is "v". Hence,

Kinetic energy of rolling disk

We can determine kinetic energy of the rolling disk, considering it to be the pure rotation about an axis
passing through point of contact and plane of disk. Mathematically,

where " IA " is the moment of inertia of the disk about new axis. Now, using theorem of parallel axes, we
have :

where "I" is moment of inertia about an axis passing through center of mass and perpendicular to the
plane of rotating disk. Putting in the equation of kinetic energy, we have :

This result is same as that obtained by considering rolling as combined motion of pure rotation and pure
translation. It again emphasizes the correctness of the original assumption that rolling can be treated as
pure rotation about an axis through point of contact and perpendicular to the plane of disk.
Summary
1. Pure rolling is equivalent to pure rotation about an axis through point of contact and parallel to
central axis.
2. The axis of rotation passing through point of contact and parallel to axis of rotation is instantaneously
at rest and is known as “Instantaneous axis of rotation (IAOR)”.
3. The particles rotate about instantaneous axis of rotation with same angular velocity, which is given by
:

4. The linear velocity of any of the position within the rotating disk is obtained by using the relation,

where “r” is the position vector drawn from instantaneous axis of rotation.
5. The magnitude of linear velocity i.e. speed of the particle is :

where "r" is the linear distance of the particle from the point of contact. We must know that angular
velocity vector and position vector are perpendicular to each other. As such, the "sinθ" term in the
magnitude of a vector product always evaluates to "1".
6. The velocity is tangential to the circular path i.e. perpendicular to position vector.
7. The speed of a particle, which makes an angle "θ" with the vertical on the circumference (i.e circular
path) is given by :

8. The speed of a particle, which makes an angle "θ" with the vertical at the center of mass is given by :

9. The kinetic energy of the rolling is given by :

Rolling and Slipping Motion

When you slide an object over a surface (say, a book over a table), it will typically slow down
quickly, due to frictional forces. When you do the same with a round object, like a water bottle, it may
initially slide a little (especially if you push it hard), but will quickly start to rotate. You can easily check
that when rotating, the object loses much less kinetic energy to work than when sliding - take the same
water bottle, either on its bottom (sliding only) or on its side (a little sliding plus rolling), push it with the
same initial force, and let go: the rolling bottle gets much further. However, somewhat ironically, the
bottle can only roll thanks to friction. To start rolling, it needs to change its angular momentum, which
requires a torque, which is provided by the frictional force acting on the bottle.

When a bottle (or ball, or any round object) rolls, the instantaneous speed of the point touching
the surface over which it rolls is zero. Consequently, its rotational speed ω and the translational speed of
its center of rotation vr (where the r subscript is to indicate rolling) are related by vr=ωR, with R the
relevant radius of our object. If the object’s center of rotation moves faster than vrvr, the rotation can’t
‘keep up’, and the object slides over the surface. We call this type of motion slipping. Due to friction,
objects undergoing slipping motion typically quickly slow down to vr, at which point they roll without
slipping.

Figure: Five types of billiard shots. (a-c) The type of motion depends on where the cue hits the ball. (a) If
the cue hits the ball at exactly 7/5 R above the table, the ball will exhibit pure rolling motion, ω=Rω. (b) If
the cue hits the ball above the critical spot, it will rotate faster than translate ω>vR and exhibit a slipping
rotation. Friction will slow down the rotation until rolling motion is achieved. (c) If the cue hits the ball
below the critical spot, it will translate faster than rotate ω<vR and initially slide, until friction both slows
down the translational speed and accelerate the rotational speed to the point where rolling motion is
achieved. Note that the rotational motion may even be retrograde, i.e., backwards compared to the
translational motion. (d-e) Behavior of the incident billiard ball before and after collision with a stationary
ball of equal mass. Since the collision is elastic, all linear momentum is transferred to the other ball. If the
incident ball was initially rolling, immediately after the collision it will continue rotating with complete
slipping. Friction then causes the ball to pick up linear speed again, with a direction depending on the
direction of the rotational motion, resulting in a follow (d) or draw (e) shot.

Suppose we started our object with a velocity vo. If there is no rotation, the only force changing its velocity
is the constant frictional force

with m the mass of the object . The constant force results in a linear decrease in the translational speed
v(t)=vo −μkgt. However, if our object can roll, there is a second contribution to the motion, due to the
torque τfriction=FfrictionR of the frictional force. Using the rotational analog of Newton’s second law.(or
writing L=Iω and using Equation, we get an equation of motion for the rotational velocity:
Integrating with initial condition ω(t=0)=0ω(t=0)=0 we get ω(t)=μkmgRtIω(t)=μkmgRtI. While the object
undergoes slipping motion, the translational speed thus linearly decreases with time, whereas the
rotational speed linearly increases. To find the time and velocity at which the object enters a purely rolling
motion, we simply equate v(t)v(t) with ω(t)Rω(t)R, which gives

Note that the time tr until fully rolling motion is achieved scales inversely with the friction coefficient, but
the final rolling speed vr is independent of the frictional force. The rolling speed does depend on the
moment of inertia of your object - for a hollow cylinder it’s vr=12v0vr=12v0, whereas for a solid cylinder
it’s vr=23v0vr=23v0. Once the object is rolling, its surface no longer moves with respect to the surface
that it’s rolling on (as its instantaneous speed at the point of touching is zero). Consequently, the frictional
force is much reduced, and the object can roll a large distance before it stops; in fact, the main force
slowing it down once it is rolling is drag with the ambient air, which we could safely ignore when (kinetic)
friction was still in the picture.

Worked Example: A Cylinder Rolling Down a Slope

A massive cylinder with mass m and radius R rolls without slipping down a plane inclined at an angle θ.
The coefficient of (static) friction between the cylinder and the plane is μ. Find the linear acceleration of
the cylinder.

Free body of a cylinder rolling down a plane

Solution

There are at least three ways to tackle this problem. For all three, it helps (as always) to make a sketch,
indicating the relevant forces - see Figure 5.8.2.
• Method 1: Forces and torques.
Let the friction force Ff be positive in the direction up the plane. Then we have:
F = ma = mg sin θ – Ff = ma
τ = Iα = FtR = ½ mR2α
No slipping = α = αR
The last two equations give Ff = ½ ma. Plugging this into the first equation gives:
𝑔 sin 𝜃
α= 1 = 2/3 g sin θ
1+
2

• Method 2: Energy
The total energy of the system of the system is given by:
Etot = K + V = ½ mv2 + ½ Iω2 + mgh

If the cylinder rolls down the slope without slipping, its angular and linear velocities are related through v
= ωR. Also if it moves a distance Δx, its height decreases by Δx sin θ. Conservation of energy then gives:
dEtot d 1 1 v 2
O= dt
= dt [2 mv 2 + I( )
2 R
− mgx sin θ]
vv̇
= mvv̇ + I − mgv sin θ)
R2
1
= [a + 2
a − g sin θ] mv

where we used I = ½ mR2 for a massive cylinder in the last line. The linear acceleration a is thus given by
α = 2/3 g sin θ

• Method 2: Rotational Version of the Newton’s Second Law

At a given point in time, we can apply the rotational version of Newton’s second law to rotations about
the point where the cylinder touches the surface (as the cylinder is rolling without slipping, this is the only
motion at that point). Of the three forces in the system, two act at that point, so they have no lever arm.
Only gravity has a nonzero lever arm of length Rsinθ, leading to a torque given by τ z= mgRsinθ. By the
rotational version of Newton’s second law, we have τ=Iα, where I is the moment of inertia about the pivot.
Applying the parallel-axis theorem, we find I=Icm +md2 =3/2 mR2 in this case, so we get an angular
acceleration of
𝜏z mgRsin𝜃 2g
α= = 3 = 3R sin θ
I mR2
2

The linear acceleration of the cylinder due to the rotation about this pivot is given by α = Rα = 2/3 g sin θ.

