ME 472 Engineering Metrology

and Quality Control

Dr. A. Tolga Bozdana
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering
University of Gaziantep
Measurement of Gears
1
Gear Tooth Terminology
The width of the tooth Face width:
Total height of the tooth Whole Depth:
Distance a tooth projects into mating space Working Depth :
Distance between top of a tooth and bottom of
mating space
Clearance :
Thickness of a tooth along the pitch circle Tooth Thickness :
Distance on pitch circle from a point on one tooth
to corresponding point on the adjacent tooth
Circular Pitch :
Radial distance from pitch to bottom of tooth Dedendum :
Radial distance from pitch to top of tooth Addendum :
Diameter of addendum (outside) circle Outside Diameter :
Diameter of imaginary pitch circle specifying
addendum and dedendum
Pitch Diameter :
Diameter of root circle Root Diameter :
2
Gear Meshing
Line of Action
Gear catalogs are classified according to number of teeth and pressure
angle.

The pressure angle is the angle between the tangent to the pitch circles
and the line of action.

When two gear teeth are in contact, the kinematic principle of gearing is
demonstrated: angular velocity ratio of meshing gears is constant
along the line of action.

The line of action (also known as pressure line) is a line that is drawn
tangent to the base circle of pinion and gear.

Two gears having an identical module can be meshed. Meshing of two

spur gears with a center distance is shown below.

3
Tooth Thickness Measurement
Measurement
over Pins
Span
Masurement
Vernier Gear
Tooth Caliper
Span Measurement: The distance between a number of teeth is measured (AGMA 239.01)
Vernier Gear Tooth Caliper: The chordal tooth thickness and height are measured.
Measurement over Pins: Special size pins are placed between the teeth and the distance
between pins are measured (AGMA 231.52 and AGMA 239.03 for spur and helical gears).

The measurement of tooth thickness is a common feature for gears to be checked using following
methods (see the standards by American Gear Manufacturers Association www.agma.org):
4
If a large number of gears for a set (having different
values of z) are to be measured, calculations would
become laborious. Hence, constant chord thickness
(X
c
) and height (Y
c
), which are independent of z, are
calculated:
Constant chord is defined as the chord joining points
on opposite faces of tooth that make contact with the
mating teeth at the line of action. It should be noted
that formulas above are for spur gears. For helical
gears, normal module (m
n
) must be employed in
calculations.
The chordal thickness (X) and height (Y) are:
where
Measurement using Vernier Gear Tooth Caliper
( ) cos 1 sin 2 and + = =
p p
R a Y R X
z z z
R
m a
p

= = = =
90
2

2
and

2 sin
8
cos
4
and
2
m
m Y
m
X
C C
= =
a : addendum
R
p
: pitch radius
: pressure angle
m : module
z : number of teeth
5
Measurement over Pins
The tooth thickness is found as:

=
z D
D
inv e inv D t
p
g
p

cos
h
90
z
number of teeth
pin diameter
pitch diameter
tooth thickness
inv :
:
m :
H :
pressure angle D
g
:
involute of an angle z :
Module D
p
:
Distance over pins t :
( )

=
g e p
D H D
z
e
cos
arccos
( )

=
z D H D
z
e
g o p
90
cos
cos
arccos

The measurement over pins equals to:
For z is even:
For z is odd:
g e
D h H + = 2
( )
g o
D z h H + = 90 cos 2
The involute of angle e is calculated by:
( ) 180 tan = e e e inv
Even number of teeth
Odd number of teeth
Pin diameter (for internal gears):
Pin diameter (for external gears):
m D
g
58 . 13 =
m D
g
97 . 13 =
The angle e is calculated as:
For z is even:
For z is odd:
6
Span Measurement
The distance M is expressed as:
Thus, the tooth thickness can be obtained
based on base circle pitch and measured
distance of M.

+ + = s
z
inv
z
D M
p

2
cos
tooth thickness at base circle t
b
:
base circle pitch P
b
:
number of tooth spaces within M s :
number of teeth
pressure angle
pitch diameter
span distance
:
z :
D
p
:
M :
It should be noted that module in normal
plane (m
n
) and pressure angle in normal
plane (
n
) must be employed in case of
helical gears.
7
Comparison of Measurement Methods
The precision of vernier caliper directly affects the
measurements.
The measurements depend on two vernier readings,
each of which is a function of each other.
Measurement is made with an edge of the
measuring jaw (not its face), which again does not
lend itself to accurate measurement.
It is relatively easier to use
and cheaper as compared with
other methods.
Vernier Gear
Tooth Caliper
It cannot be applied when a combination of high helix
angle and narrow face width prevent the caliper from
spanning a sufficient number of teeth.
Readings are influenced by errors in base pitch and
tooth profile. Readings would be erroneous if attempted
on a portion of profile which had been modified from
true involute shape.
Measurements are not
affected by outside diameter
variations or by runout of the
outside diameter.
Span
Measurement
It is crucial that the most appropriate pins must be
selected. For gears having non-standard features, the
estimate of pin diameter may be a bottleneck.
Measurements are not
affected by outside diameter
variations or by runout of the
outside diameter.
Measurement
over Pins
DISADVANTAGES ADVANTAGES METHOD
8
Gear Tooth Profile Measurements using CMM