Giorgio Figliolini

DiMSAT
University of Cassino,
G. Di Biasio 43,
03043 Cassino (Fr), Italy
e-mail: gliolini@unicas.it
Jorge Angeles
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering & CIM,
McGill University,
817 Sherbrooke St.
Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6, Canada
Algorithms for Involute and
Octoidal Bevel-Gear Generation
A suitable formulation and the implementing algorithms for involute and octoidal bevel-
gear generation are proposed in this paper. In particular, the exact spherical involute
tooth prole of bevel gears and their crown rack is obtained through the pure-rolling
motion of a great circle of the fundamental sphere on the base cone. Moreover, the tooth
ank surface of octoidal bevel gears is obtained as the envelope of the tooth at ank of
the octoidal crown rack during the pure-rolling motion of its at pitch (surface) on the
pitch cone. The proposed algorithms have been implemented in MATLAB; several examples
are included to illustrate their applicability. DOI: 10.1115/1.1900147
Keywords: Bevel gears, Synthesis, Crown-rack, Kinematics
1 Introduction
Pairs of straight-tooth and spiral-tooth bevel gears, commonly
referred to as straight and spiral bevel gears for brevity, are used
to connect shafts with intersecting axes 1. The design of straight
bevel gears with the objective of minimizing the enclosed volume
was reported in 2. The ank modication and optimization of
bevel gears, on the other hand, was analyzed 3 by means of the
concept of universal motion because the tool of a machine tool
with six axes can reach any position in the six-dimensional space
relative to the workpiece. The International Standard ISO/R 677
4 species the dimensional characteristics of the basic rack of
straight bevel gears.
The fundamental geometric characteristics of ideal bevel-gear
spiral-tooth surfaces were introduced 5, upon focusing on the
determination of the principal radii of curvature. However, these
theoretical gears showed a tooth centerline in the shape of loga-
rithmic spiral. To overcome the fabrication difculties, the loga-
rithmic spiral curves were approximated to circles, thereby lead-
ing to the widely used circular cut spiral bevel gears 6.
Furthermore, the mathematical modeling of the tooth surface
geometry of straight and spiral bevel gears was proposed 7, as
based on the gearing kinematics and involute geometry, along
with the geometry of the tangent planes, while in 8, the tooth
proles were derived with particular reference to the extended-
cycloid and cycloid bevel gears. The solid models of straight and
spherical bevel gears were obtained 9 by means of simple
sweeping techniques to their exact spherical involute tooth pro-
les, the algorithm for the synthesis of involute bevel gears being
implemented in the software package BEAVER 10.
Moreover, the geometry of the tooth surface and the normal
deviation for straight and spiral bevel gears was discussed 11,
while a computer-aided generation of spiral bevel gears with im-
proved geometry was proposed 12, in order to investigate the
inuence of both misalignment on the transmission errors and
shift of the bearing contact. A general method for cutting-tool
calculations was proposed 13 by means of the theory of contact
surfaces with the aim of deriving relationships between the shape
of the workpiece surface to be machined and the shape of the
cutting-tool working surface. A theoretical approach to the synthe-
sis of the tooth anks of bevel gears was proposed 14, while a
method for cutting straight bevel gears was proposed 15 using a
quasi-complementary crown rack with a planar tool surface, in-
stead of the usual crown rack. More recently, the modeling of
straight bevel gears generated by a three-dimensional, basic rack
was proposed 16. The parametric equations for a straight conical
involute gear tooth surface and its offset surface were derived 17
in order to create a nite element model for the meshing control.
The contact analysis of uniform-tooth-height epicyclic spiral
bevel gears stemming from Klingelnbergs Cyclo-Palloid System
was reported 18, as based on the simultaneous generation of
gear surfaces and contact simulation.
Moreover, a general approach to the integrated design and
manufacture of gear pairs can be found 19, with the mathemati-
cal model of helipoid gears cut by shaper cutters being proposed
20, where the shapes of helipoid gears are derived from crossed-
axis helical and hypoid gears. A systematic approach to the de-
sign, generation and analysis of conical worm-gear drives can be
found 21, while the application of envelope theory to the syn-
thesis of elliptical cylindrical gears is reported 22.
Comprehensive algorithms for involute and octoidal bevel-gear
generation are still lacking in the literature. Proposed in this paper
are algorithms intended for the synthesis of several kinds of
straight bevel gears. These algorithms have been implemented in
MATLAB, several numerical examples being included to illustrate
their applicability. Moreover, they can be implemented in CNC
machine tools for manufacturing purposes, thereby doing away
with the approximations of existing methods.
2 Algorithm for Involute Bevel-Gear Generation
We start by recalling a theorem from spherical trigonometry
23,24, which we apply to the right spherical triangle shown in
light gray color on the fundamental sphere S, Fig. 1. With the aid
of this theorem, a well-known propriety of bevel gears lets us
express the base angle
b
as a function of the pitch angle and
the pressure angle in the form
sin
b
= sin cos 1
The exact spherical involute tooth prole I can be traced by a
point M of the great circle C of the fundamental sphere S during
the pure-rolling motion of its disk plane on the base cone B of
the bevel gear. Frame F
2
O
2
X
2
Y
2
is attached to and frame
F
1
O
1
X
1
Y
1
is attached to B. Axes X
2
and X
1
are coincident at the
starting conguration of their pure-rolling motion. The position
vector r
M
of point M can be expressed in F
2
as
r
M

