24

CHAPTER 2

SPUR GEAR TOOTH PROFILE

The purpose of gearing is to transmit power and motion from one

shaft to another at a constant angular velocity. The tooth form almost
universally used is the involute, which has properties that make it practically
desirable for these functions. It will be shown that in order to attain constant
angular velocity, the meshing tooth forms must have specific geometrical
characteristics which are easily obtained with an involute system.

A more positive method of transmitting power is through gear

teeth, which can be illustrated as two cam profiles acting on one another and
the force of driving cam on the driven at any instant acts normal to the point
of tangency of the curved surface. At any given instant, the angular velocity
ratio is inversely proportional to the ratio of the instantaneous pitch radii,
which must be the same at all points of contact to obtain a constant angular
velocity ratio. If this condition is met, the two profiles are said to be
conjugate. It is observed that the idea of two conjugate profiles is not practical
from operating and manufacturing points of view, so this lead to the use of
involute curve (Lynwander 1983).

2.1 CONSTRUCTION OF INVOLUTE GEAR TOOTH

The involute of a circle is a curve that can be generated by

unwrapping a taut string from a cylinder that is always tangent to the base
circle and the center of involute curvature is always at the point of tangency.
 25

A tangent to the involute is always normal to the string, which is the

instantaneous radius of curvature of the involute curve.

The involute curve is started from the base circle and it can be
generated by using the following relations of tooth radii which is shown in
Figure 2.1 (Maitra 1996, Shigley and Charles 2003).

rp  0 . 5 ( m Z ) (2.1)

ra  rp  m  C f m (2.2)

rb  rp c o s  (2.3)

r f  r p  m (1 . 2 5  C f ) (2.4)

Figure 2.1 Spur Gear Tooth Radii

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2.2 GEAR TOOTH GENERATION

When the cutting tool transverses and the work rotate, an involute
is generated on the gear tooth flank and a trochoid in the root fillet, as shown
in Figure 2.2. Figure 2.3 is a closer view at a hob tooth and it shows a hob
pressure angle  and diametral pitch π / (TH+TP).

Figure 2.2 Trochoid and Involute Curves

The distance (B + rc) on the hob tooth is equal to the dedendum of

the generated gear tooth, rc is the hob tip radius with its center at point o. TP,
the hob tooth space, is equal to the tooth thickness of generated gear at gear
pitch diameter. TH is the hob tooth thickness.

When the hob traverses a distance (TP + TH), through an angle

(TP + TH)/rp , where (TP + TH) is the circular pitch of the gear, the involute
 27

and trochoid can be plotted on a Cartesian coordinate system emanating at the

center of the gear tooth as shown in Figure 2.2.

The following equations are developed to generate this plot, these

equations are easily programmed and the coordinates can be plotted
automatically (Lynwander 1983).

Figure 2.3 Hob Geometry

2.2.1 Involute Coordinates

It is shown that if the base circle radius and the involute angle  are
known, the radius to the curve can be found for any assumed pressure angle.
Therefore, to find the coordinates with respect to the center of the tooth, the
tooth thickness at any radius must be known. So, let us start at the pitch
diameter with a pressure angle  , pitch radius rp , and a circular tooth
thickness CTT , the involute angle is:

1  ta n 1  1 (2.5)
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It can be seen from Figure 2.4, that angle (A) is:

CTT
A  1 
2rp

Figure 2.4 Tooth Thickness Calculation

To find the circular tooth thickness at any other radius R2:

CTT
  A  ( 2 )  1   2
2 rp

rb (2.6)
 2  co s 1
R2

 2  ta n  2   2

CTT (2.7)
 C T T2  2 (  1   2 )
2 rp

C T T2 (2.8)
 
2R 2
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To find the x and y coordinates of the involute at any radius R2:

x  R 2 sin  (2.9)

y  R 2 cos  (2.10)

2.2.2 Trochoid Coordinates

To find the trochoid coordinates on the desired x-y system through

the center of the tooth, they must be shifted through the angle (w) as in
Figure 2.2, when the hob traverses a distance (TH + TP) as in Figure 2.3, the
gear rotates through an angle (TH + TP)/rp; therefore , the angle (w + v)
between the center of the gear tooth and the center of the tooth space is
(Damir 2005):

(TH  TP)
wv
2rp

Angle ν can be calculated as (v =L / rp).

where, L is the distance between center hob tooth and point O in Figure 2.4.

TH rc
L   B tan  
2 cos 

0.5(TH  TP)  L
w
rp
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Figure 2.5 shows the trochoid generated by point O at its starting

point and after the hob has moved a distance (rp.) and the gear has rotated
through an angle  the coordinate are (Lynwander 1983, Buckingham 1988):

Figure 2.5 Trochoid Generated by Point O

XO  R O s in ( T   )  R O (s in T c o s   c o s T s in  )

YO  R O co s(T   )  R O (c o s T c o s   s i n T s i n  )

where

rp  B r p .
cos T   s in T 
R O R O
 31

Therefore:

X O  ( rp  ) c o s   ( rp  B ) s i n  (2.11)

Y O  ( rp  B ) c o s   ( rp  ) s i n  (2.12)

Figure 2.6 shows how to calculate the actual trochoid coordinates

by adding rc to the trochoid generated by point O.

Figure 2.6 Trochoid Coordinates

Colbourne (1987) has been taken rc as (0.3 m) also it can be

calculated from the following equation (Hefeng and et al. 1985):

(Pc / 4 tan  )  A d d c
rc  (2.13)
1  sin 
 32

where, Pc is the circular pitch of the gear which is equal to (dp π /Z) or mπ).

Addc is the rack cutter Addendum which can be calculated from the following
equation:

m
Add c  (2.14)
2 tan 

Also, (Colbourne 1987) has taken Addc as (1.25 m), where m is the
module.

Therefore:

X T  X o  rc cos A (2.15)

YT  Yo  rc sin A (2.16)

(A) is the angle formed by a line normal to the trochoid generated

by point O and YT axis which can be found as follows:

dX O
tan A 
dYO

To find (dXo / dYo):

dX O
  (rp  ) sin   rp cos   rp cos   B co s 
d

d YO
 rp sin   B sin   ( rp  ) cos   rp sin 
d
 33

And:

dX O  ( rp  ) s i n   B c o s 

dYO B s i n   ( rp  ) c o s 

Finally, to obtain the trochoid coordinates with respect to the

system through the gear tooth center, refer to Figure 2.2.

XT  x cos (w)
sin(w) 
y

YT  x sin (w)
cos(w) 
y
X T  x co s ( w ) Y T  x sin ( w )

sin ( w ) cos ( w )

 X T cos ( w)  x cos 2 (w)  YT sin (w)  x sin 2 ( w)

xx  YT sin ( w)  X T cos ( w) (2.17)

yy  YT cos ( w )  X T sin ( w ) (2.18)

It is able to add the trochoid and involute curves in one programme

to obtain spur gear tooth generation programme (Programme 1); the flow
chart of this programme is shown in Figure 2.7.

This programme can be used to obtain the tooth profile for any
required conditions in the next chapters; the outputs of this programme for
two random cases are shown in Chapter 7.
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Figure 2.7 Flow Chart of Spur Gear Tooth Profile Programme

(Programme 1)
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2. 3 INVERSE DESIGN OF SPUR GEAR TOOTH PROFILE

In practice, different dimensions of the gear are measured which are

used to calculate the tooth thickness and it is also possible to calculate the
additional depth to which the cutter must be fed in, in order to obtain the
required tooth thickness. Another beneficiary from measurement of tooth
thickness and outer diameter of gears can be seen in the manufacturing of gear
using inverse engineering method (Maitra 1996). Some of the most
commonly used methods, by which the tooth thickness of gear can be
measured are discussed below.

2.3.1 Gear Tooth Vernier Caliper

The most direct method for measuring the tooth thickness of a gear
makes use of an instrument called a gear-tooth caliper as shown in Figure 2.8.

In order to measure, the instrument is placed over one of the gear

teeth, as shown in Figure 2.9.

In a gear with profile shift (Cf), the addendum is extended by

approximately (Cf), so the middle of the profile lies at radius approximately
equal to (rp + Cf). When the measurement is made at any radius the tooth
thickness at this radius given by (Colbourne 1987):
 36

Figure 2.8 Gear-Tooth Vernier Caliper

ra

Figure 2.9 Measurement Radius R

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 CTT 
CTTm  R   2  inv  inv  R   (2.19)
 rp 

where CTT - the tooth thickness at standard pitch radius

rp - standard pitch radius .
R - the arbitrary radius which measurement made.

R - the pressure angle at the arbitrary radius.

From geometric relations of any two different points (A and B) on

the involute curve (Maitra 1996, Nieman 1960):

r 
co s ( B )   pA  c o s (  A ) (2.20)
 r
 pB 

rb  rp A cos( A )  rpB cos(  B ) (2.21)

So, from Equation (2.21) the pressure angle can be determined at any
point on the involute curve in relation to the parameters of another known
point.

By referring to Equation (2.21) to find (R):

t Rch  2 R sin( R ) (2.22)

 Rch  ra  R sin( R ) (2.23)

CTTm
R 
2R

where tRch - chrodal tooth thickness.

aRch - chrodal addendum.
 38

2.3.2 Span Measurement

By measuring over several teeth, as shown in Figure 2.10 it is possible

to make the measurement using the parallel faces of the caliper jaws, instead
of the tips. This procedure is known as span measurement. This means that
the contact should take place at a radius of approximately (rp + Cf). So, (Z)
the number of teeth over which the span measurement is obtain by (Colbourne
1987):

1 Z(  ) 2C f
In radian:  Z    
2   m tan(  )

1 Z(   ) 2C f
In degree:  Z    
2 180  m tan(   )

S′

rb

Figure 2.10 Span Measurement Over 3 Teeth

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A modification is made to obtain the value of (Z′) considering the

effect of reducing the value of (Z′) for gears of large Cf, in such case the
following expression is used (Colbourne 1985):

1 Z (   ) 2 C f [0 .7 5  ( 2 / Z )]
Z    (2.24)
2 180  m tan (  )

In order to find the standard tooth thickness CTT of a gear, the

length S′ is measured, and CTT then found from:

S'
CTT   ( Z   1)  m  Z m  in v (  ) (2.25)
cos 

After measuring the tooth thickness by using any one of the two
formulations which are expressed in this chapter, it is possible to design the
spur gear profile with reversible engineering method.

Programme 2 which is shown in Figure 2.11, is based on the first

method (vernier caliper formulation) because it found that this method is both
easier to use and more accurate.

The outputs of Programme 2, for two actual selected gears, where

the tooth inverse design has been done on these gears are shown in Chapter 7.
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Start

Input DATA: m,
Z, CTT, tRch

Calculate geometric param.

and Cf for this data.

J=0 to 39 step

At E=E+j, calculate
dxo , dyo and A

Yes
A0

Calc. Xo,xy,XT,Y T and

xx,yy

Pset (xx,yy)

I=0 to 39 step 0.01

When 2=2+1 calc.

r2,CTT2 and x,y

Yes
y > ra

Yes
y < yy

Pset (x,y)

End

Figure 2.11 Flowchart of Spur Gear Tooth Generation Drawing

Program (Programme 2)