[RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

Machine Design & CAD – II

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POWER TRANSMISSION SYSTEM
DESIGN PROJECT

Power Transmission System Design Project:

Rack & Pinion Gear Design

Supervisor:

Respected Sir, Prof. Dr. Abdul Hameed Memon

Sahab

GROUP MEMBERS:

Khalil Raza Bhatti 07ME40

Waqas Ali Tunio 07ME34
Ayaz Ali Soomro 07ME31
Waqar Ahmed Bhutto 07ME36
Muhammad Farooque Pirzado 07ME56
Zain-ul-Abideen Qureshi 07ME57

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Quaid-e-Awam University

of Engineering, Science & Technology, Nawabshah, Pakistan

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System

Design Project
 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

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Contents Page

1 Introduction 3
2 Problem Definition 4
3 Project Objectives 4
4 Design Methodology 5
5 Problem Solution Alternatives 20
6 Working Drawing 21
7 Conclusion 22

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System

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 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

Introduction:
Rack and Pinion Gear:
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A rack and pinion gears system is composed of two gears. The normal round
gear is the pinion gear and the straight or flat gear is the rack. The rack has
teeth cut into it and they mesh with the teeth of the pinion gear.

Basic Mechanism
Rack and pinion gears provide a
greater feedback and steering
sensation.
A rack and pinion gear gives a positive
motion especially compared to the
friction drive of a wheel in tarmac.
In a rack and pinion railway, a central
rack between the two rails engages
with a pinion on the engine allowing a
train to be pulled up very steep slopes.
A well designed mechanism such as the rack and pinion gears save effort
and time. The rack and pinion is used to convert between rotary and linear
motion. Rack and pinion can convert from rotary to linear of from linear to
rotary. The diameter of the gear determines the speed that the rack moves
as the pinion turns. Rack and pinions are commonly used in the steering
system of cars to convert the rotary motion of the steering wheel to the side
to side motion in the wheels.

Problem Definition/ Statement

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System
Design Project
 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

Determine the various forces, parameters & Specifications to

design the Rack and Pinion Gear mechanism and incorporate
those forces to develop a Railway Crossing Sliding Gate.

Need is to develop a system for closing and opening of railway

Page | 4 crossing gate with rack and pinion mechanism.

In order to design that we will have to assume some data as

shown:

• Gate is to slide on a rail by rail and wheel mechanism.

• Sliding path is frictionless.

• Two rack and pinion gears are used to slide gate on rail as load
will uniformly be distributed mounted on its ends.

Project Objectives
• Understand rack and pinion gear mechanism.

• Develop a direct design method for gear design in an efficient way.

• Come up with an innovative solution for building that design as a

standard one.

• Determine the various forces that are meshed within gears.

• In context of all the gear parameters referring to right selection of

material for rack and as well as for pinion.

Design Methodology
Designing Rack and Pinion
Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System
Design Project
 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

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Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System

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Spur Gear Design and Selection

Objectives

• Calculate forces on teeth of spur gears, including impact forces associated with
velocity and clearances.
• Determine allowable force on gear teeth, including the factors necessary due to angle
of involute of tooth shape and materials selected for gears.
• Design actual gear systems, including specifying materials, manufacturing accuracy,
and other factors necessary for complete spur gear design.
• Understand and determine necessary surface hardness of gears to minimize or
prevent surface wear.
• Understand how lubrication can cushion the impact on gearing systems and cool
them.
• Select standard gears available from stocking manufacturers or distributors.

Design Requirements

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 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

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Preliminary Design
For spur gear design, pinion and rack both have straight teeth or spur geometry of
teeth. So for we will first consider the design of pinion as spur gear.
Design Process
To select gears from a stock gear catalogue or do a first approximation for a gear
design select the gear material and obtain a safe working stress e.g Yield stress /
Factor of Safety. /Safe fatigue stress

• Determine the input speed, output speed, ratio, torque to be transmitted

• Select materials for the gears (pinion is more highly loaded than gear)
• Determine safe working stresses (uts /factor of safety or yield stress/factor of
safety or Fatigue strength / Factor of safety )
• Determine Allowable endurance Stress Se
• Select a module value and determine the resulting geometry of the gear
• Use the lewis formula and the endurance formula to establish the resulting face
width
• If the gear proportions are reasonable then - proceed to more detailed
evaluations
• If the resulting face width is excessive - change the module or material or both
and start again

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The gear face width should be selected in the range 9-15 x module or for straight spur
gears-up to 60% of the pinion diameter

