UNIT VI

SPUR & HELICAL GEAR DRIVES : Spur gears- Helical gears Load concentration factor
Dynamic load factor. Surface compressive strength Bending strength Design analysis of spur
gears Estimation of centre distance, module and face width, check for plastic deformation.
Check for dynamic and wear considerations.

January 2005
1. In a spur gear drive for a rock crusher, the gears are made of case hardened
alloy steel. The pinion is transmitting 18 kW at 1200 rpm with a gear ratio of 3.5.
The gear is to work 8 hours/day for 3 years. Design the drive.

April / May 2005

1. What should be the module, face width and number of teeth on each gear of a
pair of spur gears, a C45 steel pinion driving a cast iron gear, if they are to
transmit 18.75 kW at 700 rev/min of the 0.18m pinion in continuous service? The
velocity ratio is 3, the teeth are 200 full depth and the load is smooth. Determine
the outside and root diameters.
2. 7.5kW is to be transmitted from a motor shaft rotating at 1440rpm to another
shaft with a speed reduction of 3:1. The starting torque may be taken as 50%
higher than the mean torque. The gears should be made of heat treated steel
and the shaft of mild steel. The pinion should have a minimum of 20 teeth.
Design the gear drive.
3. Determine the module, face, and number of teeth for a pair of gears if they are
to transmit 3.75 kW at 1800 rev/min. of the pinion, for intermittent service. The
material is to be good grade cast iron and the pinion is to have 18 teeth 200 full
depth, VR= 2.5.

November 2005
1. (a) How much is the recommended reduction for a single spur gear pair?
(b) Design a pair of spur gears to transmit 40kW from a shaft running at 1500
rpm to another shaft with a speed reduction of 4. Assume a load factor of 1.75.
2. A steel pinion having a B.H.N. of 250 has 60o, 20o stub teeth, and rotates at
1000 rev/min. The module is 2.5mm and the width of the face is five times the
pitch. The mating gear has 200 teeth, determine the necessary module, pitch
diameter, and width of face for 20 deg. Full depth teeth.

April / May 2006

1. Design a cast iron spur gear drive for a crane hoist to transmit 3.75 kW at
1440 rpm. Maximum gear ratio in the gear box is 4. Each gear is expected to
work 2 hours/day for 10 years. Determine the minimum centre distance, required
face width and module of the gear.
2. It is desired to determine the proportions of a spur gear drive to transmit 8kW
from a shaft rotating at 1200rpm to a low speed shaft, with a reduction of 3:1.
Assume that the teeth are 20o full depth involute, with 24 teeth on pinion. The
pinion is to be of 40C8 Steel and gear of 30C8 steel. Assume that the starting
torque is 130 percent of rated torque.
3. (a) Explain how the effect of dynamic load is considered in gear design.
(b) A shaft running at 250 rpm is driven by a 15kW motor running at 876 rpm
through a pairs of 20o full depth spur gears. If the central distance is to be
approximately 400 mm ( 3mm allowed), design the spur gear drive. Use C30
and C45 Steels for pinion and gear respectively.

Aug / Sep 2006

1. Design the teeth for a pair of cast iron spur gears with cast teeth to transmit
26kW. The pinion runs at 50 rev/min and the velocity ratio is to be 2.5. Decide
upon a suitable grade of cast iron and find the module, face, and diameters, and
centre distance for the gears. Check for dynamic load.
2. Design a cast iron spur gear drive for a crane hoist to transmit 3.75 kW at
1440 rpm. Maximum gear ratio in the gear box is 4. Each gear is expected to
work 2 hours/day for 10 years. Determine the minimum centre distance, required
face width and module of the gear.
3. (a) Explain how the effect of dynamic load is considered in gear design.
(b) A shaft running at 250 rpm is driven by a 15kW motor running at 876 rpm
through a pairs of 20o full depth spur gears. If the central distance is to be
approximately 400 mm ( 3mm allowed), design the spur gear drive. Use C30
and C45 Steels for pinion and gear respectively.

April / May 2007

1. (a) State and derive Lewis Beam Strength equation.
(b) A shaft running at 1440 rpm drives another shaft rotating at 500 rpm
approximately. If the power to be transmitted is 10kW, and running 8 hr/day,
design the spur gear.

2. (a) Explain the assumptions made in deriving Lewis beam strength equation.
(b) A compressor running at 250rpm is driven by a 15kW, 870 rpm motor through
a pair of 14 1/ 2 degree full depth spur gears. Use C30 Steel for pinion and C45
for gear. Design the gear drive and check for dynamic load.
3. (a) State and derive Lewis Beam Strength equation.
(b) A shaft running at 1440 rpm drives another shaft rotating at 500 rpm
approximately. If the power to be transmitted is 10kW, and running 8 hr/day,
design the spur gear.
4. (a) Does the accuracy of gear profile influence the spur gear design? Explain.
(b) A pair of mating carefully cut spur gears have 20o full depth teeth of 4 mm
module. The number of teeth on pinion and gear are 38 and 115 respectively.
The face width is 40mm. If the pinion and gear are made of Steel with core
hardness of 200 and surface hardness of 300, Calculate the safe power that can
be transmitted when the pinion is to run at 1200 rpm.

