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5.2.PLANETARYGEARTRAINS
Insimplegeartrainstheaxesofeachgearwasconnectedtothefixedlinkbyrevolutejoints.Ageartrainis
calledaplanetarygeartrainiftherearesomegearswhoseaxesarenotfixed.Thevelocityratiobetween
therotatinglinkswillbedifferentthanthegearratio.Theycanproducelargechangesinspeedusingvery
fewgears.Theyareusedindifferentials,computingdevices,inautomaticcartransmissionandinavariety
ofinstrumentswhereahighspeedratiobetweentheinputandoutputisrequiredwithinasmallspace(i.e.
inheavydutytractors,hoists,screwdrivesetc)and/orwhenaspeedchangewithoutdisengagementofthe
inputandoutput(i.e.automaticgearboxes)isrequired.
Thesimplestformofaplanetarygearisasshown.Thearm(linkk)canrotateaboutA0.Linkj(whichis
calledsungear,ifexternalorringgear,ifinternal)isalsoconnectedtothefixedlinkbyarevolutejointat
Ao.Linki,whichiscalledtheplanetgear,isconnectedtothearmatAbyarevolutejoint,andlinksiandj
aregearpaired.(Intheschematicrepresentationofplanetarygeartrainssideviewisusuallypreferred.)

PlanetaryGearTrain
Planetarygeartrainsarealsocalled"EpicyclicGearTrain"fromthefactthatapointontheplanetwill
describeanalgebraiccurvewhichisanepicycloidorhypocycloid.Thiscurvecanberepresentedin
parametricformas:
x=a1cosq+a2cosRq
y=a1sinq+a2sinRq
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orincomplexnumbers:

Whereqisthevariableparameter(usuallytheangleofrotationofthearm)a1,a2andRareconstants(Ris
afunctionofthegearratio,a1anda2arethelinklengthsofthearmandthepositionofthepointrelativeto
themovingpivotoftheplanetrespectively).Veryinterestingcurves(epiorhypocycloidcurves)canbe
obtained.Anexampleisgiveninbelow.Onefieldofapplicationofsuchmotionisinmixerswherethepedal
orbladeismovedonacycloidalpath.

Curvestracedbyapointontheplanet

Forlargeforcetransmission,thereisusuallymorethanoneplanetlocatedsymmetricallyaroundthesun
gearasshowninFig.6.13.Accurateclearanceisrequiredfortheoperationofsuchageartrain.The
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planetarygeartrainthusformedisoverclosedandthustheremustbespecialdimensionalrequirements
(suchthatalltheplanetsbeingequal).Inthekinematicanalysisofplanetarygeartrains,onemustconsider
onlyoneplanet..

Forthemotionanalysisofplanetarygeartrainsonecanrefertotherelativemotionconceptdiscussedin
Chapter3.Themotionoftheplanetcanbeconsideredascomposedoftwoparts.Oneisthemotionofthe
centreoftheplanet(pointA)andtheotheristherotationoftheplanetabouttheplanetaxis.Letusderive
anequationthatrelatestheangularspeedsofthelinksandthegearratio.
ConsiderthesimpleplanetarygeartrainasshowninFig.6.14.PointPisthepointofcontactofthegear
teeth,andduetopurerollingbetweenthematinggearsthevelocityofthecoincidentpointsPiandPjare
equal.ThevelocityofpointPcanbeexpressedas:
VPi=VPj=VA+VP/A

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Letusassumethattheangularspeedispositiveifitiscounterclockwise.Sincethevelocitiesconsidered
arealongthesamedirection(but,maybeinoppositesense),thevectorvelocityequationcanbetreatedas
ascalarequation.Thevelocitiescanbeexpressedintermsofangularspeedsandthegearradiias:
VPj=VPi=w1jrj
VA=w1k(rjri)(+ifexternal,ifinternalmesh)
VP/A=w1iri(ifexternal,+ifinternalmesh)
Whereriandrjaretheradiiofthegears.Then:
w1jrj=w1k(rjri)w1iri
or:
(ifexternal,+ifinternal
mesh)

Theleftsideoftheequationcanbeexpressedas:

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Notethatthedefinitionofthegearratioisthesamefortheplanetarygeartrainsandforsimplegeartrains.
ForexternalgearingRij=Ti/TjandforinternalgearingRij=+Ti/Tj.Itisalsointerestingtonotethatthe
terms(wljw1k)and(w1iw1k)arereallytheangularspeedsofthesunandplanetgearsrelativetothe
arm,e.g.:
wkj=(ww1jww1k)(angularspeedoflinkjwithrespecttolinkk)
wki=(w1iww1k)(angularspeedoflinkiwithrespecttolinkk)
Therefore:

or,sometimesitisusefultowritethisequationintheform:
w1iRij+w1k(1Rij)wlj=0
Ifthenumberofteethoneachgearisknown,therearethreeunknowns(w1j,w1i,andw1k.Ifanytwoofthe
angularspeedsaregiven,onecansolveforthethirdspeed.
Insimplegeartrainsthespeedratio,w1j/w1i,andthegearratio,Ti/Tjwerethesame.ThesymbolRijwas
usedtorepresentbothoftheseratios.Inplanetarygeartrainsthesetworatiosarenotthesame.Therefore,
thesymbolRijwillbeusedasthegearratio(orthespeedratiowhenthearmisconsideredfixed)andthe
symbolNijwillbeusedasthespeedratio:Nij=w1j/w1i.ForsimplegeartrainsRij=Nij.
Asasimpleexample,consideranepicyclicgeartrainshownbelow.Thesungearhas60teethandthe
planethas22teeth.Thearmrotatesat100rpmcounterclockwiseandthesungearrotatesat150rpm
clockwise.Denotingthecounterclockwiserotationaspositiveweobtain:

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or:
rpm(CCW).

Asanotherexample,considertheplanetarygeartrainshownbelowinsideview,Wecanwrite:

Since

Hencethegearratiohasthesamemeaningasinthesimplegeartrains.
Ifthereismorethanonearmintheplanetarygeartrain,thegeartrainiscalledcompoundplanetarygear
train.Insuchacasetheaboveequationsmustbewrittenforeachsimpleplanetarygeartrain.In
Compoundgeartrainsonemustfirstidentifygearsthathaveamovingaxisofrotation.Thesegearsarethe
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planetgears.Next,onemustidentifythelinksthatareconnectedtotheplanetbyarevolutejoint.Thislink
isthearmoftheplanetconsidered.Thenforeacharmfound,theplanetarygearrelationmustbewritten.
Twoexamplesaregivenbelow.
Example

Determinetheoutputspeedandthedirectionofrotationwhentheinputspeedis3000rpm.
Link3doesnothaveafixedaxisofrotation.Thereforeitisaplanet.Link2isconnectedtolink3bya
revolutejoint.Thereforeitisthearm.Forthisplanetarysystem:

or

Fortheremainingportionofthegeartrainallthegearshaveafixedaxisofrotation(theyareconnectedby
arevolutejointtolink1)therefore,simplegeartrainrelationyields:

and

or
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substitutingintothefirstequationandsolvingforn16yields:

andforn12=3000rpm:n16=59.8rpm(inoppositedirectionoftheinputspeed).
Notethatonecanusetheangularspeedinradians/sorinrpm,sinceweareinvolvedwiththeratioofthe
speeds.
Example:

Aspeedchangerisshown.Theinputspeedis1800rpm.Determinetheoutputspeedandstateitsrelative
directionofrotationwithrespecttotheinputlink.
Inthefirstportionofthegeartrain(links2,3,4and6)thegearshaveafixedaxisofrotation.Therefore:

or

or

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Intheupperpartofthegeartrainlink5doesnothaveafixedaxisofrotation.Thereforelink5istheplanet
andlink4connectedto5byarevolutejointisthearm.Thereforeforthisplanetarygeartrain:

solvingforn17yields:

(inthesamedirectionwiththeinputlink).
Ingeneralitisagoodpracticetocarryintegernumberstilltheendofcalculation.Especiallyinplanetary
geartrainswhereverylargeorverysmallspeedratiosaretobeobtained,thedifferencebetweentwo
numberswhichareclosetoeachotherisverycritical.Therefore,itisadvisablenottouseacalculatorupto
thelaststepofthecomputation.

es

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