Gears with a diametral pitch 20 and greater, or a module 1.25 millimeters and lower, are called fine-pitch or low-module gears. The design of these gears has its own specifics.

It has been documented that epicyclic gear stages provide high load capacity and compactness to gear drives. This paper will focus on analysis and design of epicyclic gear arrangements that provide extremely high gear ratios. Indeed, a special, two-stage planetary arrangement may utilize a gear ratio of over one hundred thousand to one. This paper presents an analysis of such uncommon gear drive arrangements and defines their major parameters, limitations, and gear ratio maximization approaches. It also demonstrates numerical examples, existing designs, and potential applications.

With all the advantages of building float into a planetary gear system, what advantages are there to using a carrier in the first place, rather than simply having your planets float in the system?

Light-weight construction and consideration of available resources result in gearbox designs with high load capacity and power density. At the same time, expectations for gear reliability are high. Additionally, there is a diversity of planetary gears for different applications.

There is a great need for future powertrains in automotive and industrial applications to improve upon their efficiency and power density while reducing their dynamic vibration and noise initiation. It is accepted that planetary gear transmissions have several advantages in comparison to conventional transmissions, such as a high power density due to the power division using several planet gears. This paper presents planetary gear transmissions, optimized in terms of efficiency, weight and volume.

For metal replacement with powder metal (PM) of an automotive transmission, PM gear design differs from its wrought counterpart. Indeed, complete reverse-engineering and re-design is required so to better understand and document the performance parameters of solid-steel vs. PM gears. Presented here is a re-design (re-building a 6-speed manual transmission for an Opel Insignia 4-cylinder, turbocharged 2-liter engine delivering 220 hp/320 N-m) showing that substituting a different microgeometry of the PM gear teeth -- coupled with lower Young’s modulus -- theoretically enhances performance when compared to the solid-steel design.

This paper will provide examples of stress levels from conventional root design using a hob and stress levels using an optimized root design that is now possible with PM manufacturing. The paper will also investigate how PM can reduce stresses in the root from transient loads generated by abusive driving.

Flank breakage is common in a number of cylindrical and bevel gear applications. This paper introduces a relevant, physically based calculation method to evaluate flank breakage risk vs. pitting risk. Verification of this new method through testing is demonstrably shown.

While external involute gears are very tolerant of center distance variations, what are the center distance constraints for internal gears?

By increasing the number of gears and the transmission-ratio spread, the engine will run with better fuel efficiency and without loss of driving dynamics. Transmission efficiency itself can be improved by: using fuelefficient transmission oil; optimizing the lubrication systems and pumps; improving shifting strategies and optimizing gearings; and optimizing bearings and seals/gaskets.