Methodically Designing a Spur Gear in SolidWorks
Throughout these lessons, we will cover the calculations and methods of modeling a pair of spur gears that is used in a windmill water pump engine. Software required: SolidWorks 2012 and higher.
What you'll learn
Throughout these lessons, we will cover the calculations and methods of modeling a pair of spur gears that is used in a windmill water pump engine. We will begin this tutorial with a brief tour of the finished spur gear pair assembled onto a mounting stand while demonstrating how these two gears work together. After exploring an Excel spreadsheet of gear calculations, we will then insert these values into a design sketch, which will be used to drive the major features of each gear of our spur gear pair. To speed up the design process, we will then apply some design automation by embedding SolidWorks equations and global variables into some Smart Dimensions so that multiple gear designs can be created in just a few minutes. In the end, we create both our pinion and wheel gears of the windmill engine, assemble them together with our mounting stand, and then make them work along with a discussion of potential modifications that can be made to optimize our design. Ultimately, you will be leaving this tutorial not only with a good understanding and appreciation of how a spur gear pair is created, but also with a model that can be used for various other spur gear applications of your own design. Software required: SolidWorks 2012 and higher.
Table of contents
- Discussing Our Project Background 10m
- Reviewing Our Design Resources 11m
- Creating Necessary Sketch Geometry 12m
- Continuing with Our First Gear Tooth 12m
- Finalizing Our Sketch Geometry 9m
- Creating Our First Solid Features 7m
- Modifying Our Calculations Spreadsheet 9m
- Automating Our Gear Design 12m
- Using More Global Variables 12m
- Creating Gear Wheel Using Equations 6m
- Adding the Details to Our Pinion Gear 12m
- Completing Our Wheel Gear 12m
- Creating a Temporary Mounting Stand 9m
- Utilizing Physical Dynamics 12m
About the author
Chris Scarlett is a teacher and designer with 14 years of experience in Computer Aided Design program at various schools, a regional engineering firm, and for many of his own clients. He is extremely proficient in AutoCAD, Revit Architecture and SolidWorks. Many of his students describe their experiences in his project oriented classes as being efficient, effective and productive. A leader in his department at Central Washington University in "flipping" his teaching methods, he posts his classro... more