Aug / Sep 2007

1. Design a cast iron spur gear drive for a crane hoist to transmit 3.75 kW at
1440 rpm. Maximum gear ratio in the gear box is 4. Each gear is expected to
work 2 hours/day for 10 years. Determine the minimum centre distance, required
face width and module of the gear.
2. A pair of gears is to be designed to transmit 30kW for a pinion speed of 1000
rpm and a speed ratio of l:5. Design the gear pair.

April / May 2008

1. (a) Explain the procedure of evaluating module and face width of the gear
drive.
(b) A pair of 4 diametra1 pitch, 20o full depth involute. Spur gears with a face
width of 60mm is made of steel having 400 HB. The pinion has 28 teeth and runs
at 1200 rpm. The gear ratio is 4. What power can be transmitted as indicated by
the Lewis equation? Check for dynamic and wear loads. Assume o = 210 MPa
and es = 70 Mpa.
2. A pair of cast steel annealed spur gears with cast teeth transmits 18.75kW and
60 rev/min of the pinion. The pitch diameter of the pinion is approximately 0.23m
and the velocity ratio is 2.5. Determine the module and face of the gears; also the
correct pitch diameters and tooth numbers. Check for dynamic load.

3. A pair of cast steel annealed spur gears with cast teeth transmits 18.75kW and
60 rev/min of the pinion. The pitch diameter of the pinion is approximately 0.23m
and the velocity ratio is 2.5. Determine the module and face of the gears; also the
correct pitch diameters and tooth numbers. Check for dynamic load.
4. (a) Explain the methods of improving the wear strength of a gear drive.
(b) A compressor running 300 rpm is driven by a 15kW, 1200 rpm motor through
a 20o full depth involute gears. The centre distance is 375 mm. Choosing
suitable materials for the pinion and the gear, design the drive. Assume medium
shock conditions.
5. A pair of helical gears consists of a 30 teeth pinion meshing with a 80 teeth
gear. The pinion rotates at 900 rpm. The normal pressure angle is 200 while the
helix angle is 250. The face width is 50mm and the normal module is 4mm. The
pinions as well as gear are made of steel having ultimate strength of 600MPa
and heat treated to a surface hardness of 300BHN. The service factors of safety
are 5 and 2 respectively. Assume that the velocity factor accounts for the
dynamic load and calculate the power transmitting capacity of the gears.
6. Two parallel shafts are connected by a pair of steel helical gears. The power
transmitted is 15kW at 4000rpm of the pinion. The safe static strength for the
material is 100MPa. Gear ratio is 4:1 Stub teeth with 200 pressure angle in
diameter plane have helix angle of 450. Also calculate the necessary BHN with
the standard point of wear. Check the design for dynamic load and suggest
modification if necessary. Use 30 teeth on the pinion.
7. (a) What is herringbone gear? State its applications.
(b) A pair of helical gear has 200 stub teeth in the diameteral plane. Helix angle
is 450. The pinion rotates at 8,000rpm. And transmits 12kW. Gear ratio is
4:1.Safe static stress for the material for pinion and gear 100MPa. The BHN for
the pinion 300 and that of gear 200. Find the module and face width, if the center
distance is 200mm. And check the design for dynamic load and wear strength if
error is 0.01mm.
8. (a) Explain why helical gears are capable of transmitting greater power at high
speed as compared to the spur gear.
(b) A pair of spur gears has pinion made of material with 80MPa safe static
bending stresses, gear made of material with safe static bending stresses of
55MPa. The module and face width of the teeth are 5mm and 60mm
respectively. The pinion Rotates at 60rpm. The number of teeth on pinions and
gear are 20 and 80 respectivly. Find the capacity in kW of the gear drive. The
error is limited to e=16+1.25(m+0.25 square_root(d)) microns. B.H.N. of the
pinion material is 250.

Aug / Sep 2008

1. (a) Prove tan n = tan cos in case of helical gear where n carry
usual meaning.
(b) A bronze spur gear is used with mild steel pinion. The gear ratio is 2.5:1. The
pressure angle is 200 stub. The number of teeth on pinion. The safe static
stresses for bronze and CS are 80MPa and 110MPa. Design the pair.
2. Design a pair of helical gears to transmit 50kW power at a speed reduction
ratio of 5:1. The input shaft rotates at 3000rpm. Take helix and normal pressure
angles equal to 25 degree and 20degree. Both pinion and gear are made of steel
(the following data is given)
Name of the part
Pinion
Gear

Permissible BHN
55MPa
340MPa
40MPa
300MPa

The number of teeth on the pinion may be taken 20.