2
= 0 r 0
T
2
where r is the radius of the fundamental sphere.
Matrix R
1
represents the rotation of frame F
2
with respect to F
1
about the base cone apex that coincides with the origins O
1
and
O
2
of F
1
and F
2
, respectively. In particular, R
1
can be determined
by considering three rotations: The rotation of the base cone B
around the Z
1
axis through angle
1
; the rotation of the disk plane
Contributed by the Power Transmission and Gearing Committee for publication in
the JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL DESIGN. Manuscript received May 25, 2004; revised
October 15, 2004; Associate Editor: D. Dooner.
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around the Z
2
axis through the angle
2
; and the relative rota-
tion around the common X axes at the starting conguration,
through the angle / 2
b
. Thus, one has
R
1

1
= R
1

10
R
10

20
R
20

2
3
where, in turn,
R
1

10
=

cos
1
sin
1
0
sin
1
cos
1
0
0 0 1

, 4
R
10

20
=

cos
2
sin
2
0
sin
2
cos
2
0
0 0 1

, 5
and
R
20

2
=

1 0 0
0 sin
b
cos
b
0 cos
b
sin
b

. 6
Equation 3, along with Eqs. 46, gives the rotation matrix R
1
in the form
R
1

1
=

c
1
c
2
+ s
1
s
b
s
2
s
2
c
1
+ s
1
s
b
c
2
s
1

b
s
1
c
2
+ c
1
s
b
s
2
s
1
s
2
+ c
1
s
b
c
2
c
1
c
b
c
b
s
2
c
b
c
2
s
b

7
where, for brevity, s and c indicate sine and cosine, re-
spectively, and where

2
=
1
sin
b
8
because of the pure-rolling motion between the base cone B and
the disk plane of C.
Thus, the exact spherical involute tooth prole J can be ex-
pressed through the position vector r
M
that in frame F
1
takes the
form
r
M

1
= R
1

1
r
M

2
9
where vector r
M
in F
2
is given by Eq. 2 and the rotation matrix
R
1
is given by Eq. 7, thus obtaining
r
M

1
= r

s
1
s
b
c
1
s
1
s
b
c
1
s
b

s
1
s
1
s
b
c
1
s
b
c
1
s
b

c
b
c
1
s
b

10
Equation 10 expresses the exact spherical involute tooth prole
J as a function of angle
1
for given values of r, and and ,
which give
b
through Eq. 1. In particular, at the starting con-
guration of the pure-rolling motion between B and for
1
=0,
one has
r
M

