[RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

Machine Design & CAD - II POWER

TRANSMISSION SYSTEM DESIGN
Page | 1
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

Page | 2

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 Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

Introduction:
Rack and Pinion Gear:
Page | 3
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.

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

Problem Definition/ Statement

Page | 4
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

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.

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

Design Methodology
Page | 5
Designing Rack and Pinion

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

Spur Gear Design and Selection

Objectives

Page | 6 • 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

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

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.
Page | 7 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

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

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

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
Page | 8 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

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
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

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

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
Page | 9 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
Alloy Steels Heat Highest power
Treatable to requirement. For
provide precision and high
highest precisiont
strength and
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
Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project
 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

machinability
Bronze alloys Excellent For use with steel
machinability, power gears.
low friction Quality up to high
and good precision
Page | 10 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
and strength commercial quality
Sintered powder alloys Low cost, low High production,
quality, low quality to
moderate moderate
strength commercial quality
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)
Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project
 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

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

Page | 11

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

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

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

Page | 12

Surface Speed

Forces on Gear Tooth

Forces acting on individual gear tooth.

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

Strength of Gear Teeth

Lewis form factor method
Lewis equation
 Fs = Allowable dynamic bending force
Page | 13 (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
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
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
Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project
 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

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
Page | 14 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
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
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

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

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
Page | 15 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

Transmitted load depends on the accuracy of the gears.

A dynamic load factor is added to take care of this.
Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project
 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

• Ft = Transmitted force
• Fd = Dynamic force
• Commercial

Page | 16
Classes of Gears

 Carefully cut

 Precision

 Hobbed or shaved

Expected Error in Tooth

Profiles

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

Design Methods
Page | 17
• 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.

Dynamic Beam Strength of the Gear

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

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
Page | 18
– 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)

 Fw = tooth wear strength.

 Dp = diametral pitch of pinion.

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

 Dg = diametral pitch of gear.

 b = face width.
 Kg = load stress factor.
Page | 19

Rack and Spur Gear Calculation

The following table presents the method for calculating the mesh of a
rack and spur gear.

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.

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

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

Page | 20

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.

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

Working Drawing
Page | 21
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

This shows a profile shifted spur

gear, with positive 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.

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project

 [RACK & PINION GEAR DESIGN] May 1, 2010

Conclusion
Page | 22
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.

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 regarding Machine Design.

Machine Design & CAD - II | Power Transmission System Design Project