Rolling
• Symbols used in this section
r = radius in the general sense (distance from the center or axis of rotation)
R = the outer radius of a round object (often just called the radius of the object)
vcm = translational speed of the center of mass
ω = rotational or angular speed
• Rolling is a combination of translational and rotational motion.
o When an object experiences pure translational motion, all of its points…
 ▪ move with the same velocity as the center of mass; that is…
▪ in the same direction
▪ with the same speed (v = vcm)
▪ move in a straight line in the absence of a net external force
o When an object experiences pure rotational motion about its center of mass, all of its points…
▪ move at right angles to the radius in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation, thus…
▪ points on opposite sides of the axis of rotation move in opposite directions
▪ move with a speed proportional to radius (v = rω), thus…
▪ the center of mass does not move (since r = 0 there)
▪ points on the outer radius move with speed v = Rω
▪ move in a circle centered on the axis of rotation
o When an object experiences rolling motion…
▪ the point of the object in contact with the surface…
▪ is instantaneously at rest
▪ is the instantaneous axis of rotation
▪ the center of mass of the object…
▪ moves with speed vcm = Rω
▪ moves in a straight line in the absence of a net external force
▪ the point fathest from the point of contact…
▪ moves with twice the speed of the center of mass v = 2vcm = 2Rω

• Rolling and Slipping

o rolling without slipping
▪ vcm = Rω
o slipping
▪ and rolling forward
▪ vcm < Rω
▪ accelerating on ice or mud
▪ "burnout" or "burn rubber" while driving
▪ "top spin" in billiards (a.k.a. "top" or "follow")
▪ vcm > Rω
▪ decelerating on ice or mud
▪ and rolling backward
▪ vcm > 0 and ω < 0
▪ "back spin" in billiards (a.k.a. "bottom" or "draw")
o pure translation
▪ vcm ≠ 0 and ω = 0
▪ "wheel lock" while driving
▪ "slide" in billiards
o pure rotation
▪ vcm = 0 and ω ≠ 0
▪ stuck in mud or snow while driving
• The path of a point on a rolling object is a cycloid (or a trochoid).

o The cycloid generated by a point on an object rolling over the +x axis is described by the following
parametric equations…
rolling = translation + rotation
x = vcmt + r cos (θ − ωt)
 y = r + r sin(θ − ωt)
o where…
r, θ = cylindrical coordinates of the point
R = outer radius
vcm = translational speed of the center of mass
ω = rotational or angular speed
t = time (the parameter of the parametric equation)
o Types
▪ A basic cycloid…
▪ is traced out by…
▪ points on the surface of a generating circle that is…
▪ rolling without slipping
▪ over a straight line
▪ has cusps (points with two tangents)

▪ A cycloid is curtate (or contracted) if…

▪ it is traced out by…
▪ points inside a generating circle (r < R) that is rolling without slipping or
▪ points on the surface of the generating circle that is slipping while rolling with vcm > Rω
▪ does not have cusps or loops

▪ A cycloid is prolate (or extended) if…

▪ it is traced out by…
▪ points outside a generating circle (r > R) that is rolling without slipping or
▪ points on the surface of the generating circle that is slipping while rolling with vcm < Rω
▪ it has loops

▪ A cycloid formed by rolling a generating circle on another circle is called…

▪ an epicycloid if the generating circle rolls on the outside of the other circle
▪ a hypocycloid if the generating circle rolls on the inside of the other circle

Discussion
• Rolling without slipping is a combination of translation and rotation where the point of contact
is instantaneously at rest.

• When an object experiences pure translational motion, all of its points move with the same
velocity as the center of mass; that is in the same direction and with the same speed
v(r) = vcenter of mass

• The object will also move in a straight line in the absence of a net external force.

• When an object experiences pure rotational motion about its center of mass, all of its points
move at right angles to the radius in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation with a speed
proportional to the distance from the axis of rotation…
v(r) = rω

• Thus points on opposite sides of the axis move in opposite directions, points on the axis do not
move at all since r = 0 there…
vcenter of mass = 0
 • and points on the outer edge move at the maximum speed…
vouter edge = Rω

• When an object experiences rolling motion the point of the object in contact with the surface is
instantaneously at rest…
vpoint of contact = 0

• and is the instantaneous axis of rotation. Thus, the center of mass of the object moves with speed…
vcenter of mass = Rω

• and the point fathest from the point of contact moves with twice that speed
vopposite the point of contact = 2vcm = 2Rω

• triskelion- The wheel is an extension of the foot.

• Cycloids
o cycloid
o prolate cycloid
o curtate cycloid

• Epicycloids
o epicycloid
o cardioid
o nephroid
o ranunculoid

• Hypocycloids
o hypocycloid
o astroid
o deltoid

Rolling Surfaces
In order to connect two shafts so that they shall have a definite angular velocity ratio, rolling surfaces are
often used; and in order to have no slipping between the surfaces they must fulfill the following two
conditions; the line of centers must pass through the point of contact, and the areas of contact must be
of equal length. The angular velocities , expressed usually in r/min, will be inversely proportional to the
radii. N/n = r/R. The two surfaces most commonly used in practice and the only ones having a constant
angular velocity ratio, are cylinders where the shafts are parallel and cones where the shafts (projected)
intersect at an angle. In either case there are possible directions of rotation, depending upon whether the
surfaces roll in opposite directions (external contacts) or in the same direction (internal contact).

In the given figure 1 , R = nc/(N + n) and r = Nc/(N + n). In figure 2, R = nc/(N – n) and r = Nc/(N –
n). In figure 3, tan B = sin A/(n/N + cos A) and tan C = sin A/(N/n + cos A). In figure 4, tan B = sin A/(N/n –
cos A) and tan C = sin A/(n/N – cos A). With the above values for the angles of B and C , and the length d
or e of one of the cones , R and r may be calculated.
 Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

The natural limitations of rolling without slip, with the use of pure rolling surfaces limited to the
transmission of very small amounts of torque, led historically to the alteration of the geometric surfaces
to include teeth and tooth spaces, tooth wheels or simply gears.
Fig. 4
 Gear and Gear Train
GEAR
• Power transmission is the movement of energy from its place of generation to a location where
it is applied to performing useful work
• A gear is a component within a transmission device that transmits rotational force to another gear
or device
• A friction wheel with teeth cut on it, i.e. ; a synchronous arrangement of projections and recesses
on a wheel.

TYPES OF GEARS
I. Position of the Axes of the Shafts
a. Parallel
1. Spur Gear
2. Helical Gear
3. Rack and Pinion
b. Intersecting
1. Bevel Gear
c. Non-intersecting and Non-parallel
1. worm and worm gears
 II. Peripheral Velocity of the Gears
a. LOW VELOCITY - VELOCITY LESS THAN 3m/s
b. MEDIUM VELOCITY - VELOCITY b/w 3m/s AND 5m/s
c. HIGH VELOCITY - VELOCITY GREATER THAN 15m/s

III. Types of Gearing

a. EXTERNAL GEARING
b. INTERNAL GEARING
c. RACK AND PINION

SPUR GEAR
• Teeth is parallel to axis of rotation
• Transmit power from one shaft to another parallel shaft
• Used in Electric screwdriver, oscillating sprinkler, windup alarm clock, washing machine and
clothes dryer
• Used in transmitting torque between parallel shafts
• Simplest type of gear
• Teeth are cut parallel to shaft axis
• Easy to manufacture
• If one of the gear has infinite diameter, then it is called rack, ( Rack and pinion)
External and Internal Spur Gear

Helical Gear

• The teeth on helical gears are cut at an angle to the face of the gear
• 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
• Used in transmitting torque between parallel shafts
• Teeth are cut at an angle with the shaft axis
• Helical gears can be meshed in parallel or crossed orientations.
• The angled teeth engage more gradually than spur gear teeth, causing them to run more smoothly
and quietly
• Double Helical gear

Herringbone gears

• 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

• Rack and pinion gears are used to convert rotation (From the pinion) into linear motion (of the
rack)
• A perfect example of this is the steering system on many cars

Bevel Gears

• Bevel gears are useful when the direction of a shaft's rotation needs to be changed
• They are usually mounted on shafts that are 90 degrees apart, but can be designed to work at
other angles as well • The teeth on bevel gears can be straight, spiral or hypoid
• locomotives, marine applications, automobiles, printing presses, cooling towers, power plants,
steel plants, railway track inspection machines, etc.
• • Used to transmit rotary motion between intersecting shafts
• Tooth-bearing faces of the gears are conically shaped
• The pitch surface of bevel gears is a cone

Straight and Spiral Bevel Gears

Worm and Worm Gear

• Used for high Gear ratios

• Direction of transmission (input shaft vs output shaft) is not reversible when using large reduction
ratios
• Used in wiper motors
• Worm gears are used when large gear reductions are needed
• It is common for worm gears to have reductions of 20:1, and even up to 300:1 or greater
• Many worm gears have an interesting property that no other gear set has: the worm can easily
turn the gear, but the gear cannot turn the worm
• Worm gears are used widely in material handling and transportation machinery, machine tools,
automobiles etc.

