Translations:Mechanical power/96/en

Advanced power trains

Simple large gear setup that combines torque from three power sources into a single output. 1, 2 and 3 are creative auto rotors which provide power, 4 is the output.

More complex setup with two large gears. Torque from sources 1, 2 and 3 is combined by lower gear into a single output (4), which then goes through the upper gear to increase rotational speed at the cost of reducing torque.

To build complex and efficient power trains it's important to understand relation between speed and torque, and how they are affected by resistance of a given mechanical system.

• Resistance defines how much rotational energy the system needs in order to continuously operate. If there is not enough torque to counteract resistance, entire power train will lose speed or even come to a complete halt. Each element of the system, such as axles, gears and transmissions, has some resistance. However, machinery doing useful work tends to contribute the most.
• Torque is a measure of rotational force and directly counteracts resistance. Adding more torque to the system can help it overcome the resistance of connected machinery, allowing faster operation. However, as soon as resistance is completely overcome - there is no point in further increasing the torque.
• Speed defines the rate at which machines in the system perform their job. Increasing the speed allows for faster operation, but only if there is enough torque to sustain it; otherwise most of the speed will be lost to resistance.

Large wooden gear

Conversion of torque to speed and vice-versa can be achieved with the help of large wooden gear. