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 1450 rpm drives a pinion with 25 teeth and a module of 2 mm. Find the tangential force Ft on the pinion teeth.
An open belt connects an 80 mm pulley and a 450 mm pulley whose centres are 1000 mm apart. Find the angle of wrap θ on the smaller pulley, in degrees.
A stepped solid brass shaft is fixed at A. Segment AB has diameter 50 mm and length 1.2 m; segment BC has diameter 25 mm and length 0.8 m. A torque of 100 N·m acts at the free end C. Find the angle of twist φC of end C, in degrees.
A solid brass shaft of diameter 60 mm is fixed at A. A torque of 1500 N·m acts at B, 1 m from A, and a torque of 100 N·m in the same direction acts at the free end C, a further 1.5 m along. Find the magnitude of the angle of twist φC of end C, in degrees.
A point in a loaded part has σₓ = 80 MPa, σᵧ = −40 MPa and τₓᵧ = 60 MPa (tension positive). Find the maximum in-plane shear stress τmax.
A point in a loaded part has σₓ = 20 MPa, σᵧ = −70 MPa and τₓᵧ = 10 MPa (tension positive). Find the shear stress τθ on a plane whose normal is rotated 30° clockwise from the x-axis (positive in the same sense as τₓᵧ).
Find the elongation δ of the aluminium bar under the axial load.
A steel rod (diameter 30 mm, E = 200 GPa, allowable stress 200 MPa) sits inside a tube made of aluminium (outer diameter 80 mm, inner diameter 60 mm, E = 70 GPa, allowable stress 80 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 solid round column of length L made of steel is pinned at both ends. It must carry 95 kN with a factor of safety of 3 against buckling. Find the smallest diameter d.
A 20 kg mass is supported by a spring with a stiffness of 15 kN/m and a viscous damper with a damping coefficient of 220 N·s/m. Find the damping ratio ζ.
A 40 kg mass hangs from spring k₃ = 15 kN/m. The top of k₃ is attached to a rigid bar that hangs from two springs side by side, k₁ = 40 kN/m and k₂ = 40 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: Ft = 1449 N
Gear geometry: the module m sets the tooth size. A gear with N teeth has a pitch diameter d = m·N, two meshing gears have the same module, and their centre distance is a = (d₁ + d₂)/2 = m·(N₁ + N₂)/2. The pitch-line speed is v = π·d·n/60, and the tangential tooth force follows from the torque: Ft = 2T/d.
Answer: θ = 158.7 °
Belt drives: without slip, both pulleys have the same rim speed v = π·d·n/60, so n₁·d₁ = n₂·d₂ and the speed ratio is d₂/d₁. Slip s makes the driven pulley a little slower: n₂ = n₁·(d₁/d₂)·(1 − s). The power transmitted is P = (T₁ − T₂)·v, with T₁ the tension on the tight side and T₂ on the slack side. Friction limits the ratio of the tensions: T₁/T₂ = eμθ, where θ is the angle of wrap in radians on the smaller pulley; for an open belt θ = π − 2·asin((d₂ − d₁)/(2C)) with centre distance C.
Answer: φC = 3.352 °
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 = 2.021 °
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.
Answer: τmax = 84.85 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: τθ = 43.97 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 = 1.776 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 aluminium = 70 GPa = 70000 MPa.
Answer: Pmax = 295.3 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 = 68.75 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: d = 50.72 mm
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.
Check: the slenderness KL/r is 118.3, so the column is slender and Euler applies.
Answer: ζ = 0.2008
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.
ζ < 1, so the system is underdamped and oscillates as it decays.
Answer: fn = 2.828 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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