Radzevich - Dudley’s Handbook of Practical Gear Design and Manufacture

The writing of a technical book covering a whole field of work is a very sizable project. The author is faced not only with organizing and writing the text material and equations but also with computing data, preparing tables and figures, and locating good reference data for a multiplicity of items.

I wish to wholeheartedly thank all of the people who have helped prepare this work.

The initial typing and equation work was done by Mrs. M. Irene Galarneau (a long-time secretary of mine), Mrs. Violet Daughters, and Mrs. Dorothy Dudley (my wife). The final typing, proofreading, and preparation of illustrations was done by Mrs. Carolyn Strickland (a technical assistant).

Many of the illustrations in the book have been furnished by companies that have also helped me get items of technical data. (Note the company names given in the figure legends.) The assistance of all of these companies is greatly appreciated.

The American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) has been most helpful to me. The officers and staff are dedicated to the advancement of gear technology and have long provided forums for the decision and evaluation of gear experience. The great body of standards that have been issued by AGMA is of immense reference value. The reader will note that this book has made much use of AGMA standards.

I wish to particularly acknowledge the assistance of a few individuals with unusual knowledge and experience in the gear trade.

Dr. Hans Winter of the Technical University of Munich in Germany (Technische Universitt Mnchen) has reviewed parts of this book and has helped me obtain data and a better understanding of the many aspects of gear research and gear rating.

Dr. Giovanni Castellani, a gear consultant in Modena, Italy, has helped me in comparing European and American gear rating practices and gear-tooth accuracy limits.

Mr. Eugene Shipley of Mechanical Technology Inc. in Latham, New York, has helped meon the basis of his worldwide experience with gears in servicein many discussions about gear wear and gear failures.

Dr. Daniel Diesburg of the Climax Molybdenum Company in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was most helpful in reviewing data on gear metals and gear heat-treating procedures.

Mr. Dennis Townsend of the NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, has done unusual research work and also has brought together many key people in the gear trade under the auspices of ASME international meetings. The international ASME gear meeting in Chicago, Illinois, in 1977 was of much value to me.

Dr. Aizoh Kubo of Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan, has directly contributed to this book in the section on dynamic loading. Indirectly, he has helped me greatly in getting to know the leading people in gear research in Japan.

While I acknowledge with much thanks the assistance of these and many other experts during this work, I must accept the responsibility for having made the final decisions on the technical content of this book. I have tried to present a fair consensus of opinion and the best gear design guidance from all the somewhat divergent theories and practices in the gear field.

Darle W. Dudley
San Diego, California

The author would like to share the credit for any success of the Gear Handbook to plenty of discussions on the subject with numerous representatives of the gear community both domestic and international.

The contribution of many friends and colleagues in overwhelming numbers cannot be acknowledged individually, and as much as our benefactors have contributed, their kindness and help must go unrecorded.

Special thanks to Jonathan W. Plant, senior editorMechanical, Aerospace, Nuclear & Energy Engineeringfor his idea to revise the 2012 edition of the Gear Handbook, and in this way to make the revised, updated, and enlarged edition available to the gear community all around the globe.

Many thanks also to Jill J. Jurgensen, senior project coordinator, Editorial Project Development, for the comprehensive support during the publication process, as well as to those at CRC Press who took over the final stages and who will have to cope with the marketing and sales of the fruit of my efforts.

My special thanks to my wife Natasha for her tolerance, support, encouragement, endless patience, and love.