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CHAPTER 5

DEVELOPMENT OF GEAR TEST RIG

5.1 INTRODUCTION

Test rig was developed with the support of Alpha Drives, Power
Take Off (PTO) gearbox manufacturer, Coimbatore. „G 600 VO PTO‟ gearbox
is one of the products of the company for which, the test rig was not available.
Therefore, a test rig was developed for that particular application, and the same
gearbox was used for the investigation. PTO is a gearbox attached to the
transmission system of a truck (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1 PTO attached to the transmission system

Separate aperture is provided to the transmission system for

mounting PTO as shown in Figure 5.2. PTO is used to transmit engine power to
auxiliary components like hydraulic pump, air compressor, electric fans,
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generators, etc., (David 2008). The operation of the gearbox depends upon its
material, design, manufacturing, and so forth.

Figure 5.2 Transmission system

To foreshadow the life of power train and gearbox this type of

Research and Development (R & D) test rigs become mandatory (Han et al
2013; Krntz et al 2001; Tuszynskin et al 2012; Kahrmann & Singh 1990).
To affirm the quality of oils newly developed for gears and to verify the new
design of gears, test rig is to be employed. The FZG test rig developed in gear
research centre at the technical university of Munich is most often used in these
types of test (Michalczewski et al 2009). Close to FZG test rig some other
scientific centers also developed their own test rig because of some limitations
with the FZG test rig (Mikel et al 2012).

Automobiles and machineries are much quieter today, so the need

for auxiliary power drives doing the same is emerged (Mikel et al 2012).
The noise of the gearbox doesn't only depend on gear accuracy, besides; it also
depends on gear material, shafts, bearings and gearbox housing (Welbourn
1979; David 2008). Therefore, it is necessary to try out the gearbox at a real
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field-like environment considering all the components. Rook (1995) proposed

that, to minimize noise, the gearbox housing should be as rigid as possible.
Figure 5.3 shows the test rig developed for conducting this research work.

Figure 5.3 Gear test rig

5.2 TEST RIG ARRANGEMENT

The gear test rig is constructed over a cement concrete stage.

Floor bed bolts were put upon the stage and dried out for 24 hours. After that,
motor and „L‟ bracket frame (for mounting, transmission system, PTO, Pump)
were bolted to the stage. Thermo-coal sheet of 10 mm thickness was placed
between the floor and the frame for vibration damping and it also prevents the
ground vibration transmitting to the gearbox. In the developed test rig, two
cases of arrangements are possible. One is connecting the PTO directly to the
motor output shaft. This type of arrangement is used to analyse the
performance of gear and pinion inside the PTO as shown in Figure 5.4.
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Figure 5.4 PTO gear box directly connected to motor

The second case of arrangement is, giving input power to PTO from
the motor through the transmission system as depicted in Figure 5.5.

Figure 5.5 PTO gear box connected to the transmission system

If the input power for the PTO is given through the transmission
system, gear in the counter shaft aperture and pinion from the PTO input shaft
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are engaged with sufficient backlash because, the too tight backlash will
produce whining noise and too loose backlash will produce clattering noise.
Backlash can be examined using dial gauge.

Motor output shaft and transmission system input shaft were

coupled by flange coupling; the dial gauge principle is used for avoiding
eccentricity. Similarly, PTO output shaft and pump input shaft (propeller) are
also coupled by flange coupling.

5.3 POWER TAKE OFF

PTO consists of two shafts, one input and one output shaft. Input
shaft consists of two gears one is engaged with the transmission system‟s
counter shaft gear. If power is to be given through transmission system this
arrangement is used. Another one is engaged with the output shaft of the PTO
with speed ratio of 1:1.25. If the purpose is just to test the gears, input shaft can
be instantly linked to the motor. Figure 5.6 shows the 3D model of PTO.

Figure 5.6 3D model of PTO gear box

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Figure 5.7 Cross sectional view of PTO gear box

Figure 5.7 shows the cross sectional view of PTO from which, the
position of test gear can be noticed. In the cross sectional view, laminated gear
is positioned in the place of test gear.

