Worm Gears - Introduction

Lecture - 1

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 Contents
4.1 Worm and Worm Gear – an introduction
- Geometry and nomenclature
4.2 Force analysis
4.3 Bending stress analysis
4.4 Permissible bending stress
4.6 Contact stress analysis
4.7 Permissible contact stress
4.8 Thermal analysis

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 INTRODUCTION
• Worm gears are used for transmitting power between two
non-parallel, non-intersecting shafts.
• High gear ratios of 100:1 can be achieved with a single pair
of worm gears.

Axis of Worm

Axis of Gear

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• A worm and worm gear set is essentially a screw meshing with a
special helical gear.
• Like a screw, the worm can have one or more threads.
• The analysis of forces acting on a worm is essentially the same as for a
screw.
• Two things immediately characterize worm gearing: large velocity ratios
(up to 300 or more) and high sliding velocities.
• The high sliding velocities mean that heat generation and power
transmission efficiency are of greater concern than with other types of
gears.
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The worm shown has two threads,
but any number up to six or more
may be used.
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 Single and Multi-start Worm

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 Two guidelines
• Single-threaded worm gives
large speed reduction,
however, the efficiency is low.
• Large velocity ratio is obtained at the
expense of efficiency
• Multi-threaded worm gives
high efficiency,
however, the speed reduction is low

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 Worm meshing with Helical Gear

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• Sometimes the worm is modified to envelop the gear, as
shown in Figure.
• This gives a greater area of contact but requires extremely
precise mounting. (Note that the axial positioning of a
conventional non-enveloping worm is not critical.)
Straight
a. Single-enveloping Worm
Gear Drive: Curved
A single enveloping worm gear
set is one in which the gear
wraps around or partially
encloses the worm. This results
in line contact between the
threads of the worm and the
teeth of the worm gear

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Cylindrical Worm and enveloping gear

Cylindrical worms are relatively easy to produce and are

preferred for cost reasons!
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Double-enveloping Worm Gear Drive:
• A double enveloping worm gear set is one in which
the gear wraps around the worm and the worm also
wraps around the gear.
• This results in area contact between the threads of
the worm and the teeth of the worm gear. This
requires precise alignment. Curved

Curved
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 Enveloping

Compared to a cylindrical worm, the enveloping worm wraps

more the worm wheel.
This results in more sections of the worm thread involving in
meshing.
Globoid worms can thus transfer higher powers than cylindrical
worms.
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 Four major areas of applications
• Manually operated intermittent mechanisms:
– Large mechanical advantage
– Efficiency is of minor importance
– Steering mechanism, opening & closing of gate valves by
means of hand wheels
• Motorised operated intermittent mechanisms
– A small capacity low-cast motor drives the mechanism
– The efficiency is of minor importance
– Drive for small hoists, opening and closing of large gate
valves by means of electric motor

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 Four major areas of applications
• Motorised continuous operations
– In these applications, worm gear drives are used in place
of other gear drives due to space limitations and silent
operation.
– Efficiency is more important
– Multi-threaded worms are used
– Machine tools and elevators
• Motorised speed increasing applications
– Preferred due high velocity ratio and silent operation
– The efficiency is more important
– Drives for automotive supercharger with six-
threaded worm having λ = 450, centrifugal cream
charger
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 Terminology of worm gears
• A pair of worm gears is specified and designated by four
quantities in the following manner:
z1/z2/q/m or zw/zg/q/m
Where,
z1 = number of starts on the worm
z2 = number of teeth on the worm wheel
q = diametral quotient
m = module (mm)
• The diametral quotient is given by q=

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• Axial Pitch: The axial pitch of the worm is defined as the
distance measured from a point on one thread to the
corresponding point on the adjacent thread, measured along
the axis of the worm
• Lead: The lead (L) of the worm is defined as the distance that
a point on the helical profile will move when the worm is
rotated through one revolution.
• It is thread advance in one turn
• L = px zw

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• The recommended number of starts on the worm is as
follows

Velocity Ratio Number of start

20 and above Single start
12 - 36 Double start
8 - 12 Triple start
6 - 12 Quadruple start
4 - 10 Sextuple start

• d2 = m z2; = = and L = π m z1

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 In specifying the
pitch of worm
gear sets, it is
customary to
state the axial
pitch px of the
worm

and the transverse circular

pitch pt , often simply called
the circular pitch, of the
mating gear.