Specifications for standard Gear Teeth

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Standards
• AGMA 2001-C95 or AGMA-2101-C95 Fundamental Rating factors and Calculation
Methods for involute Spur Gear and Helical Gear Teeth
• BS 436-4:1996, ISO 1328-1:1995..Spur and helical gears. Definitions and allowable
values of deviations relevant to corresponding flanks of gear teeth
• BS 436-5:1997, ISO 1328-2:1997..Spur and helical gears. Definitions and allowable
values of deviations relevant to radial composite deviations and runout information
• BS ISO 6336-1:1996 ..Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears. Basic
principles, introduction and general influence factors
• BS ISO 6336-2:1996..Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears. Calculation
of surface durability (pitting)
• BS ISO 6336-3:1996..Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears. Calculation
of tooth bending strength

• BS ISO 6336-5:2003..Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears. Strength

and quality of materials

If it is necessary to design a gearbox from scratch the design process in selecting the gear
size is not complicated - the various design formulea have all been developed over time and
are available in the relevant standards. However significant effort, judgement and expertise
is required in designing the whole system including the gears, shafts , bearings, gearbox,
lubrication. For the same duty many different gear options are available for the type of
gear , the materials and the quality. It is always preferable to procure gearboxes from
specialised gearbox manufacturers

Spur Gear Design

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The spur gear is is simplest type of gear manufactured and is generally used for
transmission of rotary motion between parallel shafts. The spur gear is the first
choice option for gears except when high speeds, loads, and ratios direct towards
other options. Other gear types may also be preferred to provide more silent low-
vibration operation. A single spur gear is generally selected to have a ratio range of
Page | 9 between 1:1 and 1:6 with a pitch line velocity up to 25 m/s. The spur gear has an
operating efficiency of 98-99%. The pinion is made from a harder material than the
wheel. A gear pair should be selected to have the highest number of teeth
consistent with a suitable safety margin in strength and wear. The minimum
number of teeth on a gear with a normal pressure angle of 20 desgrees is 18.

The preferred number of teeth are as follows

12 13 14 15 16 18 20 22 24 25 28 30 32 34 38
40 45 50 54 60
64 70 72 75 80 84 90 96 100 120 140 150 180
200 220 250

Materials used for gears

Mild steel is a poor material for gears as it has poor resistance to surface
loading. The carbon content for unhardened gears is generally 0.4%(min)
with 0.55%(min) carbon for the pinions. Dissimilar materials should be used
for the meshing gears - this particularly applies to alloy steels. Alloy steels
have superior fatigue properties compared to carbon steels for comparable
strengths. For extremely high gear loading case hardened steels are used
the surface hardening method employed should be such to provide sufficient
case depth for the final grinding process used.

Material Notes applications

Ferrous metals
Cast Iron Low Cost Large moderate
easy to power, commercial
machine with gears
high damping
Cast Steels Low cost, Power gears with
reasonable medium rating to
strength commercial quality
Plain-Carbon Steels Good Power gears with
machining, medium rating to
can be heat commercial/medium
treated quality
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Alloy Steels Heat Highest power

Treatable to requirement. For
provide precision and high
highest precisiont
strength and
Page | 10 durability
Stainless Steels (Aust) Good Corrosion
corrosion resistance with low
resistance. power ratings. Up to
Non- precision quality
magnetic
Stainless Steels (Mart) Hardenable, Low to medium
Reasonable power ratings Up to
corrosion high precision
resistance, levels of quality
magnetic
Non-Ferrous metals
Aluminium alloys Light weight, Light duty
non-corrosive instrument gears up
and good to high precision
machinability quality
Brass alloys Low cost, low cost
non- commercial quality
corrosive, gears. Quality up to
excellent medium precision
machinability
Bronze alloys Excellent For use with steel
machinability, power gears.
low friction Quality up to high
and good precision
compatability
with steel
Magnesium alloys Light weight Ligh weight low
with poor load gears. Quality
corrosion up to medium
resistance precision
Nickel alloys Low Special gears for
coefficient of thermal applications
thermal to commercial
expansion. quality
Poor
machinability
Titanium alloys High Special light weight
strength, for high strength gears
low weight, to medium precision
good
corrosion
resistance
Di-cast alloys Low cost with High production,
low precision low quality gears to
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and strength commercial quality