1
= r0 sin
b
cos
b

T
11
from Eq. 10 and
2
=0 from Eq. 8, which means that point M
is coincident with the cusp of the exact spherical involute tooth
prole J, as shown in Fig. 1.
Moreover, the intersection point N of J with the pitch circle of
P on the sphere S is obtained for
1
=
1
*
, which can be determined
with the aid of Eq. 10 and vector
r
N

1
= r sin sin
1
sin cos
1
cos
T
12
which is the equation of the pitch circle of P on S. From Eqs. 10
and 12, moreover

1
*
=
1
sin cos
tan
1
sin tan 13
where
1
*
is the angle corresponding to the intersection point N of
J with the pitch circle on S. Point N can be useful to determine the
starting point of contact between two conjugate proles on the
pitch circles.
The exact spherical involute tooth prole of the crown rack can
be obtained for =/ 2, as a particular case of the above formu-
lation. One has sin
b
=cos from Eq. 1, and hence,
b
=/ 2
. Consequentially, the pitch cone of the crown rack becomes
a at disk, while the base cone B is characterized by means of the
base angle
b
. Thus, the pure-rolling motion of the great circle C
on the base circles of B, on the fundamental sphere S, allows the
tracing of the exact spherical involute tooth prole J of the crown
rack and, as in the bevel gear, this prole shows cusps on the base
circles of the base cone B.
2.1 Examples. The formulation that is proposed in Eqs.
113 has been implemented in MATLAB. With the aid of this
code, several signicant examples showing the base cone B, the
pitch circles of the pitch cone , the fundamental sphere S, and
the exact spherical involute tooth prole I, are included here. Fig-
ures 2 and 3 show planar views of the examples shown in Figs. 4
and 5, respectively.
In particular, the example of Figs. 2 and 4 pertains to a bevel
gear with r=100 mm, =45 deg, =40 deg and
b
=32.80 deg,
while the example of Figs. 3 and 5 pertains to a crown rack with
Fig. 1 Generation of the exact spherical involute
Fig. 2 XZ view of the exact spherical involute tooth prole of
the bevel gear for r=100 mm, =45 deg, =40 deg and
b
=32.80 deg
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r=100 mm, =90 deg, =40 deg and
b
=50 deg. On the funda-
mental sphere S, which is shown in transparent gray color, the
base and pitch circles are represented in dashed and dash-dot
lines, respectively, while the exact spherical involute tooth prole
I is represented in continuous line. The base cone B is shown in
dark gray color. Moreover, the pitch angle , the base angle
b
and the radius r of the fundamental sphere S are also reported in
Figs. 2 and 3. In particular, Figs. 3 and 5 show the case of the
crown rack where the pitch cone becomes a at disk and both
pitch circles coincide between them and with the equatorial great
circle of the fundamental sphere S.
The intersection points of the equatorial great pitch circle with
the exact involute tooth prole are the inection points of J, which
also shows several cusps on the base circles, as for the case of
involute cylindrical gears.
Figure 6 shows an example for r=100 mm, =60 deg,
=40 deg and
b
=41.56 deg, while Fig. 7 shows the case of a
crown rack for r=200 mm, =90 deg, =40 deg,
b
=50 deg.
However, the pressure angle usually assumes the standard value
of 20, as in the examples of Figs. 8 and 9, which have been
obtained by running the MATLAB program of the proposed formu-
lation for r=100 mm, =30 deg, =20 deg and
b
=28.02 deg,
and for r=100 mm, =90 deg, =20 deg and
b
=70 deg,
respectively.
The proposed examples of the crown rack show the exact
spherical involute tooth prole, which gives a warped tooth ank
surface. Thus, we have a different result with respect to the case of
involute cylindrical gears. This means that by assuming a at
ank surface for the tooth of the crown rack, one obtains a non-
involute bevel gear, as shown below.
3 Algorithm for Octoidal Bevel-Gear Generation
Usually, bevel gears are designed so that the teeth generated are
conjugate to the teeth of the crown rack with tooth at anks. The
generated bevel gears are named octoidal because the path of
the contact point between two conjugate teeth shows an 8 shape.
However, even if the contact is not along a great circle, as the case
in involute bevel gears, only a portion of the path is used, depend-
Fig. 3 YZ view of the exact spherical involute tooth prole of
the crown rack for r=100 mm, =90 deg, =40 deg and
b
=50 deg
Fig. 4 Axonometric view of the exact spherical involute tooth
prole of Fig. 2
Fig. 5 Axonometric view of the exact spherical involute tooth
prole of Fig. 3
Fig. 6 Exact spherical involute tooth prole for r=100 mm,
=60 deg, =40 deg and
b
=41.56 deg
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ing on the height of the teeth. Thus, an acceptable approximation
between a great circle of the fundamental sphere and the 8-shape
path can be obtained.
Referring to Fig. 10, a suitable formulation for octoidal bevel-
gear generation is proposed by considering the pure-rolling mo-
tion of the pitch surface P
c
of the octoidal crown rack on the pitch
cone P of the octoidal bevel gear to generate. A suitable plane
attached to P
c
represents the tooth at ank of the octoidal crown
rack, as shown in Fig. 11. Moreover, the transmission ratio i
=
1
/
3
between the angle of rotation
1
of the bevel gear and the
angle of rotation
3
of its conjugate crown rack can be expressed
through the well-known formula

