Slide
Parallel gears - Geometric study

Relative slip

Figure 26 shows the meshing of a pair of conjugate profiles whose line of action is tangent at T ₁ and T₂ to the base circles of pinion and gear. By the very definition of conjugate profiles, these roll on each other: they are constantly tangent.

It should be pointed out, however, that this bearing is accompanied by relative slippage, which in particular leads to power loss through friction and damage through seizure in certain particularly high-load, high-speed applications. This relative slippage is illustrated on figure 26. At point A on the line of action, points a ₁ and a₂ are in contact; at point C, points c ₁ and c₂ are in contact....