12th IFToMM World Congress, Besanon (France), June18-21, 2007

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Efficient Computational Techniques for Planetary Gear Train Analysis

Madhu Raghavan*
GM R&D
Warren, Michigan, USA
Abstract We propose a novel analysis tool for planetary
gear train representation. This extends the traditional concept of
a lever representation of a planetary gear set to one that
includes negative lever ratios. The resulting framework allows
an exhaustive permutation of the nodes of a lever, thereby
leading to all possible topological arrangements of a planetary
gear train. Consequently, we achieve compact representations of
large families of planetary gear trains, which would otherwise
have to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Ravisankar and Mruthyunjaya [6] present a fully

computerized method for the structural synthesis of
geared kinematic chains, formulated on the basis of
representing these chains by their graphs and vertexvertex incidence matrices. Tsai [7] uses a random number
technique for computing the value of a linkage
characteristic polynomial to identify isomorphic graphs.
He has applied the technique to the topological synthesis
of one degree-of-freedom epicyclic gear trains with up to
six links.

Keywords: planetary, gear train, analysis, lever

The task of mathematically representing a planetary

gear set is common to all of the above cited efforts. The
present work extends the conventional lever
representation of planetary gear sets, to allow very
efficient algebraic representation of large families of
planetary gear trains.

I. Background and Prior Art

The analysis problem for planetary gear trains involves
the task of conceptualizing a configuration of planetary
gear sets, fixed interconnections between gear members,
clutched interconnections, and input-output connections to
achieve a desired set of input-output ratios. Over the
years, this problem has been of considerable interest to
various researchers. For example, a formal systematic
approach allowing automatic computation on a computer
has been reported by Mathis and Remond[1]. It is based
on algebraic constraint equations and has been applied to
two-planetary gear trains given a desired speed ratio.
Salgado and Castillo [2] describe a method for detecting
degenerate structures in planetary gear trains, using the
concept of fundamental circuits and their grouping.
Tanaka [3] has proposed a novel approach to
automatically analyze the velocity, torque, efficiency, and
equivalent inertia of a planetary gear train using
techniques similar to FEM analyses.

II. The Lever Principle

The fundamental element of a planetary gear train is the
planetary gear set shown in Fig. 1. This is comprised of a
sun gear, a ring gear, and a set of planet gears (also known
as pinion gears). The planet gears are carried on a carrier
member. The entire system of Fig. 1 may be represented
by an edge-vertex graph as shown by the progression of
drawings in Fig. 1, with the nodes labeled as ring R,
carrier C, and sun S. Such a graph is also known as a
lever, because the relative rotational speeds of ring,
carrier, and sun may be computed by treating rotational
speeds as forces acting on the lever, and taking moments
about appropriate nodes on the lever.

The use of acyclic graphs to synthesize the kinematic

structure of geared kinematic chains with any number of
links has been proposed by Hsu and Hsu [4]. First they
use a systematic approach for the enumeration of n-vertex
graphs. Then a catalog of graphs of one degree-offreedom geared kinematic chains with n links is
synthesized using this approach. Kim and Kwak [5]
propose a method for selecting non-isomorphic graphs
with the aid of graph enumeration theory. Edge
permutations which are induced from the symmetric
group of vertex permutations are used as mapping
functions to identify non-isomorphic graphs.

Fig.1. Planetary Gear Trains and Graph Representation

For example, referring to Fig. 2, if the carrier is

stationary, and the ring speed is -1, then, taking moments

*E-mail: madhu.raghavan@gm.com

12th IFToMM World Congress, Besanon (France), June18-21, 2007

about

node

C,

the

sun

gear

speed

is

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elements. Alternatively, we may have fixed

interconnections between the elements of the 2 planetary
gear sets. For example, Fig. 3 shows the graph of a system
of 2 planetary gear sets with 2 fixed interconnections.
They are represented by the following equations:
z1 = z 2
x 2 = 0.0
(3)

nR
,
nS

where n R and n S are the number of teeth on the ring and

sun respectively. Note that the lever length from C to R
must be set equal to n S and the lever length from C to S
must be set equal to n R . A description of levers including
rules for assigning lever lengths, special cases, etc., may
be found in the paper by Benford and Leising[8].

Note that a fixed connection to the casing (also referred

to as ground) is also considered a legitimate constraint on
the system. The input speed to the gear train comes from
the driving source, say a motor. This motion is passed on
to the gear train in the form of a fixed or clutched
interconnection between the motor and a member of the
gear train. For example, Fig. 4(a) shows a fixed
interconnection between the motor and the first node of
the first planetary gear set. This is represented
mathematically as
x1 = 1.0
(4)
We use a value of 1.0 for the input speed so that the
output speed is also the speed ratio of the gear train.

