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Gearmotor sizing guide

Motion System Design
John Mazurkiewicz, Baldor Electric Co.
Tue, 2001-05-01 12:00
When choosing a gearmotor, don't take anything for granted, especially when it comes to gear types,
ratio, torque, and mass

Gears, the universal symbol of productivity, have been a major cog in

industry for hundreds of years. Before electromagnetic rotating
machines were even a glimmer in Michael Faradays eyes, there were
gears.

Early gears were made from wood with cylindrical pegs for cogs. They
were often lubricated with animal fat, vegetable oils, and even water.
Gears were used then for the same reasons they are now because of
their force multiplying properties. Youd find them on ships (hoisting
anchors), in catapults (tensioning fly arms), and on a variety of machinery powered by wind and water
wheels.

Metal gearing didnt take off until the British industrial revolution in the eighteenth century. Since then,
the science of gear design and manufacturing has come a long way, and continues to improve with
advances in metallurgy, computer modeling, and CNC machining.

Gear types

There are many types of gears available today, each with specific advantages and limitations. Topping
the list at least for big jobs are worm, spur, and helical gears.

Worm gears are relatively inexpensive, achieve high ratios in a single gear
set (up to 100:1), and are available in right-angle configurations. They also run
quietly and tolerate high shock loads. However, they are less efficient than
other forms of gearing.

Spur gears by contrast are more likely to produce noise, less tolerant of
shock compared to worm gears, and slightly more expensive. On the plus side,
they are compact, efficient, and available in parallel-shaft arrangements.
Theyre also easy to find because many manufacturers produce them. Spur
gear ratios are generally 10:1 per stage.

Helical gears are similar to spur gears, but they have angled teeth. Because
helical gears have more tooth contact area than spur gears, pound for pound they can carry heavier

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loads, though not quite as efficiently. They are somewhat more expensive as well and, depending on the
configuration, may produce thrust loading on the bearings. Versatility is a plus, however, as helicals can
be used on non-parallel, even perpendicular, shafts, achieving a 10:1 ratio per stage.

Determining ratio

The standard approach when designing a machine is to select

a gear ratio that converts motor speed to the desired rpm of
the machine. The motor should be selected first based on
factors such as available power, speed range, starting
frequency, reversibility, torque, and so on. The sidebar
comparing common motors will point you in the right direction for most applications.

Suppose youre working on a fixed-speed application and you decide to go with an ac induction motor. In
most catalogs, ac induction motors are available with base output speeds of 850 to 3,450 rpm. If the
desired speed (for the machine) is 58 rpm, and you were using a 1,750-rpm motor, you would calculate
gear ratio as follows:

Determining torque

For simple load-transmission applications, an easy way to determine the required torque is to attach a
pulley to the drive shaft and wrap a cord around it (anchored with a spring scale). As you pull on the
cord, the scale will tell you the amount of force youre exerting. Do this several times and average the
readings.

Torque is the product of force and distance from the centerline of the shaft, that is, the scale reading
times the radius of the pulley. To lift a 90 pound load using a 2 ft. drum, for example, a gearmotor would
have to produce:

If you know the speed of the drum, you can also calculate the required power. Say the drum speed is 58
rpm; then the amount of horsepower is:

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Torque & rotating mass

For applications involving heavy rotating masses such as flywheels, large conveyor rolls, rotating
tables, and drums additional torque is required to bring the machine up to speed. Here, youll need to
consider load inertia WK2 in order to choose the right gearmotor.

Inertia loads invariably use more power to start and accelerate than they do to maintain running speed.
The torque to accelerate load inertia WK2 may be calculated from:

where Torqueinertia is in poundfeet (lb-ft);WK2 is in lb-ft2; time is in seconds; and 308 is a conversion
factor. The torque required to accelerate the load from standstill to running speed varies inversely with
the time allocated for acceleration.

As an example, if the application has a load inertia of 480 lb-ft2 and an acceleration time of 0.5 sec to 58
rpm:

Note that the actual torque to accelerate the entire machine must also include transmitted torque.

The machine, therefore, requires a starting horsepower (to get the load moving) of:

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Service factor

Once the actual horsepower (torque) is determined, it should

be multiplied by a service factor. This adds a safety margin
and is critical in the selection process. Service factors for
various machine load classifications are included here for
convenience.

Suppose youre working on an application with uniform shock

loading that runs ten hours a day. From the table, the service
factor multiplier is 1.00. Using the application (actual) torque
calculated previously

Overhung load

An overhung load is a force applied at right angles to a

reducer shaft. The problem with such a load is that it causes a
bending force in the shaft that must be resisted by the reducer
shaft as well as the bearings.

Whenever a pulley, sprocket, gear, or cable assembly is

directly mounted on a reducer shaft you can expect a bending
force. Mounting the drive component close to the reducer will
minimize the force as well as the negative effects on the
bearings and shaft. Shaft misalignment can also cause
overhung loads, which in most cases, can be eliminated with a
flexible coupling.

To get a better feel for overhung loads, consider a gearbelt

transmitting 271 lb-ft of torque through a 10-in. diameter
sprocket. The resulting overhung load is calculated as follows:

where factor depends on the coupling mechanism.

To make sure your gearing is up to the task you need to refer to a selection table (attached). The
application calls for a 30:1 ratio, a 1,750-rpm motor, and has a required output torque of 271 lb-ft, or
3,252 lb-in. The smallest capable unit (size 400FC) has an overhung load capacity of 1,950 lb,
well within the application requirement.

All manufacturers specs and ratings are based on testing. Since your application may differ radically, its
important to get a sample and test it under the actual operating conditions.

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John Mazurkiewicz is a product manager with Baldor Electric Co., Fort Smith, Ark.

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