Gear:

Gears are wheel-like machine elements that have

teeth uniformly spaced around the outer surface. They
are used in pairs and are a very valuable design tool.
Gears are mounted on rotatable shafts and the teeth are
made to mesh (engage) with a gear on another shaft.
Gears deliver force (torque) and motion (rpm) from one
part of a machine to another.

Md. Tarek Ur Rahman Erin

Assistant Professor (Mechanical)
CTEC
Nomenclature of Spur-Gear Teeth:

• A pinion is the smaller of two mating gears. The larger is often called the gear.
• Ratio is the number of teeth on the gear divided by the number of teeth on the pinion.
• The pitch circle is a theoretical circle upon which all calculations are usually based; its
diameter is the pitch diameter.
• The circular pitch p is the distance,
measured on the pitch circle, from a
point on one tooth to a corresponding
point on an adjacent tooth. It is equal to
the sum of the tooth thickness and width
of space.
• Module is a measure of tooth size in the
metric system. The module m is the
ratio of the pitch diameter in millimeters
to the number of teeth on a gear.
• Diametrical Pitch is a measure of tooth
size. The diametral pitch P is the ratio
of the number of teeth on the gear to the

Md. Tarek Ur Rahman Erin

Assistant Professor (Mechanical)
CTEC
 pitch diameter in inches. Two gears must have the same diametrical pitch to mesh.
• Addendum of a tooth is its radial height above the pitch circle. The addendum of a standard
proportion tooth equals 1 divided by the diametral pitch.
• Dedendum of a tooth is its radial depth below the pitch circle. The dedendum of a standard
proportion tooth equals 1.25 divided by the diametral pitch.

• The clearance circle is a circle that is tangent to the addendum circle of the mating gear.
• The clearance c is the amount by which the dedendum in a given gear exceeds the
addendum of its mating gear. Clearance equals the whole depth minus the working depth.
• Working Depth of a tooth equals the whole depth minus the height of the radius at the
base of the tooth. The working depth equals 2 divided by the diametral pitch.
• Pressure Angle is the slope of the tooth at the pitch circle. The pressure angle of a gear is
the angle between the line that defines the radius of the pitch circle and the point where the
pitch circle intersects a tooth, and the line tangent to that tooth at that point.
• The backlash is the amount by which the width of a tooth space exceeds the thickness of
the engaging tooth measured on the pitch circles.

Md. Tarek Ur Rahman Erin

Assistant Professor (Mechanical)
CTEC
Md. Tarek Ur Rahman Erin
Assistant Professor (Mechanical)
CTEC
Gear Ratio of Gear Drive:
A gear ratio is the ratio between the driver gear (the one being powered) and the driven gear (the
one connected to the driver)
Velocity Ratio of Gear Drive:

Types of Gear:
The following are the different types of gear:
• Spur gear
• Helical gear
• Double helical
• Herringbone gear
• Bevel gear
• Rack and pinion
• Worm gear
• Hypoid gear

Md. Tarek Ur Rahman Erin

Assistant Professor (Mechanical)
CTEC
1.Spur Gear:
• Teeth is parallel to axis of rotation
• Transmit power from one shaft to
another parallel shaft
Advantages of spur gear:
• Spur gears are economical to
manufacture.
• They’re highly reliable.
• Spur gears are comparatively easy to
design.
• Spur gears provide a constant
velocity ratio.
• They are easy to maintain.
• Spur gears are mostly used to
transmit large amounts of power.
Limitation of spur gears:
• Spur gears cannot be used for non-parallel shafts.
• Over long distances, spur gears cannot be used to transmit power.
• At high speeds, spur gears are noisier.

Md. Tarek Ur Rahman Erin

Assistant Professor (Mechanical)
CTEC
Applications of the spur gear:
• Used in Electric screwdriver, oscillating sprinkler, windup alarm clock, washing machine
and clothes dryer.