Figure 5.8 shows the fabricated PTO which describes the two ways
of input which can be applied to the PTO. Specification of gear and output
shaft pinion subjected to the investigation is shown in Table 4.1, Chapter 4.
PTO used in this test rig is designed for S.A.E standard pertaining to
transmission mounted Power Take-Off s (J704, J22, J2662 and J2555).
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Figure 5.8 Fabricated power take off gear box

Gear pair G1-G3 is selected for investigation, which is clearly

shown in exploded view (Figure 5.9). Gear „G3‟ is the test gear, which is
subjected to the experimental investigation.
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Figure 5.9 Exploded view of PTO gear box

5.4 DRIVE UNIT

The power from 3 phase 50 HP AC induction motor is used to drive

the main shaft of the transmission system. Motor specification is selected based
on the manufacturer recommended speed (1000 to 1400 rpm) and module
(4 mm) of the gear from Figure 5.10 (Jacobson & Hamrock 1998).
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Figure 5.10 Selection of motor power

The speed of the motor can be mastered using an RPM controller

(inverter). Speed range of 0 to 3000 RPM can be attained using this RPM
Controller. Motor and RPM controller arrangement is shown in Figure 5.11.
The gear ratio between G2 and G3 (Figure 5.8) is 1:1.25. It is also possible to
analyse the performance of spur gear and pinions for various combinations.
Lubricating oil performance can also be examined using the same test rig.
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Figure 5.11 Arrangement of motor and RPM controller

5.5 LOADING UNIT

Loading of test gear is done by a hydraulic gear pump of 72 LPM. A

pressure relief valve is installed in the hydraulic line between the pump and the
reservoir. By adjusting the pressure relief valve, load can be increased or
decreased even in dynamic condition (Figure 5.12).

Figure 5.12 Hydraulic control system

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Hydraulic oil used here is ISO VG68, which has the good anti wear
capability. This high-quality oil is utilized in a variety of mobile and industrial
applications (Petroleum Service Company 2013). Performance curve for ISO
VG 68 is shown Figure 5.13 (Hydraulics and Pneumatics 2013).

Figure 5.13 Performance curve of ISO VG 68 hydraulic oil

AC solenoid operated directional valves, which have a maximum

operating pressure of 315 Kgf/cm2 and flow rate of 120 L/min is used to direct
the flow directly to the tank or through the pressure relief valve. When the flow
is through the pressure relief valve, loading of the gear takes place.
The pressure can be applied through the pressure relief valve from 0 to
700 kg/cm2. Terminal box type electrical conduit connection with relay is
provided for solenoid operation where, one can set cycle time for the solenoid
on/off. This solenoid control function makes the system more realistic similar
to field testing. Axial movement of pinion permitted by roller bearing B2, B4
(Figure 5.8) is taken care by universal coupling mounted between PTO output
and pump as shown in Figure 5.14.
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Figure 5.14 Pump connected to propeller shaft

5.6 INSTRUMENTATION UNIT

The instrumentation unit used in this test rig consists of vibration

meter (Lutron make, model: VB-8201HA, Frequency range is 10 Hz - 1 kHz,
sensitivity meets ISO 2954) which measures RMS and Peak value of
acceleration and velocity (Figure 5.15).

Figure 5.15 Vibration meter

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The type of Vibration sensor is VB-81A, which has probe dimension

of 16 mm diameter x 29 mm length. Vibration sensors are mounted near the
bearing area of the pinion shaft as shown in Figure 5.16. Since the surface of
measuring article is ferrous material, vibration sensor is mounted with
magnetic base.

Figure 5.16 Sensor mounted over PTO gear box

Figure 5.17 Sound level meter

Figure 5.17 shows the sound level meter (Lutron made Model：SL-
4001) ranging from 30 to 130 dB is used to monitor the sound level of the PTO
gear box (Akerblom 2008), which is placed at a distance of 1m from the gear
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box surface. J type thermocouple ranging from -40 °C to +750 °C is used to

measure temperature of gearbox oil. Data-acquisition software has been
developed in-house, which have the provision for monitoring gearbox oil
temperature, speed of the motor and output speed of the gearbox, load given to
the pump, and hydraulic temperature of the pump system. The speed of the
motor can also be controlled by software using RPM controller.

5.7 CONCLUSION

A separate test rig was developed for conducting the experimental

investigation. Components used in this test rig were discussed. The developed
test rig is capable of testing gears at various speed levels (0 - 1400 rpm) with a
pressure load of 0 to 700 kg/cm2. The same test rig is used here for the
experimental investigation of gears.