NOMENCLATURE OF SPUR GEARS

Terminology
 ▪ Small Gear– Pinion
▪ Large Gear – Wheel
▪ Pitch Curve: theoretical curve along which gear rolls (without slipping)
▪ Pitch surface: The surface of the imaginary rolling cylinder (cone, etc.) that the toothed gear may
be considered to replace.
▪ Pitch circle: A right section of the pitch surface.
▪ Addendum circle: A circle bounding the ends of the teeth, in a right section of the gear.
▪ Root (or dedendum) circle: The circle bounding the spaces between the teeth, in a right section
of the gear.
▪ Addendum: The radial distance between the pitch circle and the addendum circle.
: radial distance b/w PC and top land

▪ Dedendum: The radial distance between the pitch circle and the root circle.
: radial distance b/w PC and bottom land

▪ Clearance: The difference between the dedendum of one gear and the addendum of the mating
gear.
▪ Face of a tooth: That part of the tooth surface lying outside the pitch surface.
▪ Flank of a tooth: The part of the tooth surface lying inside the pitch surface.
▪ Circular thickness (also called the tooth thickness): The thickness of the tooth measured on the
pitch circle. It is the length of an arc and not the length of a straight line.
▪ Tooth space: pitch diameter The distance between adjacent teeth measured on the pitch circle.
▪ Backlash: The difference between the circle thickness of one gear and the tooth space of the
mating gear.
▪ Circular pitch (Pc) : The width of a tooth and a space, measured on the pitch circle.

▪ Diametral pitch (Pd): The number of teeth of a gear unit pitch diameter. The diametral pitch is, by
definition, the number of teeth divided by the pitch diameter. That is,

▪ Module (m): Pitch diameter divided by number of teeth. The pitch diameter is usually specified in
inches or millimeters; in the former case the module is the inverse of diametral pitch.

VELOCITY RATIO OF GEAR DRIVE

d = Diameter of the wheel

N =Speed of the wheel
ω = Angular speed
Fundamental Law of Gearing

• Let, N be the number of teeth from each gear passing through engagement zone in 1 second
• Number of teeth on two gears 1 and 2 be N1 and N2 respectively
• Gear 1 and 2 make (N/N1) and N/N2) revolution

Involute Profile

• Curve traced by a point on a string unwrapping from a cylinder is involute profile

Pressure Angle

• Common normal to the mating tooth curves at the point of contact makes a constant angle with
the common tangent to the pitch circles passing through the pitch point. This angle is called
pressure angle.
Contact Ratio

• To transmit rotational motion continuous there must be at least one pair of contacting teeth at
all times
• Typically, there are more than one pair in contact, hence overlapping of teeth
• Contact Ratio is used to provide quantitative measure of the amount of overlap
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
• Sometimes, two or more gears are made to mesh with each other to transmit power from one
shaft to another. Such a combination is called gear train or train of toothed wheels.
• The nature of the train used depends upon the velocity ratio required and the relative position of
the axes of shafts.
• A gear train may consist of spur, bevel or spiral gears.

Types of Gear Trains

• Following are the different types of gear trains, depending upon the arrangement of wheels :
1. Simple gear train
2. Compound gear train
3. Reverted gear train
4. Epicyclic gear train
• In the first three types of gear trains, the axes of the shafts over which the gears are mounted are
fixed relative to each other.
• But in case of epicyclic gear trains, the axes of the shafts on which the gears are mounted may
move relative to a fixed axis.

Simple Gear Train

• The most common of the gear train is the gear pair connecting parallel shafts. The teeth of this
type can be spur, helical or herringbone.
• Only one gear may rotate about a single axis
 • When there is only one gear on each shaft, as shown in Fig., 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, as shown in Fig. (a).
• 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.
• It may be noted that the motion of the driven gear is opposite to the motion of driving gear.

(a) (b) (c)

It may be noted that when the number of intermediate gears are odd, the motion of both the
gears (i.e. drivers and the driven or follower) is like as shown in fig. (b).
But if the number of intermediate gears are even, the motion of the driven or follower will be
in the opposite direction of the driver as shown in fig. (c).

Now consider a simple gear train with one intermediate gear as shown in fig. (b)
 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛
Speed Ratio = =
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟

𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟

Train Value = = =
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛
Compound Gear Train

• For large velocities, compound arrangement is preferred

• Two or more gears may rotate about a single axis

• When there are more than one gear on a shaft, as shown in Fig., it is called a compound train of
gear.
• We have seen that the idle gears, in a simple train of gears do not affect the speed ratio of the
system.
• But these gears are useful in bridging over the space between the driver and the driven.

• But 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 increased by providing compound gears on intermediate
shafts.
• In this case, each intermediate shaft has two gears rigidly fixed to it so that they may have the
same speed.
• One of these two gears meshes with the driver and the other with the driven or follower
attached to the next shaft as shown in Fig.
Since gears 2 and 3 are mounted on one shaft B, therefore N2 = N3. Similarly gears 4 and 5 are mounted
on shaft C therefore N4 = N5
Example: The gearing of a machine tool is shown in the fig. The motor shaft is connected to gear A and
rotates at 975 rpm. The gear wheels B, C, D and E are fixed to parallel shafts rotating together. The final
gear F is fixed on the output shaft. What is the speed of gear F? The number of teeth on each gear are
given as follows:

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 as shown in Fig.
• We see that gear 1 (i.e. first driver) drives the gear 2 (i.e. first driven or follower) in the opposite
direction.
• Since the gears 2 and 3 are mounted on the same shaft, therefore they form a compound gear
and the gear 3 will rotate in the same direction as that of gear 2.
 • The gear 3 (which is now the second driver) drives the gear 4 (i.e. the last driven or follower) in
the same direction as that of gear 1.
• Thus we see that in a reverted gear train, the motion of the first gear and the last gear is like.

Epicyclic Gear Train

• In an epicyclic gear train, the axes of the shafts, over which the gears are mounted, may move
relative to a fixed axis.
• A simple epicyclic gear train is shown in Fig., where a gear A and the arm C have a common axis
at O1 about which they can rotate.
• The gear B meshes with gear A and has its axis on the arm at O2, about which the gear B can
rotate.

