Transmission of Power

Introduction – Mechanical energy developed by a prime

mover has to be transmitted to the required engineering
application using a transmission system.

Rotational motion can be transmitted from one mechanical

element to the other with the help of certain systems called
transmission systems (Drives).

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 1

 Methods of Drive
Machines may be driven by one of the following methods
1. Individual Drive
2. Group Drive

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 2

 Individual Drive (Self-contained Drive)

• Each machine has its own electric motor and starter.

• Motor may drive the machine shaft through belt, chain,

gears etc.

• Used on machines that require considerable power

operating at a full load.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 3

 Group Drive

A very powerful motor drives an overhead shaft (Main shaft),

that runs from one end to other end of the shop.

Main shaft drives countershaft, which in turn drives the

machine drive shaft.

suitable where power consumption of individual machines is

extremely variable.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 4

Transmission system – Selection Factors

• Distance between driver and driven shaft

• Operating speed

• Power to be transmitted

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

5
 Transmission system - Types

Flat belt
 Belt drive
V - belt

 Chain drive

 Gear drive

 Rope drive

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 6

 Belt Drive (Friction Drive)
One of the most common and effective devices for
transmitting motion from one shaft to another by means of a
thin inextensible band running over two pulleys.
Applications - Mills, Factories and Machine tools.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 7

 Belt Drive - Features
• To transmit power between two parallel shafts.
• Endless belt is passed encircling the pulleys.
• Rotary motion is transmitted from driving pulley to driven
pulley.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 8

 Belt Drive - Features

• Friction is a helpful agent.

• Tension in one side of the belt
– Portion of the belt having less tension is called slack side.
– Portion of the belt having high tension is called tight side.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 9

 Belt drives – Types

1. Open belt drive

2. Crossed-belt drive

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 10

 Open belt drive

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 11

 Open belt drive - Features

 Employed when the two parallel shafts have to rotate in

the same direction.

 When the shafts are placed far apart (upto 10 m)

 Lower side of the belt should be the tight side and the
upper side must be the slack side.

 Upper side of the belt is slack as it sags due to its own

weight and thus increases the arc of contact.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 12

 Crossed belt drive
Used when two parallel shafts to be rotated in the opposite
direction

 At the junction (belt crossing) belt wears off due to rubbing

action.
 To minimize rubbing, speed of belt should be less.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 13

 Open & Crossed belt drives - Comparison

Open Belt Drive Crossed Belt Drive

Driver and driven shafts Driver and driven shaft rotate
rotate in the same direction in opposite direction

As there is no rubbing, life Due to rubbing, life of the belt

of the belt is more reduces.

Requires less length of belt. Requires more length of belt.

Power transmission is less. Power transmission is

comparatively more.
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 14
 Belt Drive – Velocity Ratio (Speed Ratio)

Velocity ratio of belt drive is defined as the ratio of the speed

of the driven pulley to the speed of the driving pulley.

Expression for velocity ratio of belt drive

Let, d1 = Diameter of the driving pulley (mm)
d2 = Diameter of the driven pulley (mm)
N1 = Speed of the driving pulley (RPM)
N2 = Speed of the driven pulley (RPM)

Assuming, no relative slip between the pulley and the belt,

then the linear speed at every point on the belt will be same

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 15

 Belt drive - Velocity ratio Expression

Linear speed of the belt is equal to circumferential speeds of

the driving and driven pulleys

 Linearspeed  Circumferential speed  Circumferential speed 

of the belt  =   =  
  of the driving pulley  of driven pulley 

= π d1 N1 = π d2 N2

= d1 N1 = d2 N2

Velocity Ratio = N2 / N1 = d1 / d2
Speed of the driven pulley Diameter of the driving pulley
Velocity Ratio = =
Speedof the driving pulley Diameterof the driven pulley

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 16

 Pulleys
Pulleys are used to transmit power from one shaft to the
other at a moderate distance by means of a belt or strap
running over them.

Flat belt Pair of V - belts

Types of pulleys
Stepped cone pulley (Speed cone)
Fast and loose pulleys

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 17

 Stepped cone pulley

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 18

 Stepped cone pulley – Features

 To obtain different speeds for the driven shaft

 Integral casting

 One stepped cone pulley is mounted on the driving shaft

and the other on the driven shaft mounted in reverse

 Used in lathe, drilling m/c etc

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 19

 Fast and Loose pulley
When several machines obtain the drive from a main driving
shaft, it may be required to run some machines intermittently
without having to Start or stop the main driving shaft.

Belt

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 20

 Fast and Loose pulley

Fast pulley – keyed (secured / rigidly mounted) to the

machine shaft and rotates as the main driving shaft rotates.
When belt is on the fast pulley - Power is transmitted from
main driving shaft to the machine shaft.