Fig. 2. Lever Example

The following algebraic representation, which is an

alternative to the above geometric representation of levers,
is applicable to all types of planetary gear trains (single
pinion and double pinion). Let x, y, and z be the speeds of
the ring, the carrier, and the sun in Fig. 1. Then these
speeds are related by the following equation
1
1
(1)
z = (1 + ) y x
a
a
This relationship holds true by virtue of the mechanical
interconnections and gear interactions in the planetary
gear set. Eq. (1) contains a parameter a , which is equal to
n
the ratio S , n S and n R being the numbers of teeth on
nR
the sun gear and the ring gear, respectively. Eq. (1) is
linear in the variables x, y, and z. If we specify the values
of any 2 of them, we may compute the remaining one,
provided the value of the parameter a is specified. In
other words, Eq. (1) represents a system, which requires 2
constraints to make it a well-defined algebraic problem
with 1 equation in 1 unknown. The constraints could be in
the form of specified values for x, y, or z.

Fig. 3. 2 Planetary Gear Sets with 2 Fixed Interconnections

In some designs, the input motion to the gear train may

be through a clutched connection between the motor and
one or more members of the gear train. For example, Fig.
4(b) shows a clutched connection between the motor
(represented by the node x 0 ) and the node x1 . This is
represented algebraically as
x0 = 1.0,
(5)
x1 = x0 .
(6)
The difference between the two representations is that
while Eqs. (4) and (5) will always hold true in their
respective models, Eq. (6) will be discarded when the
clutch is not engaged.

If we consider a system comprised of 2 planetary gear

sets, it may be mathematically represented as
1
1
z1 = (1 + ) y1
x1
a1
a1
1
1
(2)
z 2 = (1 + ) y 2
x2
a2
a2
The above system of 2 linear equations in the 6
variables {x1 , y1 , z1 , x 2 , y 2 , z 2 } requires 4 additional
constraints to be well-posed as a system of 2 linear
equations in 2 unknowns. These constraints may be in the
form of speed constraints on some of the gear train

Fig. 4. Fixed Input and Clutched Input

12th IFToMM World Congress, Besanon (France), June18-21, 2007

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Comparing Eqs. (9) and (7), and referring to Fig. 6, it is

easy to see that Eq. (9) represents the lever shown on the
right-hand-side of Fig. 6. Note that this mapping when
applied to the second planetary gear set of the first graph
in Fig. 5, converts it into the third graph of Fig. 5. This is
shown clearly in Fig. 7.

Suppose we are required to analyze all 2-planetary

gearset systems with 1 fixed interconnection. One must
first enumerate all of the topological possibilities (shown
in Fig. 5) and then write the appropriate algebraic
constraint equations, in the manner described above, for
each candidate mechanism. A unified approach for the
analysis of all the candidates of Fig. 5 in a single run is
possible via the new tool known as the Generalized Lever
Representation. This concept is described in the following
section.

Fig. 7. Transformation of Graphs

Fig. 5. Enumeration of 2 Planetary Systems

III. The Generalized Lever

Consider the lever shown on the left-hand-side in Fig. 6,
representing a planetary gear set. The equation for this
figure is
1
1
z = (1 + ) y
x
(7)
a
a
If we replace the parameter a in the above equation by
1
the expression, , we get the following equation
a

1
1

z = 1 +
y
x.
(8)

1
1


a
a
The terms in Eq. (8) may be re-arranged so that it reads as
1
1
(9)
x = (1 + ) y z .
a
a

Table 1: Mappings of the Standard Lever Equation

In a similar manner, the mappings of Table 1 convert

the standard lever equation (Eq. (7)) into equations
representing other levers. The graphs of the corresponding
6 levers are shown in Fig. 8. Note that the above set of
mappings is exhaustive, i.e., given the 3 nodes on the
lever representing a planetary gear set and the 3 node
labels {x, y, z}, there are only 6 possible levers and these
are {x, y, z}, {x, z , y} {y, x, z}, {y, z , x}, {z, x, y}, and
{z, y, x}. All of these are represented in Fig. 8 and are
achievable by applying the mappings of Table 1 on the
standard {x, y, z} lever.
There is an additional step, which allows us to relate the
acceptable a values for the various levers. For any of the
levers of Fig. 8, the acceptable values of a , for practical
high-speed gear train applications, must lie in the
range 0.33 a 3.0 .

Fig. 6. Transformation of Levers

12th IFToMM World Congress, Besanon (France), June18-21, 2007

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a taking values from these 3 intervals, is equivalent to the

6 lever equations of Table 2, with 0.33 a 3.0 . Eq. (7),
taken together with these 3 intervals of a values is called
the Generalized Lever. This is depicted pictorially in Fig.
9. Prior to the above discussion, negative values of a in
the context of lever equations, had no known physical
significance. Hence the term Generalized Lever.