Sintered powder alloys Low cost, low High production,
quality, low quality to
moderate moderate
strength commercial quality
Page | 11 Non metals
Acetal (Delrin Wear Long life , low load
resistant, low bearings to
water commercial quality
absorbtion
Phenolic laminates Low cost, low High production,
quality, low quality to
moderate moderate
strength commercial quality
Nylons No Long life at low
lubrication, loads to commercial
no lubricant, quality
absorbs
water
PTFE Low friction Special low friction
and no gears to
lubrication commercial quality

Module (m)

The module is the ratio of the pitch diameter to the number of

teeth. The unit of the module is milli-metres.Below is a diagram
showing the relative size of teeth machined in a rack with
module ranging from module values of 0,5 mm to 6 mm

The preferred module values are

0,5 0,8 1 1,25 1,5 2,5 3 4 5

6 8 10 12 16 20 25 32 40
50

Forces on Spur Gear Teeth

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Ft = Transmitted force
Fn = Normal force.
Fr = Resultant force
Page | 12
θ = pressure angle
Fn = Ft tan θ
Fr = Ft/Cos θ

Surface Speed

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Forces on Gear Tooth

Forces acting on individual gear tooth.

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Strength of Gear Teeth

Lewis form factor method
Lewis equation
• Fs = Allowable dynamic bending force (lb)
• Sn = Allowable stress. Use endurance limit
and account for the fillet as the stress
concentration factor
• b = Face width (in.)
• Y = Lewis form factor (From Table)
• Pd = Diametral pitch

Lewis form factors (Y)