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The axial pitch px The pitch diameter of the
of the worm and gear is the diameter
the transverse measured on a plane
circular pitch pt containing the worm axis,
of the mating as shown in Figure; it is
gear are equal if the same as for spur
the shaft angle is gears and is given by
90°. Z pt
dg = = Zmt
π 19
• When one thread of the worm is developed, it becomes the
hypotenuse of a triangle as shown.
• The base of this triangle is equal to the lead of the worm,
while the altitude is equal to the circumference of the worm.
• There are two angles related to this triangle, namely, lead
angle and helix angle.
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• Lead Angle: The lead angle (λ λ) is defined as the angle
between a tangent to the thread at the pitch diameter and a
plane normal to the worm axis.
• tan = =
ψ) is defined as the angle
• Helix angle: The helix angle (ψ
between a tangent to the thread a the pitch diameter and
axis of the worm. The worm helix angle is the complement
of the worm lead angle. λ + ψ = 900

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• The helix angle should be limited to 60 per thread. For
example, if ψ = 300 then the worm should have at least five
threads.
φ) is measured in a
• Pressure angle: The tooth pressure angle (φ
plane containing the axis of the worm and it is equal to one-
half of the thread angle.
• Pressure angle should not be less than 200 for single and
double start worms and 250 for triple and multi-start worms.

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 •Lead angle λ,
•Lead L, and
•worm pitch
diameter dw
have the following
relation-ship in
connection with
the screw threads.

L = px Z w

Power Screw
π dw for worm
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• The pitch diameter of a worm is not a function of
its number of threads, Zw.
• This means that the velocity ratio of a worm gear
set is determined by the ratio of gear teeth to
worm threads; it is not equal to the ratio of gear
and worm diameters. N Z w g
=
Ng Zw
• For maximum power transmitting capacity, the
pitch diameter of the worm should normally be
related to the shaft center distance by the
following equation

where C is the center distance.

These proportions appear to result in optimum power capacity of
the gear set 24
 Advantages
• The most important characteristic of worm gear drives is
their high speed reduction.
• A speed reduction of 100:1 can be obtained with a single
pair of worm gears.
• The worm gear drives are compact with small overall
dimensions, compared to equivalent spur or helical gear
drives having same speed reduction.
• Provision can be made for self locking operation, where the
motion is transmitted only from the worm to the worm gear
wheel.
• This this advantageous in applications like cranes and lifting
devices.

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 Disadvantages
• The efficiency is low compared to other types
of gears.
• Considerable amount of heat is generated in
worm gear drives, which is required to be
dissipated by a lubricating oil to the housing
walls and finally to the surroundings.
• Power transmission capacity is low.
• Used for up to 100 kW.

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 Tooth Standards
• Tooth forms for worm gearing have not been highly
standardized, perhaps because there has been less need
for it.

• The pressure angles used depend upon the lead angles

and must be large enough to avoid undercutting of the
worm-gear tooth on the side at which contact ends.

• A satisfactory tooth depth, which remains in about the

right proportion to the lead angle, may be obtained by
making the depth a proportion of the axial circular pitch.

• Table summarizes what may be regarded as good practice

for pressure angle and tooth depth.

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Tooth Standards
Table 4.1

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Force Analysis

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 Force Analysis
If friction is neglected, then the only force exerted by the gear
will be the force Wn, shown in Figure, having the three
orthogonal components Wx, Wy, and Wz. From the geometry
of the figure, we see that
Z = Axial Direction
X = Tangential Direction
B Y = Radial Direction
H B
A E Wn

C
φn
H G
Wn C
F ∠GCH = φn, Normal
Pressure Angle
D
Wx = FC = Wn cos φn sin λ
Wy = BC = Wn sin φn (1)
G Wz = DC = Wn cos φn cos λ
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 y Since the gear forces are opposite to
the worm forces, we can summarize
these relations by writing

Wx x z For 90o shaft angle

Wz
Wy
Wwt = −Wga = Wx
Wy
Wx
Wwr = −Wgr = W y (2)
Wz
Wwa = −Wgt = Wz

The gear axis is parallel to the x

direction and the worm axis is parallel
to the z direction and that we are
employing a right-handed coordinate
system.
x
z
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