How Many Types of Gear System We Learn in Mechanical Engineering

 

Types of gear system learn in mechanical engineering

A gearbox, also known as a gear drive, has three main functions: to increase torque from the driving equipment (motor) to the driven equipment, to reduce the speed generated by the motor, and/or to change the direction of the rotating shafts. The connection of this equipment to the gearbox can be accomplished by the students of best engineering college in Jaipur using couplings, belts, chains, or hollow shaft connections. Speed and torque are inversely and proportionately related when power is held constant. Therefore, as speed decreases, torque increases at the same ratio.

The heart of a gear drive is the gears within it. Gears operate in pairs, engaging one another to transmit power. Read on to learn the different types of gear and the applications and industries that utilizes them.

Based on the design characteristics, there are several different types of gears available. Some of the more common types of gears employed throughout industry includes the following:

Spur Gears

The most common type of gears employed, spur gears are constructed with straight teeth cut or inserted parallel to the gear’s shaft on a circular (i.e., cylindrical) gear body. In mated pairs, these gears employ the parallel axes configuration to transmit motion and power. Depending on the application, they can be mated with another spur gear, an internal gear (such as in a planetary gear system), or a gear rack (such as in a rack and pinion gear pair).

This type of gear is used for a wide range of speed ratios in a variety of mechanical applications, such as clocks, pumps, watering systems, power plant machinery, material handling equipment, and clothes washing and drying machines. If necessary for an application, multiple (i.e., more than two) spur gears can be used in a gear train to provide higher gear reduction.

Helical Gears

Similar to spur gears, helical gears typically employ the parallel axes configuration with mated gear pairs, but, if aligned properly, they can also be used to drive non-parallel, non-intersecting shafts. However, unlike spur gears, these gears are constructed with teeth which twist around the cylindrical gear body at an angle to the gear face. Helical gears are produced by the experts of top engineering college in Jaipur with right-hand and left-hand angled teeth with each gear pair comprised of a right-hand and left-hand gear of the same helix angle.

The angled design of helical teeth causes them to engage with other gears differently than the straight teeth of spur gears. As properly matched helical gears come in contact with one another, the level of contact between corresponding teeth increases gradually, rather than engaging the entire tooth at once. This gradual engagement allows for less impact loading on the gear teeth and smoother, quieter operation.

Bevel Gears

Bevel gears are cone-shaped gears with teeth placed along the conical surface. These gears are used to transmit motion and power between intersecting shafts in applications which require changes to the axis of rotation. Typically, bevel gears are employed for shaft configurations placed at 90-degree angles, but configurations with lesser or greater angles are also manageable.

There are several types of bevel gears available differentiated mainly by their tooth design. Some of the more common types of bevel gears include straight, spiral, and Zerol bevel gears.

Worm Gears

Worm gear pairs are comprised of a worm wheel—typically a cylindrical gear—paired with a worm—i.e., a screw-shaped gear. These gears are used to transmit motion and power between non-parallel, non-intersecting shafts. They offer large gear ratios and capabilities to the professionals of engineering colleges Jaipur for substantial speed reduction while maintaining quiet and smooth operation.

One distinction of worm gear pairs is that the worm can turn the worm wheel, but, depending on the angle of the worm, the worm wheel may not be able to turn the worm. This characteristic is employed in equipment requiring self-locking mechanisms. Some of the disadvantages of worm gears are the low transmission efficiency and the amount of friction generated between the worm wheel and worm gear which necessitates continuous lubrication.

Rack and Pinion Gears

Rack and pinion gears are a pair of gears comprised of a gear rack and a cylindrical gear referred to as the pinion. The gear rack can be considered as a gear of infinite radius (i.e., a flat bar) and is constructed with straight teeth cut or inserted on the bar’s surface. Depending on the type of pinion gear with which it is mated, the gear rack’s teeth are either parallel (when mated with spur gears) or angled (when mated with helical gears). For either of these rack designs, rotational motion can be converted into linear motion or linear motion can be converted into rotational motion.

Some of the advantages of a rack and pinion gear pair are the simplicity of the design (and the low cost of manufacturing) and high load carrying capacities. Despite the advantages of this design, gears which employ this approach are also limited by it. Some of the common applications of rack and pinion gear pairs include the steering system of automobiles, transfer systems, and weighing scales.

Conclusion

The topic of gears forms an essential part of mechanics and a lot of questions are asked from this topic in various examinations including engineering exams in higher standards at the list of engineering colleges in Jaipur.

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