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 5.5 kW motor running at 2900 rpm drives a pinion with 72 teeth, which meshes with a gear with 80 teeth. Ignore losses. Find the output torque T2 on the gear shaft.
In a compound gear train, gear A (12 teeth) on the input shaft turning at 960 rpm drives gear B (30 teeth). Gear C (24 teeth) is fixed to the same shaft as B and drives gear D (25 teeth) on the output shaft. Find the output speed nout.
A hollow aluminium shaft (outer diameter 75 mm, inner diameter 38 mm, length 2 m) is fixed at one end and twisted by a torque of 500 N·m at the other. Find the angle of twist φ in degrees.
A solid aluminium shaft of diameter 30 mm is fixed at A. A torque of 250 N·m acts at B, 3 m from A, and a torque of 1000 N·m in the same direction acts at the free end C, a further 1 m along. Find the maximum shear stress τmax in the shaft.
A point in a thin plate is in plane stress: σₓ = −80 MPa, σᵧ = −70 MPa and τₓᵧ = 30 MPa, with σz = 0. Find the absolute maximum shear stress τabs at the point (considering all planes in three dimensions).
A point in a loaded part has σₓ = 50 MPa, σᵧ = 120 MPa and τₓᵧ = 60 MPa (tension positive). Find the normal stress σθ on a plane whose normal is rotated 45° counter-clockwise from the x-axis.
A steel rod (diameter 40 mm, E = 200 GPa) sits inside a tube made of copper (outer diameter 120 mm, inner diameter 60 mm, E = 120 GPa). Both are 800 mm long and are compressed together between rigid plates by 50 kN. Find the shortening δ.
The stepped bar is fixed at the wall and loaded at its free end. Find the largest normal stress σmax in the bar.
A column of length L made of aluminium is pinned at both ends. Using Euler’s formula, find its critical buckling load Pcr.
A column of length L made of steel is pinned at both ends. Find its slenderness and the critical buckling stress σcr from Euler’s formula.
In a free-vibration test of a damped mass–spring system, a displacement peak of 50 mm is followed 4 cycles later by a peak of 30.2 mm. Find the damping ratio ζ.
A 50 kg mass hangs from spring k₃ = 40 kN/m. The top of k₃ is attached to a rigid bar that hangs from two springs side by side, k₁ = 12 kN/m and k₂ = 5 kN/m; the bar stays level. Ignore damping and the masses of the springs and bar. Find the natural frequency fn of vertical vibration in Hz.
Answer: T2 = 20.12 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: nout = 368.6 rpm
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.
total ratio = 2.604 : 1
Answer: φ = 0.7595 °
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: τmax = 235.8 MPa
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.
Sense of TC taken as positive.
The segment with the largest internal torque has the largest stress (same diameter).
Answer: τabs = 52.71 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: σθ = 145 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.
Answer: δ = 0.03152 mm
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: σmax = 95.49 MPa
Axially loaded members: each prismatic segment obeys δ = PL/(AE). For members in series the elongations add.
The free end carries P, so every section of the bar carries the same axial force P. Only the areas and materials change.
The thinner segment has the smaller area, so it carries the larger stress.
Answer: Pcr = 77.72 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 rectangle buckles about its weak axis, using the smaller dimension cubed.
Answer: σcr = 12.34 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: ζ = 0.02006
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: fn = 2.458 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.
Only k1 and k2 are in parallel. That pair is in series with k3, so combine them as reciprocals.
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