• 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 (epi.
means upon and cyclic means around).
• The epicyclic gear trains may be simple or compound.
• 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.
Planetary Gear Train

• In this train, the blue gear has six times the diameter of the yellow gear
• The size of the red gear is not important because it is just there to reverse the direction of rotation
• In this gear system, the yellow gear (the sun) engages all three red gears (the planets)
simultaneously
• All three are attached to a plate (the planet carrier), and they engage the inside of the blue gear
(the ring) instead of the outside.
• Because there are three red gears instead of one, this gear train is extremely rugged.
• Planetary gear sets is that they can produce different gear ratios depending on which gear you
use as the input, which gear you use as the output, and which one you hold still.
• They have higher gear ratios.
• They are popular for automatic transmissions in automobiles.
• They are also used in bicycles for controlling power of pedaling automatically or manually.
• They are also used for power train between internal combustion engine and an electric motor
Example: 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 rpm in the anticlockwise direction about the center of the gear A which is fixed,
determine the speed of gear B. If the gear A instead of being fixed, makes 300 rpm, in the clockwise
direction, what will be the speed of the gear B?
Example: An epicyclic train of gears is arranged as shown in the fig. How many revolutions does the arm,
to which the pinions B and C are attached, make: 1) when A makes one revolution clockwise and D makes
half revolution anti-clockwise and, 2) when A makes one revolution clockwise and D is stationary?
The number of teeth on the gears A and D are 40 and 90 respectively.
 Belt Drives

The power is transmitted from one shaft to the other by means of belts, chains and gears. The
belts and ropes are flexible members which are used where distance between the two shafts is large. The
chains also have flexibility but they are preferred for intermediate distances. The gears are used when the
shafts are very close with each other. This type of drive is also called positive drive because there is no
slip. If the distance is slightly larger, chain drive can be used for making it a positive drive. Belts and ropes
transmit power due to the friction between the belt or rope and the pulley. There is a possibility of slip
and creep and that is why, this drive is not a positive drive. A gear train is a combination of gears which
are used for transmitting motion from one shaft to another.

POWER TRANSMISSION DEVICES

Power transmission devices are very commonly used to transmit power from one shaft to
another. Belts, chains and gears are used for this purpose. When the distance between the shafts is large,
belts or ropes are used and for intermediate distance chains can be used. For belt drive distance can be
maximum but this should not be more than ten meters for good results. Gear drive is used for short
distances.

Belts
In case of belts, friction between the belt and pulley is used to transmit power. In practice, there
is always some amount of slip between belt and pulleys, therefore, exact velocity ratio cannot be
obtained. That is why, belt drive is not a positive drive. Therefore, the belt drive is used where exact
velocity ratio is not required.
• The belt is a flexible element of a mechanical system. It is used to transfer the power from one
System to another System.
• A belt is a looped strip of flexible material, used to mechanically link two or more rotating shafts.
• They may be used as a source of motion, to efficiently transmit power, or to track relative
movement. Belts are looped over pulleys.
• In a two-pulley system, the belt can either drive the pulleys in the same direction, or the belt may
be crossed, so that the direction of the shafts is opposite.
• The belt drive is also known as for continuous power transmission.

Types of Belt-Drive:
There are five different kinds of belt drive can be found and those are:
• Open belt drive
• Closed or crossed belt drive
• Fast and loose cone pulley
• Stepped cone pulley
• Jockey pulley drive

Open Belt Drive

Open belt drive is used when sense of rotation of both the pulleys is same. It is desirable to keep
the tight side of the belt on the lower side and slack side at the top to increase the angle of contact on the
pulleys. This type of drive is shown in figure.
 In this, the shafts rotate in the same direction that means the direction of rotating is the same as
driving and driven pulley. The shafts are arranged in the parallel direction. If the shafts are having a more
distance between driver and driving pulley then there must be the upper side will be slack side and the
below side will be the tight side.

Open Belt Drive

OPEN BELT DRIVE WITH IDLER PULLEY

MULTIPLE BELT DRIVE:

QUARTER TURN BELT DRIVE

COMPOUND BELT DRIVE:

Cross Belt Drive

In case of cross belt drive, the pulleys rotate in the opposite direction. The angle of contact of belt
on both the pulleys is equal. This drive is shown in Figure. As shown in the figure, the belt has to bend in
two different planes. As a result of this, belt wears very fast and therefore, this type of drive is not
preferred for power transmission. This can be used for transmission of speed at low power.
Here in the crossed belt drive the transmitted power is more but there is a problem that it cannot
run faster. If so, then rubbing between belts may wear and tear. In this, the shafts rotate in the opposite
direction. At the junction side, it rubs and therefore it wears and tears off. And if you don’t want to wear
and tear then place more distance between pulley and run at low speed.
 Crossed Belt Drive

Fast and loose cone pulley:

As the name indicates fast and loose pulley it means there are two pulleys in it. How are these
two pulleys placed in it? The fast pulley is mounted on a shaft with keyed joint and the loose pulley runs
freely on the shaft and it is incapable of transmitting any power. Another term in that is when multiple
machines are working from a single power source then in this condition, each machine has provided with
this fast and loose cone pulley.

Stepped cone pulley:

This is also known as speed cone. Here in stepped cone pulley, there are more pulleys attached
of different diameter one adjacent to another. Stepped cone pulleys are used where they have to change
gear or speed of driven shaft change frequently like a machine (Lathe, Milling and more). The diameter of
the driving and driven pulley is such that when we wanted to shift to another pulley the same belt will
operate.

Jockey pulley:
Jockey pulleys are used in the steering section of the system. Jockey pulley is like an idle pulley
and which is used for increasing the angle of contact in an open belt drive. Hence increasing the angle of
contact steer to the increased power transmission capacity of the drive. This one pulley is mounted nearer
to the smaller pulley and we can say also this is placed on the slack side of the belt. Let's understand jockey
pulley in detail: It (jockey or idle pulley) helps to increase the angle of contact of the belt, so that belt
tension is increased and also the drive provides a high-velocity ratio.

Types of Belt:
a. Flat Belt:
This is a kind of rectangular cross-section. It is used where low power is required and speed is
more. Generally, the shaft distance is between 5 to 10 meters. Flat belt transmits power by using
friction produce between the belt and the pulley. The pulley rotation in the flat belt is in the same
direction. The flat belt has an efficiency of around 98 percent Very little noise comes in this belt.
b. V belt:
V belts are in the trapezoidal cross-section. V belts are used where shaft distance is less than 2
meters and also used for moderate speed and high power. 4/12 In belt the multiple drives are
possible.
c. Circular belt / Round belt:
It is a circular cross-section. Circular belts are used where more than a 5-meter shaft distance. It
is used for high power transmission. Circular belts are also used where smaller initial tension is
required and absences of vibration and noise are there.
 d. Timing belt:
This is an alternate type of belt. Timing belts are mainly used inside (internal combustion type)
the system to transmit power. Timing belts are a positive drive. It is a precise and reliable type of
belt.

The following types of belts shown in Figure are most commonly used:

The flat belt is rectangular in cross-section as shown in Figure (a). The pulley for this belt is
slightly crowned to prevent slip of the belt to one side. It utilizes the friction between the flat surface of
the belt and pulley.
The V-belt is trapezoidal in section as shown in Figure (b). It utilizes the force of friction between
the inclined sides of the belt and pulley. They are preferred when distance is comparative shorter.
Several V-belts can also be used together if power transmitted is more.
The circular belt or rope is circular in section as shown in Figure(c). Several ropes also can be
used together to transmit more power.

Materials used in Belt:

For choosing belt material, the material should follow some properties which are:
o It should be flexible
o It should be reliable and durable.
o The material can withstand high tensile stress.
o More temperature can be resisted.
o Low weight per unit length.
o High coefficient of friction between belt and pulley.
o It should have excellent resistance to wear and fatigue.

There are 5 different types of material we use for Belt:

1. Leather belt
This is the most important type of belt. This belt is first found in Egypt. The leather belt you might
have seen in your daily life. Yes? Yes, it is. This belt is more expensive than other belts made of
cloth or recycled materials. And you know, to become a leather belt strong, the one layer of
leather is joint to another layer to become stronger and increase the thickness of the belt.
2. Rubber belt
This belt is made up of fabric. This is used in sawmills, paper mills and more.
3. Cotton or Fabric belt
This type is mostly used in farm machinery and belt conveyor. This is cheaper and best suited for
warm climates and a damp atmosphere.
4. Plastic belt
 These types of belt materials are made up of plastic sheets and rubber layers. The main
advantages of a plastic belt are that it can design almost any size.
5. Balata belt
Balata belts are similar to rubber type belts but this is stronger than rubber belt. The balata gum
is used here to stick it. It is a Waterproof type belt and has a high resistance to acidic, alkaline
material so this is used for food packaging conveyor. This is not used for high temperatures
because balata becomes sticky gum at a higher temperature.