3
=
1
sin
14
where the numerator of the right-hand side is equal to 1 because
the pitch angle of P
c
is equal to / 2, which gives sin/ 2 =1.
Referring to Fig. 11, the equation of the tooth at ank of the
octoidal crown rack can be expressed in the moving frame
F
3
O
3
X
3
Y
3
Z
3
that is attached to the pitch surface P
c
of the crown
rack through the vector
Fig. 7 Exact spherical involute tooth prole of the crown rack
for r=200 mm, =90 deg, =40 deg,
b
=50 deg
Fig. 8 Exact spherical involute tooth prole for r=100 mm,
=30 deg, =20 deg and
b
=28.02 deg
Fig. 9 Exact spherical involute tooth prole of crown rack for
r=100 mm, =90 deg, =20 deg and
b
=70 deg
Fig. 10 Sketch for the octoidal tooth ank generation
Fig. 11 Sketch of the tooth at ank for octoidal crown rack
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r
P

3
= p sin q p cos
T
15
where is the at ank angle of the octoidal crown rack, and p
and q are the distances of a point P to the Y
3
axis and X
3
Z
3
plane,
respectively. During the pure-rolling motion of the pitch surface
P
c
of the crown rack on the pitch cone P of the bevel gear, the
tooth at ank generates a family of planes, which can be
expressed in the frame F
1
through the position vector r
P
as
r
P

1
= R
1

1
r
P

3
16
where r
P
in frame F
3
is given by Eq. 15 and the rotation matrix
R
1

1
is given by Eq. 7, where angle
b
is substituted by the
pitch angle and angle
2
is substituted by
3
that is given by Eq.
14. Thus, the family of planes can be expressed by the vector
r
P
in frame F
1
in the form
r
P

1
=

p s c
1
c
1
s + p s s s
1
s
1
s + q c
1
s
1
s + q s s
1
c
1
s + p c c s
1
p s s
1
c
1
s + p s s c
1
s
1
s + q s
1
s
1
s + q s c
1
c
1
s + p c c c
1
p c s s
1
s q c c
1
s + p s c

