Calculation of Planetary gear frequencies

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1. Introduction

Planetary gearing or epicyclic gearing systems are widely used in machinery due to
their high reduction ratios and compact sizes. A typical planetary gearing system
consists oI one outer ring gear, several planet gears, a planet gear carrier, and a sun
gear in the centre, as shown in Figure 1. You most likely to Iind such a gearing
system at home Irom an electric hand drill. When doing vibration analysis Ior
planetary gearboxes, we need to know the running speed oI each gears, gearmesh
Irequencies and deIect Irequencies. Here we will show you how to calculate these
speeds and Irequencies when the ring gear is stationary and how the Iormulae are
derived.



Figure 1. A typical planetary gearing system


2. Nomenclatures
s
, Sun gear rotational speed.
s
r , radius oI the sun gear pitch circle
s
Z , number oI teeth on sun gear
p
, Planet gear rotational speed.
p
r , radius oI the planet gear pitch circle
p
Z , number oI teeth on planet gear
r
r , radius oI the ring gear pitch circle

r
Z , number oI teeth on ring gear
c
, carrier rotational speed
20sh
F , Iundamental gear mesh Irequency
sun
F
, Sun gear deIect Irequency.
Plan09
F , Planet gear deIect Irequency

ring
F , Ring gear deIect Irequency
p
n , number oI planet gears

. Gear Rotational speeds, speed ratio
%o get the relationship between the sun running speed
s
and carrier running speed
c
, we look at the Iigure 2 below.

Figure 2. Velocity distributions on the planet gears
%he planet gear in (light blue colour) is meshing with both the sun gear and the
stationary ring gear. At the meshing point A, the velocity on the planet gear must be
equal to that on the sun gear, which gives

s s A
r J
We know that the velocity at point B must be zero otherwise slip will occurs. Point B
is the instant rotation centre oI this planet gear. %he velocity at the centre point C will
be halI oI that at point A, i. e.

2 2
s s A
C
r J
J


%he carrier is connected to the centres oI the planet gears and rotates around the
centre point O. Its rotational speed will be
) / 2 2 /(
s p s
p s
c
r r
r r
Jc

As the radius is proportional to the number oI teeth, the above speed can be also
changed to
o
B
A
C
Vc
VA
(1)
When the sun gear is used Ior the input gear, and the carrier as the output, the
reduction ratio will be 4:1 iI the sun gear has the same diameter with the planet gears,
and 6:1 iI the sun gear has a diameter halI oI the planet gears. %his shows that a small
planet gearbox can have a high reduction ratio.
Some may raise such a question: I saw a Iormula that is diIIerent with the one we
derived above, which one I should use? %o answer this question, let`s see how the
other version is obtained.
Imagine you stand on the carrier, you will see the carrier is stationary (iI you are not
dizzy enough), but you will see the ring gear rotating with the same speed oI the
carrier but with opposite direction. By doing so, all gears look like rotating around
Iixed axes (don`t worry about the so called Coriolis EIIect as we don`t car about the
accelerations and Iorces), as shown in Figure 3.

In this imaginary gearing system, a relative speed oI '
c
should be added to the
rotational speed oI each gear. We treat the angular speeds scalars and set anti-
clockwise as the positive direction. %he speeds in the imaginary system are listed
below
c s s
, Sun gear rotational
speed.
c p p
, Planet gear rotational
speed.

0
c c c
, carrier rotational
speed (carrier becomes stationary)
c c r
0 , ring rotational speed
o
C
c

s p
c
s
Z Z / 2 2

For this 'ordinary gearing system, it is easy to get gear mesh and deIect Irequencies.
%he gear ratios are

c p
c
r
p
p
r
c p
c s
s
p
p
s
r
r
r
r

, which gives

s r
c
s
r r / 1

or
(2)
Apparently, Iormula (2) is another version Ior the gear ratio, which appears to be
diIIerent with the Iormula (1). However, we know the radii oI the sun, planet and ring
gears satisIy

p s r
r r r 2
Or (3)
Inserting Iormula (3) into (2), it is easy to conIirm that Iormula (2) and (1) actually
give the same gear ratio.
It is interesting to be noted that the numbers oI teeth Ior the sun, planet and ring gears
must meet the relation in Iormula (3), otherwise the gears do not Iit. So, when
counting the number oI teeth, we jus need counting two gears, the sun and one oI the
planet gears. We can also use this Iormula to veriIy iI the numbers oI teeth oI a
planetary gearbox are correct or not.
%he rotational speed oI the planet gear can also be easily obtained Irom as


. Gearmesh Frequencies
As the planet gears mesh with both the sun gear and ring gear, the gearmesh
Irequency can be calculated as
p s r
Z Z Z 2
s r
c
s
Z Z / 1

c p r p
Z Z ) / 1 (

r r p p s s 20sh
Z Z Z F
i.e.
%his gear mesh Irequency is obtained Ior one planet gear, which is called planetary
Iundamental gear mesh Irequency. Don`t Iorget that the sun gear and ring gear mesh
p
n planet gears simultaneously, thereIore, the prominent gear mesh Irequency should
be


. Gear defect frequencies
#ing g0ar d010c9 1r06u0ncy
II there is a deIect on the stationary ring gear, each planet gear will pass this deIect
once in one revolution oI the carrier. %hereIore, the ring gear deIect Irequency is the
number oI planet gears times the carrier rotational speed:
.
$un g0ar d010c9 1r06u0ncy
Imagine a broken tooth is on the sun gear, it hits all planet gears once in one
revolution oI the sun gear in the imaginary gearing system (the system you see while
you are standing on the carrier). %he sun gear deIect Irequency can be written as

Planet gear deIect Irequency
A broken tooth on one oI the planet gears hits other gears twice in one revolution, i.e.,
hit both sun gear and ring gear once. So the planet gear deIect Irequency is

r c p c p s c s 20sh
Z Z Z F ) ( ) (
r c p 20sh p
Z n F n GMF
) / 1 ( ) / 2 2 /(
s r s p s p s p c p ring
Z Z n Z Z n n F
) (
c s p s p sun
n n F
c p r p plan09
Z Z F ) / 1 ( 2 2
. Tips on vibration analysis for planetary gearboxes
ike ordinary gearboxes, the gear mesh vibration does not necessarily mean a
problem, but higher sidebands with the deIect Irequency do. For example, iI you see
high sidebands with sun gear deIect Irequency that are around a Iundamental
planetary gear mesh Irequency, the sun gear may have problem (gear wear or teeth
damage).
7. Summary
II those who hate mathematics, here is the list oI Iormulae used Ior planetary
gearboxes. With these Iormulae, you can prepare an Excel spreadsheet to calculate
shaIt running speed, gearmesh and deIect Irequencies.
Rotational speed oI carrier
) / 2 2 (
) / 1 /(
s p s
s r s c
Z Z
Z Z

Rotational speed oI planet
gears
c p r p
Z Z ) / 1 (
Relations oI numbers oI
teeth
p s r
Z Z Z 2
Fundament gear mesh
Irequency
r c p c p s c s 20sh
Z Z Z F ) ( ) (
Gear mesh Irequency
r c p 20sh p
Z n F n GMF
Sun gear deIect Irequency ) (
c s p sun
n F
Planetary gear deIect
Irequency
c p r plan09
Z Z F ) / 1 ( 2
Ring gear deIect Irequency ) / 1 ( ) / 2 2 /(
s r s p s p s p c p ring
Z Z n Z Z n n F