Selection of Belt-drive:
The selection of belt drive depends on several factors. Some of them I am listed out here:
• It requires a positive drive.
• The center distance between the shaft and pulley.
• The speed of the driver and driven pulley.
• Power transmitted between the system.
• The layout of shafts and others.

Advantages of belt drive

1. They are simple. They are economical.
2. Overload and jam protection are provided.
3. Noise and vibration are damped out. Machinery life is prolonged because load fluctuations are
cushioned (shock-absorbed).
4. They are lubrication-free. They require only low maintenance.
5. They are highly efficient (90–98%, usually 95%). Some misalignment is tolerable.
6. They are very economical when shafts are separated by large distances.
7. It can easily install and easily remove.
8. It can transfer power vertical, horizontal and inclined too.

Disadvantages of Belt-drive:
• Power loss due to slip and creep.
• Not used for a very short distance.
• And speed is limited to some extent.
• It is quieter.
• Longer life is not possible.
• Chances of breaking are more.
• The operation temperature is limited between -35 to 85 degrees Celsius. If it exceeds temperature
then it causes wear.
• Angular velocity ratio is not necessarily constant or equal to the ratio of pulley's diameter because
of slipping.
• The angular-velocity ratio is not necessarily constant or equal to the ratio of pulley diameters,
because of belt slip and stretch.
• Heat buildup occurs.
• Speed is limited to usually 7000 feet per minute (35 meters per second).
• Power transmission is limited to 370 kilowatts (500 horsepower).
• Some adjustment of center distance or use of an idler pulley is necessary for wear and stretch
compensation.
• A means of disassembly must be provided to install endless belts.
Applications of Belt-drive:
• Belt-drives are used in various places like: A belt drive is used to transfer power.
• The belt drive is used in the Mill industry.
• The belt drive is used in Conveyor.

Belt Drive vs Chain Drive:

Timing Belt Pulley

• A timing belt pulley is a wheel on a shaft or an axle.

• It is developed in order to support the change of direction and movement of a belt or a cable
along the circumference.
• Also called a drum or sheave and might be grooved in between two flanges all over its
circumference.

Timing belts are parts of synchronous drives which represent an important category of drives.
Characteristically, these drives employ the positive engagement of two sets of meshing teeth. Hence, they
do not slip and there is no relative motion between the two elements in mesh.
Due to this feature, different parts of the drive will maintain a constant speed ratio or even a
permanent relative position. This is extremely important in applications such as automatic machinery in
which a definite motion sequence and/or indexing is involved.
 The positive nature of these drives makes them capable of transmitting large torques and
withstanding large accelerations.
Belt drives are particularly useful in applications where layout flexibility is important. They enable
the designer to place components in more advantageous locations at larger distances without paying a
price penalty. Motors, which are usually the largest heat source, can be placed away from the rest of the
mechanism. Achieving this with a gear train would represent an expensive solution.
Timing belts are basically flat belts with a series of evenly spaced teeth on the inside
circumference, thereby combining the advantages of the flat belt with the positive grip features of chains
and gears.
There is no slippage or creep as with plain flat belts. Required belt tension is low, therefore
producing very small bearing loads. Synchronous belts will not stretch and do not require lubrication.
Speed is transmitted uniformly because there is no chordal rise and fall of the pitch line as in the case of
roller chains.
The tooth profile of most commonly known synchronous belts is of trapezoidal shape with sides
being straight lines which generate an involute, similar to that of a spur gear tooth. As a result, the profile
of the pulley teeth is involute. Unlike the spur gear, however, the outside diameter of a timing pulley is
smaller than its pitch diameter, thus creating an imaginary pitch diameter which is larger than the pulley
itself. This is illustrated in Figure 1. Backlash between pulley and belt teeth is negligible.

Applications:
• Pulleys are applied in a number of ways such as using forces, lifting loads and transmitting the
power.
• In nautical cases, the assembly of axle, wheel and supporting shell is termed as a block.
• The drive component of a pulley system may in terms of cable, belt, rope or chain that flows over
the pulley inside the groove.

Standard Belt
• The timing belt pulley is the system that is characterized by two or more pulleys tied into a
standard belt.
• This enables torque, mechanical power and acceleration to be distributed across the axles.
• If the pulleys are of diverse diameters, then a mechanical advantage can be gained.

Common Uses
• Timing pulleys are extensively used in many mechanical devices such as:
1. sewing machines
2. office equipment
3. photocopiers
 4. And more
• The primary application of this pulley is that it is used for driving the camshafts in an automobile
engine.

High Power Transmissions

• Timing belt pulleys are able to give more power than a friction drive belt.
• These are also utilized for very high-power transmissions.
• These also include the primary drive of certain motorcycles, especially the world-famous Harley-
Davidson.

High Speed
• These pulleys are also used in aircraft that are driven by high speed and two stroke engines.
• The purpose is to decrease the drives to enable use of a more efficient slower speed and quieter
propeller.
• Various amateur-developed airplanes driven by automotive engines also use these pulleys to
reduce the drive units.

Construction Industry
• The timing belts pulleys are heavily applied in the construction industry as well.
• Belts in these pulleys are developed from a flexible polymer on the fabric reinforcement.
• Mostly this was a rubber material fixed over a natural textile, but later developments in material
usage gave a very significant change in increasing the lifetimes of these belts.

Failure Modes
• The timing belt pulley has two failure modes.
• One is gradual, and the other is catastrophic
• Both boost their risk with the passage of time
• It is quite common for highly stressed pulleys to be provided with a service lifetime and to be
replaced with the new one regularly
Construction Industry
• The timing belts pulleys are heavily applied in the construction industry as well.
• Belts in these pulleys are developed from a flexible polymer on the fabric reinforcement.
• Mostly this was a rubber material fixed over a natural textile, but later developments in material
usage gave a very significant change in increasing the lifetimes of these belts.

Velocity ratio of belt

• it is the ratio between the velocities of the driver and the follower or driven.
• Since power transmitted by a belt drive is due to the friction, belt drive is subjected to slip and
creep.
• Let d1 and d2 be the diameters of driving and driven pulleys, respectively. N1 and N2 be the
corresponding speeds of driving and driven pulleys, respectively.
d1 = Diameter of the driver,
d2 = Diameter of the follower
N1 = Speed of the driver in r.p.m.
N2 = Speed of the follower in r.p.m.
The velocity of the belt passing over the driver:

If there is no slip between the belt and pulley:

If thickness of the belt is ‘t’, and it is not negligible in comparison to the diameter:

Velocity of belt drive considering slip:

Let there be total percentage slip ‘S’ in the belt drive which can be taken into account as follows:
• The motion of belts and shafts assuming a firm frictional grip between the belts and the shafts.
But sometimes, the frictional grip becomes insufficient. This may cause some forward motion of
the driver without carrying the belt with it. This may also cause some forward motion of the belt
without carrying the driven pulley with it. This is called slip of the belt and is generally expressed
as a percentage.
• The result of the belt slipping is to reduce the velocity ratio of the system. As the slipping of the
belt is a common phenomenon, thus the belt should never be used where a definite velocity ratio
is of importance (as in the case of hour, minute and second arms in a watch).
• Let s1 % = Slip between the driver and the belt, and s2 % = Slip between the belt and the follower.

If the thickness of belt is also to be considered:

 The belt moves from the tight side to the slack side and vice-versa, there is some loss of power
because the length of belt continuously extends on tight side and contracts on loose side. Thus, there is
relative motion between the belt and pulley due to body slip. This is known as creep.

