Faculty of Engineering

Project 2: Speed Reducer and Shaft Design

A report prepared for
ME 321: Kinematics and Dynamics of Machines

by
Jeet Mehta (20471467)
3A Mechatronics
July 28, 2015

1.0 Introduction

Thefollowingreportwillevaluateproblem1239inRobertMottsMachineElementsin
MechanicalDesign,andwillpresentathoroughanalysisaswellasdesignsolutiontothegiven
problem.

Thequestionessentiallyinvolvesadrivesystem,withaDCmotordrivingaVbelt
sheavedrive,servingaspower/torqueinput.TheVbeltdrivethenfeedsintoaspeedreducer
gearboxsystem(withanoverall6:1ratio),whichinturndrivesaconveyorviaa
sprocketandchaindrive.Thegoaloftheproblemisessentiallytodesignthethreeshaftsinthe
gearreducer(whosepropertiesareobtainedfromproblem1238),aswellasgearpairC/D[1].
Thereishoweverasmallchangeinthequestion,whichisthatinsteadofmatingviaacommon
centralaxis,gearDismovedtotherightby2inches(withrespecttogearC),andthusneedsto
bemovedupacommensuratedistance(calculatedlaterintheanalysissection)inordertomate
perfectlywithgearC.ThiscanbeseenbelowinFigure1(providedwiththedesignproblem).

Figure1:ChangeinGearPositionsforGearsC/D[2]

Thenextsectionpresentsathoroughanalysisofthevariouscalculationsanddesign
parametersinvolvedwithboththeshaftandgeardesigns.

3.0 Analysis: Evaluation of Design

Thissectionwillpresentvariouschallengesanddesignissuesthatwereencountered
duringthedesignoftheshafts,aswellasgearsC/D,andthedesignassumptions/decisions
takeninordertoresolvetheseissues.

3.1

Shaft Design

Thegeneraldesignphilosophythatwasfollowedwhiledesigningtheshaftswasto
minimizetheamountofmaterialused(therebykeepingmanufacturingcostsdown),while
ensuringthatshaftwassafeandreliableforindustrialuse.Therewasalsoageneralpatternas
tohowvariouspowertransmissioncomponents(likesheaves,gears,chaindrivesetc)and
bearings,alongwiththeirrelatedlockingcomponentsweredimensionedandspecified.Forthe
gears/sheaves/chaindrives,thiswasdonebymachiningprofilekeyseatsintheshaft(the
keyseatiswhatthecentralkeyofthegearmateswith,therebyallowingatransferoftorquefrom
thegeartotheshaftandallowingthemtorotatetogether).Inordertoensurethatthe
componentisalsolockedinfromitssides(therebypreventingsliding),anincreaseindiameter
(onthesideofthegearclosertothecenteroftheshaft)actsasashoulder(whichthegearis
flushincontactwith)isutilized.Ontheotherside,agrooveismachinedontotheshaftfora
standardOring,therebylockingthepowertransmissioncomponentinplacefrombothsides.
Similarlyforbearings,thecommondesignstrategywastousechangesindiameter(shoulders)
aswaystokeepthebearinginplace.Forbothbearingsaswellaspowertransmission
components,filletswereutilizedinordertominimizetheeffectofthestressconcentrations(for
bearings,sharpfilletswereused,andwellroundedfilletswereusedinallothercases).The
endsoftheshaftwerechamferedinordertoprovideaconsistentaestheticlook,aswellas
safeguardusersagainstsharpends/edges.

Duringthedesignoftheshafts,itwasnecessarytorememberthemethodofassembly
oftheshaft,andensurethatthediametersanddimensionsactuallyreflectrealisticparts,and
thatifprototyped,theshaftcanberealisticallyassembled.Generally,theissueofassembly
becomesrelevantonthesectionoftheshaftwherethegearistobeplaced,primarilybecause
theshaftdiameterhastobelessthanthatofthegear(ensuringthattherimofthegearis
accountedfor).Thisbecomesanissueprimarilyforshaft1,(theinputshaftofthegearreducer),
sincethegearontheshaft(GearA)hasapitchdiameterof1.8inches.Ifastandardrimfactor
of1wasused,itwasdeterminedthattheminimumdiameterforthatspecificportionoftheshaft
wasaround1inch.Throughnumeroustrialsinthedesignprocess,itwasfoundthatwiththe
materialsavailablefortheshaft,itwasimpossibletokeepthediameteroftheshaftbelowthat
value,andsincegearAwasnottobedesignedasapartoftheproblem,asimplifyingdesign
solutionofarimfactorof2.4wasutilized.Thisrimfactorgivesthethinnestpossiblerimforthe

gear,therebybringingthediameterlimitforthatportionoftheshaftto1.325inches(ratherthan
theprevious1inch).