2. 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
• Carry more load than equivalent-sized spur gears
Advantages of helical gear:
• Helical gears are highly durable
and are used for high-load
applications.
• Due to good tooth engagement,
helical gears operate smoothly.
• Helical gears produced less noise.
Limitations of helical gear:
• Due to sliding contact, there is a greater amount of friction as compared to spur gear.
• The sliding contact also results in heat generation and reduced efficiency.
• The helix angle of the gear teeth results in axial thrust on bearings.
• Helical gears are expensive than spur gears.
Application of Helical gears:
Applications of helical gears include Textile industries, plastic industries, air compressors,
paper industries, rolling processes, oil industries, etc.
3. 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.
Advantages of Double helical gear:
• Double helical gears offer smooth transmission.
• They are silent at all speeds.
• It can transmit more torque

Md. Tarek Ur Rahman Erin

Assistant Professor (Mechanical)
CTEC
Limitations of Double helical gear:
• Double helical gears are difficult to produce as compared to spur gears and thus are
expensive.
• Due to sliding contact between the teeth, there is more friction and thus more heat is
generated as compared to spur gear.
5. 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.

Advantages of Bevel gear:

• A bevel gear is highly reliable.
• It can transmit the exact velocity ratio.

Limitations of Bevel gear

• Any error in the tooth may lead to
vibrations and noise.
• Bevel gears are expensive when
compared to spur gear.

Md. Tarek Ur Rahman Erin

Assistant Professor (Mechanical)
CTEC
Applications of Bevel gear
Bevel gears are used in the differential gearbox of the automobile, hand drills, agricultural
machines, printing machines, mining, robotics, cement mills, etc.
6. Worm Gear:
• 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
Advantages of Worm gear:
• A worm gear is capable of transmitting
high torque.
• Worm gears have high reduction ratios.
• They are self-locking.
• They offer a smooth and silent operation.
• It occupies less space for the same speed reduction ratio as compared to other gears.
Disadvantages of Worm gear:
Worm gear have been not efficient when it comes to transmitting power. Due to high
friction between the surfaces, the worm gear is subjected to wear.
Applications of worm gear:
Worm gear applications include Transportation machinery, machine tools, speed reducers,
lifts, screw conveyors, etc.
7. 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

Md. Tarek Ur Rahman Erin

Assistant Professor (Mechanical)
CTEC
 Advantages of Rack and pinion:
• Rack pinion gears are cheap.
• They are compact.
• Rack and pinion are the simplest and easiest way to
convert rotary motion into linear movement.
Limitation of Rack and pinion gear:
• The mechanical advantage of rack and pinion is less
when compared to a recirculating ball screw.
• It is sensitive to impacts.
Applications of Rack and pinion:
The applications of Rack and pinion include steering mechanism of cars, lock gate control
for canals, stairlifts, actuators to control the valves of pipelines, etc.
8. Hypoid gear:
A hypoid gear is similar to a spiral bevel gear except that the shaft axes do not intersect.
The axis of the pinion is offset from the gear center.
In hypoid gears, the shaft axes are non-parallel as
well as non-intersecting.
The gear in the shape of a hyperboloid as
compared to a spiral bevel gear which is usually
conical.
Advantages of Hypoid gear:
• Hypoid gears have a higher speed
reduction ratio than bevel gears.
• Hypoid gears have a smooth and noiseless
operation.
Applications of Hypoid gear:
Hypoid gears are used for transmitting high torque at lower speeds and are mostly used in
automobile differentials.
Gear Trains:
• A gear train is two or more gears working together by meshing their teeth and turning
each other in a system to generate power and speed
• It can increase/ decrease speed or torque, but never both at the same time.

Md. Tarek Ur Rahman Erin

Assistant Professor (Mechanical)
CTEC
Types of Gear Trains:
• Simple gear train
• Compound gear train
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.
• Simple gear train is one in which each
shaft carries only one gear

Compound gear train:

• For large velocities, compound arrangement
is preferred

• Two or more gears may rotate about a single

axis

Cams and Pistons:

• A cam may be defined as a machine element having a curved outline or a curved groove, which,
by its oscillation or rotation motion, gives a predetermined specified motion to another element
called the follower.

Md. Tarek Ur Rahman Erin

Assistant Professor (Mechanical)
CTEC
Differences between spur gear and helical gear

Md. Tarek Ur Rahman Erin

Assistant Professor (Mechanical)
CTEC