17
where angle
1
is the parameter of the pure-rolling motion, and p
and q give the position of point P on the tooth at ank for each
plane of the family. The envelope of the family of planes of
Eq. 17 can be obtained through a suitable equation of meshing,
which can be expressed in general form as
f
1
, p, q = det

dX
1
d
1
dX
1
dp
dX
1
dq
dY
1
d
1
dY
1
dp
dY
1
dq
dZ
1
d
1
dZ
1
dp
dZ
1
dq

= 0 18
Equation 10 can be conveniently developed as
f
1
, p, q =
dX
1
d
1
D
1

dY
1
d
1
D
2
+
dZ
1
d
1
D
3
19
where
D
1
= det

dY
1
dp
dY
1
dq
dZ
1
dp
dZ
1
dq

, D
2
= det

dX
1
dp
dX
1
dq
dZ
1
dp
dZ
1
dq

and
D
3
= det

dX
1
dp
dX
1
dq
dY
1
dp
dY
1
dq

20
because the derivative terms in D
1
, D
2
and D
3
are functions of
angle
1
only. Moreover, the determinants D
1
, D
2
and D
3
are
readily computed as
D
1
= sin cos sin
1
cos cos
1
cos
1
sin +
cos sin sin
1
sin
1
sin
D
2
= sin cos cos
1
cos sin
1
cos
1
sin
+ cos sin cos
1
sin
1
sin
D
3
= sin sin + cos cos sin
1
sin 21
by using the Cartesian coordinates of vector r
P
in frame F
1
, as
expressed in Eq. 17. Moreover, the derivate of X
1
with respect to

1
can be expressed as
dX
1
d
1
= Ap + Bq 22
where
Fig. 12 Enveloped spherical prole for r=100 mm, =30 deg,
=20 deg
Fig. 13 Enveloped spherical prole for r=100 mm, =30 deg,
=50 deg
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A = cos
2
sin sin
1
cos
1
sin + cos cos cos
1
,
B = cos
2
sin
1
sin
1
sin
while the derivate of Y
1
with respect to
1
is expressed as
dY
1
d
1
= Dp + Eq 23
where
D = cos
2
sin cos
1
cos
1
sin cos cos sin
1
E = cos
2
cos
1
sin
1
sin
and the derivate of Z
1
with respect to
1
as
dZ
1
d
1
= Fp + Gq 24
where
F = sin cos sin cos
1
sin .
G = sin cos sin
1
sin
Thus, substituting Eqs. 20 and Eqs. 2224 into Eq. 19 and
expanding the expression thus resulting, one obtains the equation
of meshing
cos
1
sin p + sin sin
1
sin q = 0 25
which can be expressed in compact form as
p = q sin tan
1
sin . 26
Therefore, the tooth ank surface of an octoidal bevel gear can be
obtained as the envelope of the tooth at ank of the octoidal
crown rack during the pure-rolling motion of its pitch surface P
c
on the pitch cone P of the bevel gear. The equation of the tooth
ank surface of the octoidal bevel gear is obtained by using Eq.
17, which expresses the family of planes generated during the
pure-rolling motion on the pitch cone P and the equation of mesh-
ing 25.
In particular, the expression of the spherical tooth prole of
the tooth ank surface on the fundamental sphere S of the octoidal
bevel gear can be obtained through Eq. 25 and the relation
p
1
2
+ q
1
2
= r
2
27
where p
1
and q
1
are the values of p and q, respectively, at point P
1
of on the fundamental sphere S, as shown in Fig. 11. Thus, from
Eqs. 25 and 27, one has
p
1
=
r sin sin
1
sin

sin
2
sin
2

1
sin + cos
2

1
sin
q
1
=
r cos
1
sin

sin
2
sin
2

1
sin + cos
2

1
sin
28
Substituting Eqs. 28 into Eq. 17, the position vector r
E
of
points of the spherical tooth prole for the octoidal bevel gear
takes the form
r
E

