Gears & gear trains
- Meshing gears
- n1·N1 = n2·N2
- Torque
- T2 = T1·(N2/N1)·η
- Power
- P = T·ω, ω = 2π·n/60
- Compound train
- total ratio = product of the stage ratios
Formula sheets, the key method steps for every topic and 12 practice problems, with full solutions at the back.
A 1.1 kW motor running at 1500 rpm drives a pinion with 16 teeth, which meshes with a gear with 60 teeth. Ignore losses. Find the output torque T2 on the gear shaft.
In a planetary gear set the sun gear has 30 teeth and each planet gear has 15 teeth. The planet carrier is held fixed and the sun is driven at 600 rpm. Find the speed nr of the ring gear (magnitude).
A solid brass shaft is fixed at the wall and twisted by a torque T at its free end. Find the angle of twist φ of the free end, in degrees.
A solid aluminium shaft of diameter 40 mm is fixed to rigid walls at both ends A and B. A torque of 1500 N·m is applied at C, 1 m from A and 0.5 m from B. Find the angle of rotation φC of section C, in degrees.
A point in a thin plate is in plane stress: σₓ = −50 MPa, σᵧ = −80 MPa and τₓᵧ = −50 MPa, with σz = 0. Find the absolute maximum shear stress τabs at the point (considering all planes in three dimensions).
A thin-walled cylindrical tank of inner diameter 500 mm and wall thickness 15 mm holds gas at a gauge pressure of 3 MPa. It is made from plate welded along a helical seam at 60° to the axis of the cylinder. Find the normal stress σn acting across the weld seam.
Find the elongation δ of the steel bar under the axial load.
A steel rod (diameter 40 mm, E = 200 GPa, allowable stress 160 MPa) sits inside a tube made of aluminium (outer diameter 100 mm, inner diameter 70 mm, E = 70 GPa, allowable stress 70 MPa). They are compressed together between rigid plates. Find the largest load Pmax.
A column of length L made of steel is fixed at the base and pinned at the top. Using Euler’s formula, find its critical buckling load Pcr.
A column of length L made of steel is fixed at the base and pinned at the top. Find its slenderness and the critical buckling stress σcr from Euler’s formula.
A 2 kg mass on a spring with a stiffness of 80 kN/m has a viscous damper giving a damping ratio of 0.6. Find the damped natural frequency fd of its free vibration in Hz.
A 40 kg mass hangs from two springs connected end to end (in series): the upper spring has k₁ = 30 kN/m and the lower one k₂ = 50 kN/m. Find the equivalent stiffness keq of the spring system in kN/m.
Answer: T2 = 26.26 N·m
Gear trains: meshing gears have the same speed at the teeth, so n₁·N₁ = n₂·N₂: the gear with fewer teeth turns faster. Gears on one shaft turn at the same speed. Power is passed on (minus losses), so torque goes up when speed goes down: T₂ = T₁·(N₂/N₁)·η, and P = T·ω with ω = 2π·n/60.
Answer: nr = 300 rpm
Planetary gear sets: the speeds of sun, ring and carrier are linked by the Willis equation (ns − nc)/(nr − nc) = −Nr/Ns: seen from the carrier, the set is an ordinary train with the planets as idlers. Holding one member fixed turns the set into a single-ratio reducer.
With nc = 0 the sun drives the ring through the planets, which act as idlers.
The ring turns opposite to the sun.
Answer: φ = 15.32 °
Torsion of circular shafts: shear stress grows linearly from zero at the centre to τmax = T·r/J at the surface, with J = πd⁴/32 for a solid shaft and J = π(do⁴ − di⁴)/32 for a hollow one. The angle of twist is φ = TL/(GJ) in radians. Power and torque are linked by P = T·ω.
Answer: φC = 4.384 °
Torsion of circular shafts: shear stress grows linearly from zero at the centre to τmax = T·r/J at the surface, with J = πd⁴/32 for a solid shaft and J = π(do⁴ − di⁴)/32 for a hollow one. The angle of twist is φ = TL/(GJ) in radians. Power and torque are linked by P = T·ω. When both ends are fixed, statics alone gives only TA + TB = T₀; the second equation is compatibility (equal twist of both parts at the loaded section).