POWER TRANSMISSION BY BELTS

In this section, we shall discuss how power is transmitted by a belt drive. The belts are used to
transmit very small power to the high amount of power. In some cases, magnitude of the power is
negligible but the transmission of speed only may be important. In such cases the axes of the two shafts
may not be parallel. In some cases, to increase the angle of lap on the smaller pulley, the idler pulley is
used. The angle of lap may be defined as the angle of contact between the belt and the pulley. With the
increase in angle of lap, the belt drive can transmit more power. Along with the increase in angle of lap,
the idler pulley also does not allow reduction in the initial tension in the belt. The use of idler pulley is
shown.

Law of Belting
The law of belting states that the centre line of the belt as it approaches the pulley, must lie in
plane perpendicular to the axis of the pulley in the mid plane of the pulley otherwise the belt will run off
the pulley. However, the point at which the belt leaves the other pulley must lie in the plane of a pulley.
The Figure below shows the belt drive in which two pulleys are at right angle to each other. It can be seen
that the centre line of the belt approaching larger or smaller pulley lies in its plane. The point at which the
belt leaves is contained in the plane of the other pulley.

Length of the Belt

For any type of the belt drive it is always desirable to know the length of belt required. It will be
required in the selection of the belt. The length can be determined by the geometric considerations.
However, actual length is slightly shorter than the theoretically determined value.
Example: A synchronous belt drive system shown in Figure is used as a speed reducer. The input shaft
rotates at 1000 rpm and has a 36-tooth sprocket with a pitch diameter of 3.609 in. The output shaft has a
72-tooth sprocket with a pitch diameter of 7.218 in. The center distance between the two shafts is 15.01
in.

Speed reducer belt drive

Determine the following for the belt drive:
a. The velocity ratio
b. The angular velocity of the output shaft
c. The linear belt speeds
d. The belt wrap on the input and output sprockets
e. The belt perimeter length
f. Draw the schematic of the belt drive system using CAD

Solution: Use the equations developed in this section to solve for the kinematics of the belt drive system.

Results:
a. Use Equation to calculate the velocity ratio.

This tells us the input sprocket turns twice as fast as the output sprocket and the belt drive is a
speed reducer. The velocity ratio can be used to find the reduced speed of the output shaft.
b. Manipulating Equation, we can now solve for the driven speed of the output shaft.

c. The belt linear velocity can be calculated using Equation:

d. In order to solve for the angle of the belt wrap on both sprockets, first we need to find the angle
∅ using Equation:
 The angle of wrap on sprocket (1):

The angle of wrap on sprocket (2):

e. To find the belt perimeter length, the belt span distance and the arc lengths of belt wrap on both
sprockets need to be found. Use Equation to first calculate the belt span distance, d

Next solve for the arc length s1 using Equation

Now solve for the arc length s2 using Equation

Lastly, use Equation to add the belt span distance and the two arc lengths to solve for the
belt perimeter length,

The belt perimeter length would be used to purchase the correct belt length from the belt
manufacturer. Since belt manufacturer make belts of specific lengths, the calculated center
distance and belt perimeter length must correspond to the manufacturer’s belt specifications.
f. The layout of the belt drive system using a CAD package
 Chain Drives
Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used
to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles. It is also used in a wide
variety of machines besides vehicles. Roller chain is mostly used to transmit power. A chain is a power
transmission element made as a series of pin‐connected links. Load is applied by the driving sprocket on
the chain, the load is transmitted to a bushing, pin, and pair of link plates, pins and link plates push the
driven sprocket to run.
Most often, the power is conveyed by a roller chain known as the drive chain or transmission
chain, passing over a sprocket gear, with the teeth of the gear meshing with the holes in the links of the
chain.
The belt drive is not a positive drive because of creep and slip. The chain drive is a positive drive.
Like belts, chains can be used for larger centre distances. They are made of metal and due to this chain is
heavier than the belt but they are flexible like belts. It also requires lubrication from time to time. The
lubricant prevents chain from rusting and reduces wear. The chain and chain drive are shown in Figure
The sprockets are used in place of pulleys. The projected teeth of sprockets fit in the recesses of the chain.
The distance between roller centers of two adjacent links is known as pitch. The circle passing through
the pitch centers is called pitch circle.
 Out of these three categories roller chain shown in Figure (b) is most commonly used. The
construction of this type of chain is shown in the figure. The roller is made of steel and then hardened to
reduce the wear. A good roller chain is quiter in operation as compared to the block chain and it has lesser
wear. The block chain is shown in Figure (a). It is used for low-speed drive. The inverted tooth chain is
shown in Figures (c) and (d). It is also called as silent chain because it runs very quietly even at higher
speeds.

Advantages of chain drive:

1. As no slip takes place during chain drive, hence perfect velocity ratio is obtained.
2. Since the chains are made of metal, therefore they occupy less space in width than a belt or rope
drive.
3. It may be used for both long as well as short distances.
4. It gives a high transmission efficiency (unto 98 percent).
5. It gives less load on the shafts.
6. It has the ability to transmit motion to several shafts by one chain only.
7. It transmits more power than belts.
8. It permits high speed ratio of 8 to 10 in one step.
9. It can be operated under adverse temperature and atmospheric conditions.
10. Easy to install and repair

Disadvantages of Chain Drives

1. Noisy
2. Need lubrication
3. Weight of the chain
4. Costly compare to belt
Limitations of chain drive
1. The production cost of chains is relatively high.
2. The chain drive needs accurate mounting and careful maintenance, particularly lubrication and
slack adjustment.
3. The chain drive has velocity fluctuations especially when unduly stretched.

CHAIN - a sequence of items of the same type forming a line, circle or a closed and open path.

TYPES OF CHAIN
BASIS OF USE:
a. HOISTING AND HAULING
• CHAIN SPEED>.25m/s
b. CONVEYOR
• .8<C.S.3
c. POWER TRANSMITTING
• USED FOR SHORT DISTANCE

BASIS OF CONSTRUCTION:
a. Roller Chains
• Rotate on the teeth of a sprocket
• Large reduction ratio (usually up to 1:7)
 • Chains can be used with long shaft center distances (normally up to 4m). By changing the
number of links, it is possible to freely adjust the shaft center distance.
• The chain can be used on both sides and drive multiple shafts at the same time.
• Easy installation and replacement (easy to cut and connect chains).
• If the distance between shafts is short, it can be used vertically.
• The sprocket diameter of a chain drive could be smaller than a belt pulley while
transmitting the same torque.
• Transmitting power by meshing many teeth results in less wear of sprocket teeth than
gears.
• Chain drives have greater shock absorption than gear drives.

b. Roller less Chains

• No roller links
• Used on lifts and hoists
c. Silent Chains
• Sometimes called inverted tooth chain
• Used at speeds and loads higher than roller chains
• Sprocket, teeth different shape, grove in the middle
d. Inverted tooth drive chains
• Inverted tooth drive chain is the optimal solution for requirements exceeding those met
by other chains (e. g. roller chains).
• They allow for low-backlash drives with exact positioning.
• They are also highly effective, inured to vibration and have minimal noise emission.

Chain Drives ‐ Nomenclature

a. Pitch - Is the distance between the centers of two adjacent pins.
b. Pitch circle radius (rc) - Distance between the pin center and the center of sprocket, when the
hinge is meshed with that sprocket.
Chain Drives ‐ Classification
a. Hoisting and hauling (or crane) chains
• Can be used up to 0.25m/s
• Two types : Oval and square links
b. Conveyor Chains
• Used for elevating and conveying within 0.8 to 3m/s.
• Two types : Detachable or hook joint, closed joint type.

c. Power Transmitting Chains

• Used for short center distance.
• Three types : Block or bush chain; Bush roller chain; Silent chain
Chain Drives – Lubrication
o The performance of chain assembly is improved by proper lubrication.
o It reduces the friction and act as a coolant.
o Improper lubrication produces premature chain failure.
o Lubrication types depend upon the speed and environment.
o It is very important for the effective and durable functioning of chains.
o The chains are lubricated by light or medium mineral oils like SAE30.SAE40,SAE50

Methods of lubrication
1. Manual lubrication: Lube is applied periodically using brush or oil can. e.g., cycle or bike chain.
2. Drip lubrication: oil drips with sufficient flow is directed on the chain. e.g., Conveyor chains,
engine.