1
= R

c
2
c
1
s
1
sc
1
s + s s
2
s
1
s
2

1
s + cscs
1
s
1
s + ss
1
c
2

1
s
c
2
s
1
s
1
sc
1
s + ss
2
c
1
s
2

1
s + cscc
1
s
1
s + sc
1
c
2

1
s
cs
2
s
2

1
s + s scs
1
s cc
2

1
s

29
Fig. 14 Enveloped spherical prole for r=100 mm, =30 deg,
=0 deg
Fig. 15 Enveloped spherical prole for r=100 mm, =90 deg,
=20 deg
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where
R =
r

sin
2
sin
2

1
sin + cos
2

1
sin
30
The octoidal line of contact L between the teeth of a pair of
octoidal bevel gears can be determined by considering a xed
frame F
0
O
0
X
0
Y
0
Z
0
, which is coincident with the starting con-
guration of the moving frame F
3
that is attached to the octoidal
crown rack.
The locus of the contact points between the teeth with respect
to the moving frame F
1
, which is attached to the octoidal bevel
gear through its pitch cone P, is represented by the spherical tooth
prole of the octoidal bevel gear. Thus, the locus of the contact
points can be referred to the frame F
0
through the matrix
R
0

1
= R
0

10
R
10

1
31
where matrix R
10

1
is obtained from Eq. 4, where
1
is nega-
tive, and matrix R
0

10
is given by
R
0

10
=

1 0 0
0 sin cos
0 cos sin

32
thus obtaining
R
0

1
=

cos
1
sin
1
0
sin sin
1
sin cos
1
cos
cos sin
1
cos cos
1
sin

33
The line of contact L is expressed by
r
E

0
= R
0

1
r
E

1
34
where vector r
E

1
is given by Eqs. 29 and 30, and matrix
R
0

1
by Eq. 33. Thus
Fig. 16 Enveloped spherical prole for r=100 mm, =50 deg,
=20 deg
Fig. 17 Enveloped spherical prole for r=100 mm, =50 deg,
=30 deg
Fig. 18 Enveloped spherical prole for r=100 mm, =50 deg,
=0 deg
Fig. 19 Enveloped spherical prole for r=100 mm, =90 deg,
=30 deg
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r
E