Tomeetthisconstraint,itwasalsonecessarytouseafairlynonconservativesafety
factorofN=2,whichisjustifiablebecausetheapplicationofthisdesignproblemistodrivea
conveyorbelt(whichisafairlylightshockload,soassumingthattheenvironmentisoperating
understandardconditionswithnorandomloadings,asafetyfactorof2shouldbefine).To
compensateforalowersafetyfactor,thehighestpossiblereliabilityfactorwasalsoutilized
(99.9%reliabilityfactor=0.75)toallowforalongerlifecycle,andgenerallymorestable
operatingconditions.Furthermore,thematerialused(SAE4320DOQT300)isspecifiedtobe
polishedasthisallowsforthehighestpossibleultimatetensilestrengthandcorresponding
endurancelimit(therebyallowingthedesigntomeettheconstraintofthe1.325maximum
diameter).Doubleoilquenchingalsoallowsahigherductility(13%),therebyensuringthatthe
shaftremainsflexibletobeusedindifferentenvironments,andpossiblyevenunderminoraxial
loadingwithoutfailing.Anotherimportantchangewastheuseofasizefactorof0.9,andthis
wasonlydoneforshaft1(theadditionalsizeandresultingendurancestrengthwasnot
necessaryforshafts2and3,thustoreducecostandsavematerial,amoreconservativesize
factorof0.8wasusedforshafts2and3).Thismeansthattheendurancelimitforshaft1was
74.25ksi,whereasforshafts2and3,itwas66ksi.

Theothertwoshafts(shafts2and3)didnotfacesimilarissueswithregardsto
assemblybecausethegeardiametersarefairlylarge(5.4inches,4inchesand8inches),
thereforeevenwithastandardrimfactorofKb=1,thereissufficientroomforthediameterof
theshaftbasedonthedesignresults.Inordertomaintainaconsistentdesign(intermsof
reliability,precisionaswellascost),thesamematerialconditionswereutilizedforallthree
shafts.However,nowthatthedesignprocessiscomplete,apossiblefutureimprovementisto
changethematerialforshafts2and3(ie.notpolishingit,usingalowergradesteeletc)oreven
increasingthesafetyfactorbackto3,allofwhichwouldleadtoadrasticreductionincost(and
sincethelimitforthemaximumdiameterisstillfairlyhigh,theresultingdesignwouldstillbea
validsolution).

3.2

Gear Design

Thegearswerefairlysimpletodesign,primarilybecausemostoftheinitialparameters
(suchasdiameter,numberofteeth,pressureangle)wereallprovided,howevertherewere
someimportantdesigndecisionstaken,whichmustbeevaluated.

Manyofthesedecisionsarebasedonthevariousconstantsusedinthecalculations,
suchasassumingthattheconveyoractsasalightshockmachine,whereasthemotoractsas
auniformsource.Similarly,theconveyorwasalsoassumedtobeageneralindustrial
machine,asitwasassumedthattheconveyorwouldbeusedainastandardloading

condition/environment.Sincetheoveralldrivesystemseemslikeitwouldbeusedinan
industrialorconsumersetting,thegearswereassumedtobecommercialenclosedgearunits.

Tomaintainconsistencyintermsofdesign,itwasalsoimportantthatthereliabilityofthe
shaftmatchesthereliabilityofthegears,thusthegearpairwasdesignedwithareliabilityof
99.9%.Furthermore,intermsofmaterialselection,theresultingcontactstressvalueswereout
ofrangeofthestandardthroughhardenedsteels,socarburizedandcasehardenedsteelswere
neededtoprovidesufficientstrengthforthegears.Acommonsafetyfactorof1wasused,
primarilybecauseitwasassumedthatmanyoftheuncertaintiesassociatedwithloading,
materialetc.areallaccountedforinthevariousotherconstants.

4.0 Conclusion

Havinggonethroughtheentiredesignprocessforthisproblem,asummaryofthe
recommendedsolutionisprovidedbelow.Theoverallproblemwasfairlychallenging,and
requiredvariousdesigndecisionsandassumptionsthatintheend,benefitedtheprocessand
resultedinanoverallstronger,andmoresuitabledesign.

5.0 References

[1]
Mott,RobertL.
MachineElementsinMechanicalDesign.
4thed.UpperSaddleRiver,
N.J.:Pearson/PrenticeHall,2004.Print.

[2]
ProjectDescriptionImagegivenbyTAs+Professor.