Use segment AC: it is fixed at A and carries TA.
Answer: τabs = 58.6 MPa
Plane stress transformation: on a plane rotated by θ, σ = (σₓ + σᵧ)/2 + (σₓ − σᵧ)/2·cos 2θ + τₓᵧ·sin 2θ. Mohr’s circle shows all planes at once: its centre is at C = (σₓ + σᵧ)/2 and its radius is R = √(((σₓ − σᵧ)/2)² + τₓᵧ²). The principal stresses are C ± R, and the largest in-plane shear stress is R. In three dimensions the absolute maximum shear stress is (σmax − σmin)/2 over all three principal stresses; in plane stress the third one is zero.
Here the out-of-plane circle governs: the absolute maximum is larger than the in-plane maximum R.
Answer: σn = 31.25 MPa
Plane stress transformation: on a plane rotated by θ, σ = (σₓ + σᵧ)/2 + (σₓ − σᵧ)/2·cos 2θ + τₓᵧ·sin 2θ. Mohr’s circle shows all planes at once: its centre is at C = (σₓ + σᵧ)/2 and its radius is R = √(((σₓ − σᵧ)/2)² + τₓᵧ²). The principal stresses are C ± R, and the largest in-plane shear stress is R. Thin-walled cylinder: hoop stress σh = pr/t and axial stress σa = pr/(2t); these are the principal stresses in the wall.
Take x along the axis (σa) and y around the hoop (σh). The seam’s normal makes 90° − α with the axis.
Answer: δ = 0.3565 mm
Hooke’s law: within the elastic range σ = E·ε. Combining with σ = P/A and ε = δ/L gives δ = PL/(AE).
E for steel = 200 GPa = 200000 MPa.
Answer: Pmax = 425.4 kN
Two materials: in series (one after the other) every segment carries the same force and the elongations add: δ = P·Σ L/(E·A). In parallel (side by side between rigid plates) both parts shorten by the same amount, so their strains are equal: the stiffer part takes the larger share, Pi = P·EiAi/ΣEA, and σi = Ei·ε. A bar held between two rigid walls with a load at the junction is statically indeterminate: the two segments share the load in proportion to their stiffness k = EA/L.
Answer: Pcr = 8.583 kN
Euler buckling: a slender column becomes unstable at Pcr = π²EI/(KL)², where KL is the effective length: K = 1 for pinned–pinned, 2 for fixed–free, 0.7 for fixed–pinned and 0.5 for fixed–fixed. It buckles about the axis with the smallest I. The formula holds for slender columns, whose critical stress stays below the yield stress.
A round section has the same I about every axis.
Answer: σcr = 44.76 MPa
Euler buckling: a slender column becomes unstable at Pcr = π²EI/(KL)², where KL is the effective length: K = 1 for pinned–pinned, 2 for fixed–free, 0.7 for fixed–pinned and 0.5 for fixed–fixed. It buckles about the axis with the smallest I. The formula holds for slender columns, whose critical stress stays below the yield stress.
A round section has the same I about every axis.
Answer: fd = 25.46 Hz
Free vibration of a mass–spring system: the undamped natural frequency is ωn = √(k/m) in rad/s, and fn = ωn/(2π) in Hz. A viscous damper c gives the damping ratio ζ = c/cc, with critical damping cc = 2·√(k·m) = 2·m·ωn. An underdamped system (ζ < 1) oscillates at ωd = ωn·√(1 − ζ²). Springs in parallel add, k = k₁ + k₂; springs in series add as reciprocals, 1/k = 1/k₁ + 1/k₂.
Answer: keq = 18.75 kN/m
Free vibration of a mass–spring system: the undamped natural frequency is ωn = √(k/m) in rad/s, and fn = ωn/(2π) in Hz. A viscous damper c gives the damping ratio ζ = c/cc, with critical damping cc = 2·√(k·m) = 2·m·ωn. An underdamped system (ζ < 1) oscillates at ωd = ωn·√(1 − ζ²). Springs in parallel add, k = k₁ + k₂; springs in series add as reciprocals, 1/k = 1/k₁ + 1/k₂.
Springs in series share the same force and add their deflections, so they combine as reciprocals: 1/k = 1/k1 + 1/k2.
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