3. Bath or Disc lubrication: chain runs through an oil sump or bath in the drive housing. In disc
lubrication, a disc picks up the oil and deposit on chain. Oil level is to be maintained in these
cases.

4. Stream lubrication: Some nozzles attached with supply of oil, are set on chain to spray the oil on
chain near sprocket engagement.
Chain Drives – Roller chains

KINEMATICS OF CHAIN DRIVE

The chain is wrapped round the sprocket as shown in Figure(d). The chain in motion is shown in
figure below. It may be observed that the position of axial line changes between the two position as shown
by the dotted line and full line. The dotted line meets at point B when extended with the line of centers.
The firm line meets the line of centers at point A when extended. The speed of the driving sprocket say
‘1’ shall be constant but the velocity of chain will vary between 1  O1C and 1  O1D. Therefore,

The variation in the chain speed causes the variation in the angular speed of the driven sprocket. The
angular speed of the driven sprocket will vary between
This variation can be reduced by increasing number of teeth on the sprocket.

Velocity Ratio
V.R. = N1/N2 = T2/T1
Where:
N1 = speed of the smaller sprocket
N2 = speed of the larger sprocket
T1 = teeth of the smaller sprocket
T2 = teeth of the larger sprocket

Factor of Safety
FS = WB/W
Where:
WB = Breaking load
W = Total load

Power Transmitted by Chain

BASIS OF BREAKING LOAD
P = WBv / FSKs
Where:
WB = Breaking load
v = velocity of the chain
FS = factor of safety
Ks = service factor

BASIS OF BEARING STRESS

P = σbAv / Ks
Where:
σb = Allowable bearing stress
A = Area

Roller chains ‐ Recommendations

o T1 ≥ 17, T2 ≤ 120
T1, T2 = No. of teeth on small and large sprocket
o Velocity Ratio (V.R.) = N1/N2 ≤ 7
o 30 pitches ≤ center distance (C) ≤ 50 pitches
o Pitch (p) should be even
𝑇1 + 𝑇2 𝑇2 − 𝑇1 2 1
o Chain Length (L) = 2C + 2
+( 2𝜋
) ∙ 𝐶
Roller chains – problem solving steps

2. Compute the velocity ratio.

3. Select the chain pitch, and rpm of smaller sprocket.
Power Rating of Simple Roller Chain
Rated Horsepower Capacity of a Single Strand Single-Pitch Roller Chain for a 17-
Tooth Sprocket

4. Number of teeth of small sprocket.

Number of Teeth on the Smaller Sprocket

5. Pitch of the chain

 Characteristic of Roller Chain According to IS: 2403 - 1991

6. Compute number of teeth of larger sprocket

T2 = T1 ∙ V.R. (check in catalogue)
7. Compute the actual expected output speed
N2 = N1 (T1/T2)
8. Compute the pitch diameters of the sprockets.
𝑝 𝑝
D1 = 180 D2 = 180
sin( ) sin( )
𝑇1 𝑇2

9. Compute the length of the chain (L).

10. Corrected center distance.

11. Compute the angle of wrap of the chain for each sprocket.
 4. Select the chain pitch, and rpm of smaller sprocket.

Power Rating of Simple Roller Chain

5. Number of teeth on sprockets.

No. of Teeth on Smaller Sprocket
6. Pitch
Characteristic of Roller Chain According to IS: 2403 - 1991

7. T2= T1 x V.R. = 23 x 3.83 = 88.09 ≈ 89

8. N2= N1 x (T1/T2) = 900(23/89) = 232.58 rpm Range given 230‐240 – OK
𝑝 19.05
9. D1 = 180 = 180 = 139.902 mm
sin( ) sin( )
𝑇1 23
𝑝 19.05
D2 = 180 = 180 = 539.790 mm
sin( ) sin( )
𝑇2 89

10. Length of the chain

L = 138.757 pitch = 140 pitches (even recommended)

L = 140 (19.05) = 2667 mm

Corrected center distance

C = 40.64 pitches
C = 40.64 (19.05) = 774.248 mm

11. Angle of wrap

 Flexible Connection

Material: High Co-efficient of Friction

a. Leather
b. Cotton
c. Rubber
d. Balata

Rule of Thumb
1. The arc of contact on the smaller pulley should be as large as possible, hence, the pulleys should
not be too close together.
2. The pulleys should not be too far apart, to avoid:
• the belt weighing heavily on the shafts, increasing the friction load on the bearings.
• sideward swinging of the belt, risking run out of the pulleys.

V-Belt vs Flat Belt Connection

Advantages of V-Belt Connection:

1. The drive is positive, because the slip between the belt and the pulley groove is negligible.
2. The operation of the belt and the pulley is quiet.
3. The belts have the ability to cushion the shock when machines are started.
4. The high velocity ratio (Maximum 10) may be obtained.

Disadvantages of V-Belt Connection:

1. The V-belt drive cannot be used with large center distances.

2. The V-belt are not so durable as flat belts.
3. The construction of pulleys for V-belts connection is more complicated that pulleys for flat belt
connection.
Types of Flat Belt Drives Connection
1. Open belt drive connection
2. Crossed belt or twist belt connection
3. Quarter turn belt drive connection
4. Belt drive with idler pulleys connection
5. Compound belt drive connection
6. Stepped or cone pulley drive connection
7. Fast and loosed pulley drive connection

Velocity Ratio of Compound Belt Drives

𝑁4 𝑑 𝑥𝑑 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠

𝑁1
= 𝑑1 𝑥 𝑑3 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟
= 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑠
2 4

Slip of the belt

• Assumption: Firm frictional grip between the belts and the shafts
• Realism: The frictional grip may be insufficient
• Effects - Some forward motion of:
o the driver pulley without carrying the belt
o the belt without carrying the driven pulley
• A firm frictional grip between belt and shaft is essential.
• But sometimes it becomes insufficient.
• This is called a slip of the belt.
• Slip is expressed in percentage.

• Where s = s1 + s2
Creep of the Belt
• When the belt passes from the slack to the tight side, a portion of the belt extends, and it contracts
again when the belt passes from the tight to the slack side.
• Due to these changes of length, there is a relative motion between the belt and the pulley
surfaces.
• This is termed as Creep; whose effect is to slightly reduce the Speed of the driven pulley.

• Where: 𝜎1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜎2 = Stress in the belt on the tight side and slack side respective.
• E = Young Modulus of Elasticity for the material of the belt.

Power transmitted by the belt drives

The power transmitted by the belt depends on the tension on the two sides and the belt speed.
Ratio of Tensions
The belt drive is used to transmit power from one shaft to the another. Due to the friction
between the pulley and the belt one side of the belt becomes tight side and other becomes slack side. We
have to first determine ratio of tensions.
Flat Belt Let tension on the tight side be ‘T1’ and the tension on the slack side be ‘T2’. Let ‘’ be
the angle of lap and let ‘’ be the coefficient of friction between the belt and the pulley. Consider an
infinitesimal length of the belt PQ which subtend an angle  at the centre of the pulley. Let ‘R’ be the
reaction between the element and the pulley. Let ‘T’ be tension on the slack side of the element, i.e., at
point P and let ‘(T + T)’ be the tension on the tight side of the element. The tensions T and (T + T) shall
be acting tangential to the pulley and thereby normal to the radii OP and OQ. The friction force shall be
equal to ‘R’ and its action will be to prevent slipping of the belt. The friction force will act tangentially to
the pulley at the point S.

