Gear Train and Gearbox Design

Objective — Design and fabricate a functional spur-gear gearbox with a 9:1 reduction ratio. For my mechanical systems design class. The housing and gears were all waterjet cut from the same scrap metal plate. The only manufacturing costs were the shafts and bearings. The housing was welded together. A hex head was machined onto the input shaft in order to allow a socket wrench to attach and prevent back driving.

Engineering Analysis — MATLAB, AGMA gear analysis, bearing-load calculations, predicted output torque capacity: 211.4 lb-in, and minimum gear safety factor: 1.25.

Design for Manufacturing — components designed around available manufacturing and assembly processes: CNC waterjet, shaft machining, TIG welding, gear mesh, shaft alignment, and troubleshooting.