M-SIXTH CONFERENCE

UGAR
Y

A . Goninan & Co.

relative radius of curvature thus increasing the zone factor and h.p.
capacity.

1969

THIRTY-SIXTH CONFERENCE

Fig. I-Tooth

forms for different blank diameters.

Taking a typical low speed arrangement on a sugar mill, as shown

in Figure 2, the reduction from 81 rev/min to 25 revlmin was double
helical while the final reduction from 25 revlmin to 5.5 rev/min was
achieved with spur gears. Both reductions had a wear capacity of over
800 h.p. by B.S. standards on a 24 hours per day basis with a 1.1 service
factor, while their capacity calculated by A.G.M.A. standards with their
appropriate factors was only 600 h.p. approximately. In all cases the
gears were through hardened and so the strength capacity was so high
that it could be neglected. It must be admitted that the A.G.M.A.
standards used were the general ratine ones rather than the ones going
deeper into tooth forms, but it does indicate that, in the case of large
slow speed gears, A.G.M.A. are more conservative than B.S. standards.
This is quite the reverse to small high speed gears. The drive in the particular case considered was 750 h.p.
Professor Tuplin in his book "Gear Design" (Tuplin 1961) puts
forward an alternative to the B.S. standards in the appendix. By this
method the gears have a wear capacity of 584 h.p. which again is more
conservative than B.S. standards.
If B.S. standards are in fact too optimistic then there must be a
reason why so many gears have performed satisfactorily after being
designed to this standard. One reason could be that the designers have
played safe and designed for higher horsepower anyway. Furthermore,
the customers could have called for the motor or turbine horsepower as
the capacity required in the gears while in their early life the gears have
only had to transmit a much reduced horsepower, thus allowing "bedding
in" under ideal conditions. It is generally accepted that "running in" of
the gears under reduced load gradually increased to maximum is very
beneficial. This removes the tool marks without creating pitting, so that
a polished surface is presented to give full face contact when maximum
load is to be transmitted. Work hardening also takes place thus improving the position further. If the gears designed to B.S. standards have
been accurately cut with a good finish on the teeth this gives another
reason for them withstanding the duty.
In base horsepower for 12 hours per day uniform load the A.G.M.A.
capacity, for the gears in the example, would be 600 X 1.75 = 1050 h.p.
while the B.S. capacity would be 800 X 1.1 X 1.25 = l 100 h.p. It can be
seen that the difference is negligible and therefore the bi differences
occur in the choice of service factors. As the 1.25 factor or 24 hours
rating is the same in both standards, the A.G.M.A. standards must be
applying an application factor of 1.4 (i.e. 1.75 s 1.25) as against the 1.1
factor usually applied to the B.S. standards. It is noteworthy that in

1 969

THIRTY-SIXTH CONFERENCE

.A. application factor is a built in factor of safety which

can vary from 0.80 to 1.25 or even higher. The 0.80 factor is not recommended as this is listed for a ratio of fewer than one failure in three and
a warning is added that at this value plastic profile deformation might
occur. A factor of 1 is considered to give fewer than one in one hundred
failures, while a factor of 1.25 or more is regarded as suitable for "high
reliability" gears. It is pointed out that failure does not mean immediate
failure under the load but a shortening of the life. It seems reasonable to
assume that the 1.25 factor is "built in" to the 1.4 factor stated above
which means that the factor for shock 1
s 1 . l 2 (i.e. 1.4 t 1.25)
. standards. The differwhich is very close to the
. standards believe it is
ence, therefore, seems to
by B.S. standards, to
worth while applying the
obtain a far higher reliability ratio than one failure in a hundred.
Further checks were made, on the final drive spur gears, to find the
effect of correction and
gle variation. These gears had the
ich the relative radius of
correction prescribed by
curvature was calculate
that for an uncorrected
gear. It was found that the correcti
ed the relative radius of
curvature by 11 per cent and thus the wear horsepower capacity. It was
also found that a further 11 p cent increase in wear horsepower
capacity could be obtained W
uncorrected 25" pressure angle.
here is a limit to how much correction or how large a
e a set of gears can have, an the limit is the thickness at