0
= R

c
2
s
1
sc
1
s
s
2
s
2

1
s c
2

1
s
sc s
1
s

35
where R is given by Eq. 30.
3.1 Examples. The formulation proposed in Eqs. 1430
has been implemented in MATLAB code; representative examples
showing the pitch cone P in dark gray color, the fundamental
sphere S in transparent gray color, the enveloped spherical tooth
ank in light gray color and the spherical tooth prole on S in
continuous line are reported here. In particular, Fig. 12 shows the
case for r=100 mm, =30 deg, =20 deg, where the spherical
tooth prole shows several cusps, even inside the pitch cone P,
because of the pure-rolling motion of the at pitch surface P
c
of
the octoidal crown rack with the assumed tooth at ank on the
pitch cone P of the octoidal bevel gear to generate.
Figure 13 shows, in turn, for r=100 mm, =30 deg,
=50 deg, where the cusp points of the spherical tooth prole
disappear because of a value of the at ank angle of the oc-
toidal crown rack, which is bigger than that of Fig. 2. However,
the spherical tooth prole shows a double point at the intersec-
tion with the pitch circle of P.
An interesting example is reported in Fig. 14, where a particular
tooth at ank has been assumed as orthogonal to the at pitch
surface P
c
of the octoidal crown rack because of the value of
=0 deg. The input data of r=100 mm and =30 deg have been
also imposed. The spherical tooth prole shows a cusp point
exactly on the pitch cone P; consequentially, becomes the invo-
lute spherical curve of the pitch circle, which is the evolute of in
this particular case. In other words, the pitch cone becomes the
base cone and, thus, we have the case of involute bevel gears.
Figure 15 shows an example with r=100 mm, =90 deg,
Fig. 20 Spherical prole and the octoidal curve of the contact
points for r=100 mm, =90 deg, =45 deg
Fig. 21 XZ view of the enveloped spherical prole and the oc-
toid curve of the contact points for r=100 mm, =90 deg,
=45 deg
Fig. 22 Enveloped spherical prole and the octoid curve of
the contact points for r=100 mm, =30 deg, =20 deg
Fig. 23 XZ view of the enveloped spherical prole and the oc-
toid curve of the contact points for r=100 mm, =30 deg,
=20 deg
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=20 deg, which is about an octoidal crown rack with at pitch
surface P
c
and tooth at ank . This example has allowed the
testing of the proposed formulation, in the sense that the result
conrms the starting condition of the formulation, for which an
octoidal crown rack shows tooth at anks.
Other examples are shown in Figs. 1618 where, for r
=100 mm and =50 deg, we have been assumed =20 deg,
=30 deg and =0 deg respectively. In particular, the example of
Fig. 18 is similar to that of Fig. 14, where the pitch cone P be-
comes a base cone. In fact, the spherical tooth prole shows
several cusp points on the pitch circle of the pitch cone P. Another
example of octoidal crown rack is shown in Fig. 19 for r
=100 mm, =90 deg and =30 deg.
In addition to the examples of Figs. 1219, those of Figs. 2023
show the octoidal line of contacts L, which is in agreement with
the other results of the proposed formulation. In fact, referring to
the example of Figs. 20 and 21, which pertains to an octoidal
crown rack for r=100 mm, =90 deg and =45 deg, the curve
of contact has an 8-shape and, in particular, shows a double point
at the intersection between the at ank and the at pitch surface.
Figures 22 and 23 display cases for r=100 mm, =30 deg and
=20 deg, and show the case of octoidal bevel gears.
4 Conclusions
A suitable formulation and its implementing algorithms have
been proposed for involute and octoidal bevel-gear generation.
The exact spherical involute tooth prole has been obtained by
considering the pure-rolling motion of a great circle of the funda-
mental sphere on the base circles of the base cone. Several ex-
amples and numerical results are included, along with the particu-
lar case of the crown rack. Thus, it is shown and demonstrated
that the tooth ank of the crown rack is not at and that its tooth
prole is still a spherical curve of the fundamental sphere. The
tooth-ank surface of octoidal bevel gears has been obtained as
the envelope of the at-ank surface of the octoidal crown rack.
Several examples and numerical results are reported by verifying
the particular case of the octoidal crown rack.
The equation of the octoidal line contact has been formulated
and implemented in the algorithm; several examples allow the
validation of the proposed formulation by showing the typical 8
shape. Therefore, the proposed formulation and related algorithms
can be used to synthesize and manufacture involute and bevel
gears by means of suitable CNC machine tools. This theoretical
approach, which is based on the envelope theory, can be extended
to the synthesis of general skew gears by assuming a tooth at-
ank surface as attached to the pitch surface of the corresponding
rack.
Nomenclature
B base cone
C great circle on the fundamental sphere
octoidal spherical tooth prole
F
i
OX
i
Y
i
Z
i
frame
J exact spherical involute tooth prole
L octoidal line of contact
P pitch cone
P
c
pitch surface of the octoidal crown rack
S fundamental sphere
at ank angle of the octoidal crown rack

i
angle of rotation of F
i
around the Z
i
axis

1
*
angle corresponding to the intersection point N
of J with the pitch circle on S
pitch angle

b
base angle
pressure angle
disk plane that is conjugate to the base cone B
tooth at ank of the octoidal crown rack
p distance of a point P on to the X axis
q distance of a point P on to the Y axis
r radius of the fundamental sphere
r
E
position vector of a point E on E
r
M
position vector of a point M on J
r
N
position vector of the intersection point N be-
tween J and the pitch circle of P
r
P
position vector of the points on
R rotation matrix
Subscript i =1, 2, 3 denotes the bevel gear, the disk plane that
is conjugate to the base cone B, and the pitch surface P
c
of the
octoidal crown rack, respectively.
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