Considering equilibrium of the element at S and equating it to zero. Resolving all the forces in the
tangential direction:

Resolving all the forces in the radial direction at S and equating it to zero.
Since  is very small, taking limits

Neglecting the product of the two infinitesimal quantities T (/2) which is negligible in comparison to
other quantities:

Substituting the value of R and cos (/2) = 1 in eq., we get

Taking limits on both sides as   → 0

Integrating between limits, it becomes

V-belt or Rope
The V-belt or rope makes contact on the two sides of the groove as shown.
Let the reaction be ‘Rn’ on each of the two sides of the groove. The resultant reaction will be 2Rn sin  at
point S. Resolving all the forces tangentially in the figure, we get

Resolving all the forces radially, we get

Since  is very small

sin (/2) = /2

Neglecting the product of the two infinitesimal quantities

Substituting the value of Rn and using the approximation cos /2 = 1, we get

Taking the limits and integrating between limits, we get

Tension due to Centrifugal Forces

The belt has mass and as it rotates along with the pulley it is subjected to centrifugal forces. If we
assume that no power is being transmitted and pulleys are rotating, the centrifugal force will tend to
pull the belt as shown in Figure (b) and, thereby, a tension in the belt called centrifugal tension will be
introduced.

Let ‘Tc’ be the centrifugal tension due to centrifugal force. Let us consider a small element which subtends
an angle  at the centre of the pulley. Let ‘m’ be the mass of the belt per unit length of the belt in ‘kg/m’.
The centrifugal force ‘Fc’ on the element will be given by

where V is speed of the belt in m/sec. and r is the radius of pulley in ‘m’.
Resolving the forces on the element normal to the tangent

Since  is very small.

Substituting for FC

Therefore, considering the effect of the centrifugal tension, the belt tension on the tight side when power
is transmitted is given by
Tension of tight side Tt = T1 + Tc and tension on the slack side T2 = T2 + Tc.
The centrifugal tension has an effect on the power transmitted because maximum tension can be only Tt
which is
Initial Tension
When a belt is mounted on the pulley some amount of initial tension say ‘To’ is provided in the belt,
otherwise power transmission is not possible because a loose belt cannot sustain difference in the tension
and no power can be transmitted. When the drive is stationary the total tension on both sides will be ‘2
T0’. When belt drive is transmitting power the total tension on both sides will be (T 1 + T2), where T1 is
tension on tight side, and T2 is tension on the slack side. If effect of centrifugal tension is neglected.

If effect of centrifugal tension is considered, then

Maximum Power Transmitted

The power transmitted depends on the tension ‘T1’, angle of lap , coefficient of friction ‘’ and
belt speed ‘V’. For a given belt drive, the maximum tension (Tt), angle of lap and coefficient of friction shall
remain constant provided that
(a) the tension on tight side, i.e. maximum tension should be equal to the maximum permissible value for
the belt, and
(b) the belt should be on the point of slipping.

At the belt speed given by the Eq. the power transmitted by the belt drive shall be maximum.
Pulley
• Pulleys are used to transmit power from one shaft to another with the help of belt or rope running
over them.
• Pulleys are made from cast iron, cast steel, wrought iron or aluminum.

The main part of pulley

1. Rim
o It is the periphery of the pulley on which the belt runs.
o The outer face of the rim is made slightly convex which is called crowning.
o This keep belts at centre when pulley is misaligned.
2. Hub or boss
o It is the central hollow cylindrical portion of pulley as shown in figure.
o The size of bore on hub is corresponds to the diameter of the shaft.
o It is mounted on shaft.  A keyway is provided to fasten the pulley to the shaft with the
help of a key.
3. Arms or rib
o It is joining member of the hub and the rib of pulley.
o It may be straight or curved.
o Its cross section may be circular or elliptical.
o Pulleys with smaller diameter are provided with a rib which is like a circular disc joining
hub and rim.

Types of Pulley
1. Solid pulley
o It is made from single piece of cast iron.
o Solid pulley relatively smaller in size.
o This pulley can be mounted on shaft by inserting from one end.

2. Split pulley
o It is split in two halves, and it can be joined at the rim and the hub by means of bolts or
links.
o This pulley can be mounted on the shaft at any place without changing the assembly of
bearing and shaft.
3. Stepped or cone pulley
o Stepped pulley is used when the speed of the driven shaft is to be changed very frequently
as in case of machine tools such as lathe, drilling machine etc. a stepped pulley is an
integral casting having three or more number of pulleys of different diameter as show in
figure.
o Each stepped pulley is mounted on driving and driven shaft can be varied by shifting the
diameters of driving and driven pulleys are such that same belt will operate when shifted
on different pairs of pulley.

4. Fast and loose pulley

o When a number of machines run from a main driving shaft, it may require to start or stop
some of the machines intermittently without start or stop the main driving shaft every
time.
o This is possible by mounting pair of pulleys is securely keyed to the machine shaft so that
it can rotate along with shaft while the loose pulley fitted with brass bush so that it can
freely rotate on the shaft as shown in figure.
o The wider driving pulley keyed to the main driving shaft; hence it rotates along with it.
o When the belt on the fast pulley, the power is transmitted from driving shaft to the
machine shaft.
o When belt shifted from fast pulley to loose pulley, the loose pulley rotates through belt,
but machine shaft not rotates along with it because loose pulley can freely rotate on shaft.
 o The movement of belt from fast to loose pulley or loose to fast pulley take place by axial
movement of belt shifter.

5. Jockey pulley
o Jokey pulley is idler pulley and is used to increase the angle of contact in open belt drive.
o It is mounted near the smaller pulley of the two pulleys and is placed on the slack side of
the belt as shown in figure.
o It increases angle of contact lead to increased power transmission capacity of drive.

6. Guide pulley
o The guide pulleys are used to guide the belts when connecting non-parallel, intersecting
or nonintersecting shafts.
o The guide pulleys guide the belt to keep the belt in a proper plane as shown in figure.
 7. Grooved pulley
o Grooved pulley has V-grooves or circular grooves on the rim to carry V-Belt or ropes.
o It is generally made from cast iron.
o The grooves on the rim are help to increase the frictional grip of the belt or rope on the
pulley.
o Therefore, the chance of slip is reduced.
o Figure shows grooved pulley for V-belt and figure shows grooved pulley for rope drive.

Cone Pulleys / Stepped Pulleys

Sometimes the driving shaft is driven by the motor which rotates at constant speed but the driven
shaft is designed to be driven at different speeds. This can be easily done by using stepped or cone pulleys
as shown in Figure 3.11. The cone pulley has different sets of radii and they are selected such that the
same belt can be used at different sets of the cone pulleys.

Let Nd be the speed of the driving shaft which is constant.

Nn be the speed of the driven shaft when the belt is on nth step.
rn be the radius of the nth step of driving pulley.
Rn be the radius of the nth step of the driven pulley.
where n is an integer, 1, 2, . . .
The speed ratio is inversely proportional to the pulley radii
For this first step radii r1 and R1 can be chosen conveniently.

In order to use same belt on all the steps, the length of the belt should be same

Thus, two equations are available – one provided by the speed ratio and other provided by the length
relation and for selected speed ratio, the two radii can be calculated. Also, it has to be kept in mind that
the two pulleys are same. It is desirable that the speed ratios should be in geometric progression.
Let k be the ratio of progression of speed.

Since, both the pulleys are made similar.

If radii R1 and r1 have been chosen, the above equations provide value of k or vice versa.

Example: A shaft which rotates at a constant speed of 160 rpm is connected by belting to a parallel shaft
720 mm apart, which has to run at 60, 80, and 100 rpm. The smallest pulley on the driving shaft is 40
mm in radius. Determine the remaining radii of the two stepped pulleys for:
(a) A crossed belt
(b) An open belt.
Neglect belt thickness and slip.
Solutions:
For Pulley 1 and 2

For Pulley 3 and 4

For Pulley 5 and 6