3. (a) Define the terms of Module and Circular pitch.
(b) Design a spur gear drive required to transmit 45kW at a speed of 800rpm.
The velocity ratio is 3.5:1. The teeth are 20degree full depth involute with 18
teeth on the pinion. Both the pinion and gear are made of steel with a maximum
safe static stress of 180MPa for the material of the shaft and key.
4. (a) What is the difference between involute and cyloidal gears.
(b) In a spur gear drive the diameter of pinion is 100mm and the centre distance
220mm. the power to be transmitted is 6.5kW at 900 rpm of pinion. Using 200 full
depth teeth and material for pinion steel with permissible static stress of 200MPa
and for gear a steel with a permissible static bending stress of 150MPa,
determine the necessary module and width of the teeth using Lewis equation
only.
5. Design the full depth 20o teeth of a pair of cast iron spur gears to transmit
intermittently 7.5 kW at 625 rev/min of the pinion. The velocity ratio should be
about 3.5. The pinion is to have not less than 22 teeth. Find the module, face
width and diameters of the gears. Strength alone considered. Check for dynamic
load.
6. (a) Explain the methods of improving the wear strength of a gear drive.
(b) A compressor running 300 rpm is driven by a 15kW, 1200 rpm motor through
a 20 degree full depth involute gears. The centre distance is 375 mm. Choosing
suitable materials for the pinion and the gear, design the drive. Assume medium
shock conditions.

7. It is desired to determine the proportions of a spur gear drive to transmit 8kW

from a shaft rotating at 1200rpm to a low speed shaft, with a reduction of 3:1.
Assume that the teeth are 20o full depth involute, with 24 teeth on pinion. The
pinion is to be of 40C8 Steel and gear of 30C8 steel. Assume that the starting
torque is 130 percent of rated torque.
8. (a) State and explain the necessity of Barths equation in design of spur gear
(b) Design a pair of 20o full depth spur gears to transmit 15kW at 1400 rpm to
another shaft rotating at 720 rpm. Design the gear drive and check for dynamic
load.

April / May 2009

1. A pair of straight teeth spur gears is to be transmit 20kW when the pinion
rotates at 300rpm. The velocity ratio is 1:3. The allowable static stresses for the
pinion and gear materials are 120MPa and 100 MPa respectively. The pinion has
15 teeth and its face width is 14 times the module. Determine:
(a) Module
(b) Face width and
(c) Pitch circle diameters of both the pinion and the gear from the stand point of
strength only, taking into consideration the effect of the dynamic loading.
The tooth form factor y can be taken as y= 0.154-0.912/no.of teeth and the
velocity factor Cv = 3/(3+v), where v is in m/s.
2. A single stage helical gear reducer is to receive power from a 1440 r.p.m.,
25kW induction motor. The gear tooth profile is involute full depth with 20o
normal pressure angle. The helix angle is 23o, number of teeth on pinion is 20
and the gear ratio is 3. Both the gears are made of steel with allowable beam
stress of 90MPa and hardness 250B.H.N.
(a) Design the gears for 20% overload carrying capacity from the standpoint of
bending strength and wear.
(b) If the incremental dynamic load of 8kN is estimated in tangential plane, what
will be the safe power transmitted by the pair at the same speed?
3. A gear drive is required to transmit a maximum power of 44kW. The velocity
ratio is 1:4 and pinion speed is 400 rpm. The approximate center distance
between the shafts may be taken as 600mm. The teeth have 200 stub involute
profiles. The static stress for the gear material (CI) is 60MPa and face width as
10 times the module. Find the module, Face width and number of teeth on each
gear. Check the design for dynamic and wear loads. The deformation or dynamic
factor in the Buckingham equation may be taken as 80 and combination factor for
the wear as 1.4.

4 Two parallel shafts are connected by a pair of steel helical gears. The power
transmitted is 15kW at 4000rpm of the pinion. The safe static strength for the
material is 100MPa. Gear ratio is 4:1 Stub teeth with 200 pressure angle in
diameter plane have helix angle of 450. Also calculate the necessary BHN with
the standard point of wear. Check the design for dynamic load and suggest
modification if necessary. Use 30 teeth on the pinion.

April / May 2009

1 (a) State and derive Lewis Beam Strength equation.
(b) A shaft running at 1440 rpm drives another shaft rotating at 500 rpm
approximately. If the power to be transmitted is 10kW, and running 8 hr/day,
design the spur gear.
2 In a spur gear drive for a rock crusher, the gears are made of case hardened
alloy steel. The pinion is transmitting 18 kW at 1200 rpm with a gear ratio of 3.5.
The gear is to work 8 hours/day for 3 years. Design the drive.
3 A pair of 20o full depth spur gears must transmit 18.75 kW at a speed of 5000
rev/min of the opinion. The velocity ratio is 10 and the diameter of the pinion is 76
mm. There should be between 15 and 24 teeth in the opinion. The pinion is made
of C-30 forged steel with a B.H.N. of 250 and the gear is made of ordinary cast
iron. Determine the module, the number of teeth, and the face width of these
gears.
4. A C45 pinion is used to transmit power at a speed of 400 rev/min. The module
is 10mm the pitch diameter is 0.25m and the face is 0.127m. The teeth are
standard 20 degree involute.
(a) Determine the number of teeth, circular pitch, and outside diameter of pinion.
(b) Determine the power the pinion should transmit for smooth intermittent
service,
(c) Determine the power for continuous service.