Loose pulley – Mounted with bush / bearing on the machine

shaft which rotates freely.
When belt is shifted from fast pulley to loose pulley – power
is not transmitted to machine shaft, hence brought to rest

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 21

 Open belt drive

(r1 - r2)2
Length of belt, L = π (r1+ r2) + + 2


Arc of Contact (Angle of lap) = θ = π – 2φ

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 22

 Crossed belt drive

(r1 + r2)2
Length of belt, L = π (r1+ r2) + + 2X

−1
(𝑟1 + 𝑟2 )
Arc of contact (Angle of lap) = θ = π +2φ ø = sin
𝑋
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 23
 Ratio of Tensions in Flat Belt Drive

T1 
e
T2

where,
 = Arc of contact in radians
 = Coefficient of friction

T1 and T2 are the tensions on the tight and slack sides of

the belt expressed in Newtons

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 24

 Initial Tension in the belt
when the drive is on, the increase in tension on the tight
side must always be equal to the decrease in tension on
the slack side, otherwise the belt will stretch.

 T1  T0  T0  T2

T1  T2  2T0

T1  T2
T0 
2

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 25

 Slip in Belt Drives

Slip - Sliding off (actual movement) of the belt from the pulley.

Slip occurs when

• the difference between tensions in the tight and slack sides
is very large.
• the coefficient of friction between the belt and pulley
decreases owing to the stretch of the belt.
• the smoothness of the pulley surface is more.

Effect of slip on the Velocity Ratio

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 26

 Creep in Flat belt drive

The phenomena of alternate stretching and contraction of

the belt results a relative motion between the belt and the
pulley surface is called creep.

When the speed of the belt exceeds the peripheral speed

of the pulley, relative slip takes place between the belt
and the pulley which is known creep.
Creep causes
 Loss of power
 Decrease in the velocity ratio

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 27

 Power transmitted by a Belt drive

If v (m/min) is the velocity of the belt and T1 and T2 (Newton)

are the tensions on the tight and slack sides of the belts, then

Power transmitted 
 T1  T2   v
kW
60 1000

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 28

 Disadvantages of flat belts in
comparison V-belts

• Not suitable for small center distance

• Exact velocity ratio cannot be maintained

• Slip & creep cause loss of power

• Large power cannot be transmitted effectively

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 29

 Belt drive – Numerical 1

In an open belt drive, pulleys are 500mm and

1200mm in diameter on parallel shafts 4m apart.
The maximum tension in the belt is limited to 1800N
and coefficient of friction = 0.3. The driving pulley
1200 mm diameter is running at 210 rpm, calculate
power transmitted by the belt drive.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 30

 Belt drive – Numerical 2

A flat belt is required to transmit 35 KW from a

pulley of 1.5m diameter running at 300 rpm.
The angle of contact is 1600 and the
coefficient of friction between the belt and the
pulley is 0.3. Determine the tight and slack
side tension in the belt drive.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 31

 Belt drive – Numerical 3

A shaft is to be driven at 480 rpm, from a driving

shaft that rotates at 200 rpm, through an open flat
belt drive. The center distance of the drive is 1000
mm and the diameter of the driving pulley is 240
mm. The coefficient of friction between the belt and
the pulleys is μ = 0.3. If the drive can transmit a
maximum power of 3 kW without slipping of the belt
relative to the pulleys, determine the necessary belt
width if the safe permissible belt tension is 15 N per
mm of belt width. Neglect any centrifugal effects.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 32

 Belt drive – Numerical 4

A pump is driven by an electric motor through an

open type flat belt drive. Determine the belt
specifications for the following data. Motor pulley
diameter = 300 mm, Pump pulley diameter = 600
mm, Coefficient of friction = 0.25. Center distance
between the pulleys = 1000 mm, Rotational speed
of the motor =1440 rpm, Power transmission =
20kW; permissible tension = 10kN.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 33

 Belt drive – Numerical 5

An open belt running over two pulleys 1.5m and

1.0m diameter connects two parallel shafts 4.80m
apart. The initial tension in the belt when stationary
is 3000N, if the smaller pulley is rotating at 600 rpm
and coefficient of friction between the belt and
pulley is 0.3. Determine the power transmitted
neglecting centrifugal tension into account.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 34

 Belt drive – Numerical 6

Power transmitted between two shafts 3.5m apart

by a crossed belt drive around two pulleys 0.6m
and 0.3m in diameters is 6KW. The speed of the
larger pulley is 220 rpm. The permissible load on
the belt is 25M per mm width of the belt which is
thick. The coefficient of friction between the
smaller pulley surface and the belt is 0.35
Determine:
• The necessary length of the belt
• The width of the belt
• The necessary initial tension in the belt
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 35
 Chain Drives
• Overcomes the limitations of the belt drive

• Can be used up to 8m center distance

• Used in agricultural machinery, bicycles, motor cycles etc..