Fig. 9. The Generalized Lever

IV. Fast Computations Using the Generalized Lever

As described in Raghavan[9], the main impact of this

result is the efficiency gains we get from this single
unified representation of the 6 levers of Fig. 8. For
example, if we use analysis routines on the graph of Fig.
10(a), with a i running through the 3 ranges
[ 4.0,1.33], [ 0.75,0.25], [0.33,3.0] , we are assured of
finding, not only the designs based on the structure of Fig.
10(a), but also, all designs with the structures represented
by Figs. 10(b) 10(i). This way, we do a single analysis
run for Fig. 10 instead of 9 separate analysis runs, one
each for Figs. 10(a) 10(i). Such efficiency gains are
particularly significant when we consider larger families
with 3 planetary gear sets, where the number of variants
of a given graph is higher.

Fig. 8. Planetary Gear Set Equations and Levers

This range is determined by practical issues such as

gear train packaging, pinion gear sizes, and pinion speeds.
Using the mappings listed in Table 1, we may work
backwards to determine the acceptable values of
a corresponding to this range of acceptable values of a .
These ranges for the various mappings are shown in Table
2.
lever equation
1

5
6

1
a +1
z = x+(
)y
a
a

1
a +1
z+(
)y
a
a
1
a +1
z = y+(
)x
a
a
1
a +1
y = z+(
)x
a
a
1
a +1
y = x+(
)z
a
a
1
a +1
x = y+(
)z
a
a
x=

mapping

range for a

aa

0.33 3.0

1
a

3.0 0.33

a
(1 + a )

0.25 0.75

1
(1 + a )

0.75 0.25

Fig. 10. 2 Planetary Systems

1.33 4.0

It is also worth noting that there are sub-ranges within

the negative a ranges of the Generalized Lever
corresponding to simple and double-pinion designs just as
in the case of the traditional gear train lever. Fig. 11
shows the ranges of the a values for the traditional lever,
the corresponding vertex labels for the lever, and the type
of the planetary gear set (simple or double-pinion). Fig. 12
(on the next page) shows the corresponding numbers for
the negative ranges of a of the Generalized Lever,
obtained, using mappings of Tables 1&2.

a (1 + a )
a +1
a (
)
a

Table 2: Ranges of Acceptable Values of

0.33 a 3.0

4 1.33

corresponding to

We see that when a runs from 0.33 to 3.0 for the above
6 lever equations, a must lie in one of the following 3
zones: [ 4.0,1.33], [ 0.75,0.25], [0.33,3.0] . Eq. (7), with

12th IFToMM World Congress, Besanon (France), June18-21, 2007

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4.

5.

6.
Fig. 11. Node Labels for Positive Lever Ratios

7.
V. Conclusions

The Generalized Lever is a useful extension of the

traditional concept of a planetary gear train lever. It allows
very efficient processing of large families of planetary
gear train designs using a simple set of constraint
equations. By running the lever lengths negative, we are
able to permute the nodes of the levers, allowing the
enumeration and evaluation of all topological variants of a
gear train.

8.

9.

Fig. 12. Node Labels for Negative Lever Ratios

References

1.

2.

3.

Mathis, R. and Remond, Y., A New Approach to

Solving the Inverse Problem for Compound Gear
Trains, Transactions of the ASME, Journal of
Mechanical Design, Vol. 121, March 1999, pp. 98106.
Salgado, D.R., and Castillo, J.M., A Method for
Detecting Degenerate Structures in Planetary Gear
Trains, Mechanism and Machine Theory, Vol. 40,
No. 8, August 2005, pp. 948-962.
Tanaka, M., Matrix Methods in Planetary Gear Train
Analyses, SAE Paper 841190.

Hsu C.-H., and Hsu, J.-J., An Efficient Methodology

for the Structural Synthesis of Geared Kinematic
Chains, Mechanism and Machine Theory, Vol. 32,
No. 8, November 1997, pp. 957-973.
Kim, J., and Kwak, B., Application of Edge
Permutation Group to Structural Synthesis of
Epicyclic Gear Trains, Mechanism and Machine
Theory, Vol. 25, No. 5, 1990, pp. 563-574.
Ravisankar,
R.,
and
Mruthyunjaya,
T.S.,
Computerized Synthesis of the Structure of Geared
Kinematic Chains, Mechanism and Machine Theory,
Vol. 20, No. 5, 1985, pp.367-387.
Tsai, L.-W., Application of the Linkage
Characteristic Polynomial to the Topological
Synthesis of Epicyclic Gear Trains, Transactions of
the ASME, Journal of Mechanisms, Transmissions,
and Automation in Design, Vol. 109, No. 3,
September 1997, pp. 329-336.
Benford, H., and Leising, M., The Lever Analogy: A
New Tool in Transmission Analysis, SAE Paper No.
810102.
Raghavan, M., The Analysis of Planetary Gear
Trains, DETC2006-99754, Proceedings of the ASME
2006, International Design Engineering Technical
Conferences & Computers and Information in
Engineering Conference, September 10-13, 2006,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.