1 80

THIRTY-SIXTH CONFERENCE

1969

the top of the teeth on the pinion. This is presumably why B.S. standards
felt that a 20" pressure angle was the best compromise and of course it
would be out of the question for a manufacturer to stock a variety of
different pressure angle cutters. However, the involute form is very
flexible and it is quite practical to cut gears with a 20" pressure angle
cutter to roll at pressure angles in excess of 20". This is achieved by
positive correction on both pinion and wheel.
With the tendency to require more h.p. capacity in limited space,
all methods of obtaining mammum capaci gears must be investigated.
The comments above are just a few metho S. Gear hardness, of course,
is another important factor. In the past most gears were probably
35 ton/in2 wheels and 45 ton/in2 pinions. This was very convenient as
ordinary carbon steels could be used without getting too big in wheel
size. However, as horsepowers increase so do the wheels, making them
much more expensive to manufacture, unless harder materials are used.
Harder materials make the gears more expensive but they also cut down
the size. It is therefore necessary to consider whether extra space is
available and at what cost and then compare the economics of the
smaller, harder gears against the bigger, softer gears.
It is usually found difficult to cut cast steel gears over 45 ton/in2 but
forged alloy steels can be cut at much higher hardnesses. The gears
mentioned before had a final gear wheel of 38 ton/in2, cast steel, while
its mating pinion was a plain carbon steel forging of 45 ton/in2. The
other train had a plain carbon steel pinion heat-treated to 50 ton/inZl
meshing with a fabricated wheel having a plain carbon rim of 40 ton/in
welded to side plates, boss, etc. all in mild steel.
It has been found that cutting has been made easier when the
material is at 45-50 ton/in2 by using a carbon-manganese steel rim and
this is also quite convenient for welding to mild steel. The pinion is
usually 55 ton/in2 when meshing with the carbon-manganese rim, and
C.S.C. 05 (S.A.E. 4140 or EN.19), a chrome molybdenum steel, has been
found the easiest for machinin . Very good results have been achieved
with this combination. Farrels of the U.S.A. could obtain forged rims
up to 12 foot diameter quite economically, but in the normal hardnesses
they found that quite a number of gears had to be over 12 foot diameter
at which point the rice of the rim forgings shot up quite out of proportion. They founcf after thorough investigation of the economics, that
in spite of the reduced cutter life, it was quite economical to cut 65-70
ton/in2 wheels and 75-80 ton/in2 pinions, as long as the right materials
were chosen. It is more difficult to hold a good finish on the teeth,
therefore lapping or running in under load is advisable.
It has been found in Australia with fabricated gears, that it is usually
cheaper to roll plates to produce two halves of the rim and weld them
together. It is now uite practical in Australia to produce pinions of
75-80 tons per sq in ardness and fabricated wheels with rims of 65-70
tons per sq in hardness. In these wheels alloy steel rims are used with
mild steel hubs and side plates. Spacer tubes connect the side plates. The
choice of material for the rim is all important. It must be a material with
good machinability at high hardness but it must also be suitable for
welding to mild steel. Care must be taken with the pre-heating for welding
and stress relieving must be carried out at temperature below the rim
tempering temperature to avoid destroying the hardness.
Of course, there are alternatives in the form of hardening after
cutting. Flame hardening can produce the necessary hardness with
negligible distortion but it is questionable whether it is as reliable as

1 969

THIRTY-SIXTH CONF

181

through hardening. Furthermore it decreases the strength of the basic

matenal by causing stress concentrations at the root of the teeth while
increasing the durability. This does not ap ar advisable for the type of
loading experienced on sugar mills.
Conclusion
Summing up it can be stated, that in spite of a degree of ignorance
in gear design (continual research is being carried out in different
countries) improvements in capacity can obtained if special attention
is paid to the amount of correction and t pressure angle, the main aim
being to get the teeth away from the base line and improve the relative
radius of curvature.
The main difference between A.G.M.A. and B.S. standards (for
ors. This means basically that
sugar mill gears) is the 1.25 reliability
the purchaser has to decide whether he
ing to take a small calculated
risk or pay extra to obtain larger gears to increase substantially their
reliability. Of course, this can be avoided if the opportunity is available
to run in the gears at reduced loads.
REFERENCES
Tuplin, W. A., (1961), Gear Design. The Machinery Publishing Co. Ltd., 34-37.