Two types of chains used in power transmission

1. Roller Chain

2. Silent Chain

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 36

 Roller Chain
Roller chain or bush roller chain – used for transmission of
mechanical power on many kinds of domestic, industrial and
agricultural machinery, including conveyors, wire & tube drawing
machines, printing presses, cars, motorcycles, and bicycles.
Consists of series of short cylindrical rollers held together by
side links.
Driven by a toothed wheel called a sprocket.
Simple, reliable, and efficient means of power transmission

Roller chain 37
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
 Silent Chain

Silent Chain – also used in industrial power transmission and

conveying applications.
Less noise/noise free power transmission

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 38

 Chain Drive – Advantages & limitations

Advantages - Positive non-slip drive, hence efficiency is high

• Employed for small / large center distances up to 8m.
• Permit high velocity ratio up to 8:1
• Transmit more power than belt drives
• Compared to belt drives they produce less load on shafts,
hence maintenance is low
Limitations –
• Driving and driven shafts should be in perfect alignment
• Requires good lubrication
• High initial cost

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 39

 Rope Drive

• When center distances are greater than 10 m

• Power to be transmitted is more than 200 HP

• Used in lifts, hoists etc.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 40

 Gear drives – Types

According to the position of axes of the shafts.

a. Parallel

 Spur Gear

 Helical Gear

 Rack and Pinion

b. Intersecting - Bevel Gear

c. Non-intersecting / Non-parallel - worm and worm gears

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 41

 Spur Gear

• Teeth is parallel to axis of rotation

• Transmit power from one shaft to

another parallel shaft

• Used in machine tools &

automobile gearing

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 42

 Helical Gear

• The teeth on helical gears are cut at

an angle to the face of the gear.

• This gradual engagement makes

helical gears operate much more
smoothly and quietly than spur gears.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 43

 Bevel Gears

• Bevel gears are useful when the

direction of a shaft's rotation needs to be
changed.
• They are usually mounted on shafts that
are 90 degrees apart, but can be
designed to work at other angles as well.
• The teeth on bevel gears can be straight
or spiral
• Gears of equal size called miter gears

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 44

 Worm and Worm gear

Used when large gear reductions from 20:1 even up to

300:1 are needed.
Worm

Worm gear
• Worm drives the gear, but the worm gear cannot drive the
worm. 45
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
 Rack and pinion

• used to convert rotary motion of the pinion into

linear motion of the rack

• Ex. Steering system of cars.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 46

 Gear Drive – Advantages

Advantages

 Positive, non-slip drives, hence transmission efficiency high.

 Most convenient for very small center distances.

 Transmits power when the axes of the shafts are parallel,

nonparallel, intersecting, non-intersecting.
 Velocity ratio will remain constant throughout.

 Employed for low, medium and high power transmission.

 Gears are employed for wide range of applications

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 47

 Gear Drive – Limitations

 Not suitable for shafts of very large center distances.

 Require some kind of lubrication.

 At very high speeds noise and vibrations will be more.

 Not economical because of the increased cost of production

 Use of large number of gear wheels in gear trains increases

the weight of the machine.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 48

 Nomenclature of Spur gears

D
Pc 
T

Circular pitch (Pc): Distance between a point on one tooth

and the corresponding point on the next tooth measured on
the pitch circle.
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 49
 Nomenclature

Diametral pitch (Pd): Number of teeth of a gear unit per pitch

diameter. i.e the number of teeth divided by the pitch
diameter.
Where
T
Pd  T = number of teeth
D D = pitch diameter in mm or inches

Module (m): Pitch diameter divided by number of teeth.

Module is the inverse of diametral pitch.
m = D/T

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 50

 Gear drive – Velocity ratio

The velocity ratio of a gear drive is defined as the ratio of the

speed of the driven gear to the speed of the driving gear.

Expression for velocity ratio of gear drive

d1 & d2 - pitch circle diameter of the driving & driven gears(mm)
T1 & T2 - number of teeth on the driving & driven gears
N1 & N2 - speed of the driving & driven gears in rpm

Assuming no slip between pitch cylinders of two gear wheels,

the linear speed of the two pitch cylinders must be equal.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 51

 Gear drive – Velocity ratio

Linear speed of the pitch Linear speed of the pitch

=
cylinder of the Driving gear cylinder of the Driven gear

π d1N1 = π d2N2

N2 d1
= ………… (1)
N1 d2

Circular pitch for both the meshing gears remains same.

 d1  d2
i.e. pc = =
T1 T2
d1 T1
= ….……(2)
d2 T2
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 52
 Gear drive – Velocity ratio

From equation (1) and (2)

N2 d 1 T1
Velocity Ratio of a Gear Drive = = =
N1 d 2 T2

Velocity ratio of the worm and worm wheel is expressed as

Speed of the Worm Wheel No. of threads on the Worm

Velocity = =
ratio Speed of the Worm No. of teeth on Worm Wheel

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 53

 Gear Trains
An arrangement of number of successively meshing gear
wheels through which the power can be transmitted between
the driving and driven shafts at different speeds.