Table of lewis form factors for different tooth forms and pressure angles

No Load Near Tip of Teeth Load at Near Middle of

Teeth Teeth
14 1/2 deg 20 deg FD 20 deg Stub 25 deg 14 1/2 deg 20 deg FD
Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y Y y
10 0,17 0,05 0,20 0,06 0,26 0,08 0,23 0,07
6 6 1 4 1 3 8 6
11 0,19 0,06 0,22 0,07 0,28 0,09 0,25 0,08
2 1 6 2 9 2 9 2
12 0,21 0,06 0,24 0,07 0,31 0,09 0,27 0,08 0,35 0,11 0,41 0,13
7 5 8 1 9 7 8 5 3 5 2
13 0,22 0,07 0,26 0,08 0,32 0,10 0,29 0,09 0,37 0,12 0,44 0,14
3 1 4 4 4 3 3 3 7 3 1
14 0,23 0,07 0,27 0,08 0,33 0,10 0,30 0,09 0,39 0,12 0,46 0,14
6 5 6 8 9 8 7 8 9 7 8 9
15 0,24 0,07 0,28 0,09 0,34 0,11 0,32 0,10 0,41 0,13 0,49 0,15
5 8 9 2 9 1 2 5 2 6
16 0,25 0,08 0,29 0,09 0,36 0,11 0,33 0,10 0,43 0,13 0,50 0,16
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5 1 5 4 5 2 6 7 3
17 0,26 0,08 0,30 0,09 0,36 0,11 0,34 0,10 0,44 0,14 0,51 0,16
4 4 2 6 8 7 2 9 6 2 2 3
18 0,27 0,08 0,30 0,09 0,37 0,12 0,35 0,11 0,45 0,14 0,52 0,16
6 8 8 7 2 2 9 6 2 6
Page | 14 19 0,27 0,08 0,31 0,1 0,38 0,12 0,36 0,11 0,47 0,15 0,53 0,17
7 8 4 6 3 1 5 1 4
20 0,28 0,09 0,32 0,10 0,39 0,12 0,36 0,11 0,48 0,15 0,54 0,17
3 2 3 5 9 7 1 3 4 3
21 0,28 0,09 0,32 0,10 0,39 0,12 0,37 0,12 0,49 0,15 0,55 0,17
9 2 6 4 9 7 7 6 3 6
22 0,29 0,09 0,33 0,10 0,40 0,12 0,38 0,12 0,49 0,15 0,55 0,17
2 3 5 4 9 4 2 6 8 9 8
23 0,29 0,09 0,33 0,10 0,40 0,13 0,39 0,12 0,50 0,16 0,56 0,18
6 4 3 6 8 0 4 2 5
24 0,30 0,09 0,33 0,10 0,41 0,13 0,39 0,12 0,50 0,16 0,57 0,18
2 6 7 7 1 1 6 6 9 2 2 2
25 0,30 0,09 0,34 0,10 0,41 0,13 0,40 0,12 0,51 0,16 0,58 0,18
5 7 8 6 2 2 8 5 4 5
26 0,30 0,09 0,34 0,10 0,42 0,13 0,40 0,13 0,52 0,16 0,58 0,18
8 8 4 9 1 4 7 2 6 4 6
27 0,31 0,09 0,34 0,11 0,42 0,13 0,41 0,13 0,52 0,16 0,58 0,18
1 9 8 1 6 6 2 1 8 8 8 7
28 0,31 0,1 0,35 0,11 0,43 0,13 0,41 0,13 0,53 0,17 0,59 0,18
4 2 2 7 7 3 4 2 8
29 0,31 0,10 0,35 0,11 0,43 0,13 0,42 0,13 0,53 0,17 0,59 0,19
6 1 5 3 4 8 1 4 7 1 9 1
30 0,31 0,10 0,35 0,11 0,43 0,13 0,42 0,13 0,54 0,17 0,60 0,19
8 1 8 4 7 9 5 5 2 6 3
31 0,32 0,10 0,36 0,11 0,44 0,14 0,42 0,13 0,55 0,17 0,61 0,19
1 1 5 9 7 4 6 1 4
32 0,32 0,10 0,36 0,11 0,44 0,14 0,43 0,13 0,54 0,17 0,61 0,19
2 1 4 6 3 1 3 8 7 4 7 6
33 0,32 0,10 0,36 0,11 0,44 0,14 0,43 0,13 0,55 0,17 0,62 0,19
4 3 7 7 5 2 6 9 5 3 8
34 0,32 0,10 0,37 0,11 0,44 0,14 0,44 0,14 0,55 0,17 0,62 0,2
6 4 1 8 7 2 3 6 8
35 0,32 0,10 0,37 0,11 0,44 0,14 0,44 0,14 0,55 0,17 0,63 0,20
7 4 3 9 9 3 3 1 6 7 3 1
36 0,32 0,10 0,37 0,12 0,45 0,14 0,44 0,14 0,55 0,17 0,63 0,20
9 5 7 1 4 6 2 9 8 9 3
37 0,33 0,10 0,38 0,12 0,45 0,14 0,44 0,14 0,56 0,17 0,64 0,20
5 1 4 5 9 3 3 9 5 5
38 0,33 0,10 0,38 0,12 0,45 0,14 0,45 0,14 0,56 0,18 0,65 0,20
3 6 4 2 5 5 2 4 5 7
39 0,33 0,10 0,38 0,12 0,45 0,14 0,45 0,14 0,56 0,18 0,65 0,20
5 7 6 3 7 5 4 5 8 1 5 8
40 0,33 0,10 0,38 0,12 0,45 0,14 0,45 0,14 0,57 0,18 0,65 0,21
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6 7 9 4 9 6 7 5 1 9
43 0,33 0,10 0,39 0,12 0,46 0,14 0,46 0,14 0,57 0,18 0,66 0,21
9 8 7 6 7 9 4 8 4 3 8 3
45 0,34 0,10 0,39 0,12 0,46 0,14 0,46 0,14 0,57 0,18 0,67 0,21
8 9 7 8 9 8 9 9 4 8 6
Page | 15 50 0,34 0,11 0,40 0,13 0,47 0,15 0,47 0,15 0,58 0,18 0,69 0,22
6 8 4 1 7 2 8 7 4 1
55 0,35 0,11 0,41 0,13 0,48 0,15 0,48 0,15 0,59 0,19 0,70 0,22
2 2 5 2 3 4 4 6 4 4
60 0,35 0,11 0,42 0,13 0,48 0,15 0,49 0,15 0,60 0,19 0,71 0,22
5 3 1 4 4 4 1 6 3 2 3 7
65 0,35 0,11 0,42 0,13 0,48 0,15 0,49 0,15 0,60 0,19 0,72 0,23
8 4 5 5 8 5 6 8 7 3 1
70 0,36 0,11 0,42 0,13 0,49 0,15 0,50 0,15 0,61 0,19 0,72 0,23
5 9 7 3 7 1 9 4 8 2
75 0,36 0,11 0,43 0,13 0,49 0,15 0,50 0,16 0,61 0,19 0,73 0,23
1 5 3 8 6 8 6 1 3 5 5 4
80 0,36 0,11 0,43 0,13 0,49 0,15 0,50 0,16 0,61 0,19 0,73 0,23
3 6 6 9 9 9 9 2 5 6 9 5
90 0,36 0,11 0,44 0,14 0,50 0,16 0,51 0,16 0,61 0,19 0,74 0,23
6 7 2 1 3 6 4 9 7 7 8
100 0,36 0,11 0,44 0,14 0,50 0,16 0,52 0,16 0,62 0,19 0,75 0,24
8 7 6 2 6 1 1 6 2 8 5
150 0,37 0,11 0,45 0,14 0,51 0,16 0,53 0,17 0,63 0,20 0,77 0,24
5 9 8 6 8 5 7 1 5 2 8 8
200 0,37 0,12 0,46 0,14 0,52 0,16 0,54 0,17 0,64 0,20 0,78 0,25
8 3 7 4 7 5 3 4 7 1
300 0,38 0,12 0,47 0,15 0,53 0,17 0,55 0,17 0,65 0,20 0,80 0,25
2 1 4 4 6 7 1 5
Rac 0,39 0,12 0,48 0,15 0,55 0,17 0,56 0,18 0,66 0,21 0,82 0,26
k 4 4 4 5 6 3 2
Classes of Gears

• Transmitted load depends on the accuracy of the gears

• Gear Manufacture
– Casting
– Machining
• Forming
• Hobbing
• Shaping and Planing

Force Transmitted

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Transmitted load
depends on the accuracy
of the gears.
A dynamic load factor is
added to take care of
this.
• Ft = Transmitted force
• Fd = Dynamic force
• Commercial

Classes of Gears

• Carefully cut

• Precision

• Hobbed or shaved

Expected Error in Tooth Profiles

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Design Methods

• Strength of gear tooth should be greater than the dynamic

force; Fs ≥ Fd
• You should also include the factor of safety, Nsf.

Service Factors

Face width of Gears

Relation between the width of gears and the diametral

pitch.

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Dynamic Beam Strength of the Gear

Page | 18
To increase the dynamic beam strength of the gear
– Increase tooth size by decreasing the diametral pitch
– Increase face width upto the pitch diameter of the pinion
– Select material of greater endurance limit
– Machine tooth profiles more precisely
– Mount gears more precisely
– Use proper lubricant and reduce contamination

Buckingham Method of Gear Design

• It offers greater flexibility.
• Expected error is based on different-pitch teeth.
• More conservative design.

Wear strength (Buckingham)

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• Fw = tooth wear strength.

• Dp = diametral pitch of pinion.
• Dg = diametral pitch of gear.
Page | 19
• b = face width.
• Kg = load stress factor.

Rack and Spur Gear Calculation

The following table presents the method for calculating

the mesh of a rack and spur gear.

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Table presents the calculation of a meshed profile shifted spur

gear and rack. If the correction factor x1 is 0, then it is the case
of a standard gear meshed with the rack.

Page | 20
The rack displacement, l, is not changed in any way by the profile
shifting. Equation remains applicable for any amount of profile
shift.

Problem Solution Alternatives

Our basic purpose of the project is to slide the railway
crossing gate by a mechanism that is much mechanical
convenient to translate that load uniformly. So for we
have been able to do that by using rack and pinion gear
mechanism. Since the rack and pinion gear transmit the
rotary power into linear and linear into rotary one that is
the reason that we have incorporated the pinion and rack
gear mechanism for opening and closing of the railway
crossing gate.

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Page | 21

Working Drawing
This shows the pitch
circle of a standard
gear and the pitch line
of the rack.
One rotation of the
spur gear will displace
the rack l one
circumferential length
of the gear's pitch
circle, per the formula:
l = πmz

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This shows a profile shifted spur gear, with positive

Page | 22 correction xm, meshed with a rack. The spur gear has a
larger pitch radius than standard, by the amount xm.
Also, the pitch line of the rack has shifted outward by the
amount xm.

Conclusion
We the whole group involved in it can conclude the whole
project as a thought processing one. First of all as an
engineering student we wanted to design such a thing
that has not been commonly considered before. So for
this reason we wanted the railway crossing gate to be
opened and closed by some electric motor power. But in
order to do that we required a mechanism that could be
used in it and it could work efficiently. In search of those
parameters regarding the power transmission devices
that could work feasible in this manner we found the one
mechanism that has been discussed in detail above that
is rack and pinion gear which is used to transmit power
linear to rotary and vice versa. To make this project much
practical we went to railway station to sort out all sorts of
elements that are covered in driving the railway gate
horizontally out and in. Meanwhile we got know how
about the safe design of the gears and examined that
steps that are taken in the real design of any machine
element.

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It has been a practical approach designing a railway gate

on rack and pinion gear. Moreover It has nice task to
carry out and we the whole group learnt a lot of things
Page | 23 regarding Machine Design.

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