Types
• Simple gear train
• Compound gear train

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 54

 Simple Gear Train
Most common gear train to connect a
pair of parallel shafts. Teeth of this type Gear A
can be spur, helical or herringbone. Gear B
Series of gear wheels are mounted on
different shafts between the driving and Gear C
driven shafts and each shaft carries
only one gear.
A – Driving gear
B– Intermediate gear
Gear D
C– Intermediate gear
D– Driven gear Simple gear train

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 55

 Simple gear train

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 56

 Simple gear train – Velocity ratio
NA & TA – speed (rpm) and no. of teeth gear A
Gear A
NB & TB – speed (rpm) and no. of teeth gear B
Gear B
NC & TC – speed (rpm) and no. of teeth gear C
ND & TD – speed (rpm) and no. of teeth gear D
Gear C
A drives B – N B TA
= ……… (1)
N A TB

NC TB
B drives C – = ……… (2)
NB TC
Gear D

ND TC
C drives D – = ……… (3) Simple gear train
NC TD
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 57
 Simple gear train – Velocity ratio
Velocity ratio between the driving and driven gears is given by,
ND
Velocity Ratio = Gear A
NA
Gear B
ND . NC . NB
. .
= NC NB NA
Gear C
. .
Substituting from (1), (2) and (3) we get

=
TA
. TB . TC
TB TC TD
ND TA Gear D
Velocity Ratio = =
NA TD

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 58

 Compound Gear Train
• other than driving and driven shafts, each intermediate shaft
carries (keyed with) two or more gears (compound gears)
• preferred for large velocity ratios
A → driving gear
B & C → Compound gears
D→ driven gear

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 59

 Compound Gear Train - Velocity Ratio
N B TA
Gear A drives B =  …….(1)
N A TB
Gear A
Since gears B and C are keyed to the
same shaft, they rotate at the same speed
NB = Nc but TB  Tc Gear B

N D TC Gear C
Gear C drives D =  …(2)
N C TD
ND ND NB Gear D
Velocity Ratio = = .
NA NC NA

ND TC
Velocity Ratio = = . TA
NA TD TB

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 60

 Gear Drive – Numerical 1

Simple gear train consists of three gears. The

number of teeth on the driving gear is 60 and on
the idler is 40 and on the driven gear is 80. Find
the velocity ratio. If the driving gear rotates at 1200
rpm, calculate the speed of driven gear.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 61

 Gear Drive – Numerical 2

In a compound gear train of wheels, A, B, C and D

have 15,30,20,40 teeth respectively. The wheel B
and C are keyed to the same shaft. If the wheel A
runs at 400 rpm, find the speed of wheel D.
Sketch the arrangement if B meshes with A and C
meshes with D.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 62

 Gear Drive – Numerical 3

The shaft from the motor is connected to gear A and

rotates at 950 rpm. Gear B and C is compound gear
as well as D and E. Gear A meshes with gear B and
gear C drives gear D. The gear E meshes with gear
F which is fixed on output shaft. Determine speed of
gear F. Number of teeth on gear A,B,C,D,E,F are
20,50,25,75,25,65 respectively. Sketch arrangement
and find the velocity ratio of the gear train.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 63

 Gear Drive – Numerical 4

A compound gear train consists of 4 gears, P, Q,

R, S having 20, 40, 60 and 80 teeth respectively.
The gear P is keyed to the driving shaft, gear S to
driven shaft. Q and R are compound gears. Q
meshes with P and R meshes with S. If P rotates
at 150 rpm, what is the speed of gear S.? Show
the gear arrangement.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 64

 Gear Drive – Numerical 5

Two gears having teeth 20, 30 of spur gear is

available along with three gears of helical gear
having 15, 20, 25 teeth. Show the gear
arrangement to obtain maximum velocity ratio.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 65

 Gear Drive – Numerical 6

There are 5 wheels having 20, 30, 40, 50 and 70

teeth with a diametral pitch of 3 and another set of
4 wheels of diametral pitch of 2 having 20, 40, 60
and 80 teeth. Sketch an arrangement to get
maximum velocity ratio using maximum number of
wheels from the above lot. Also mention the
conditions used.

Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering 66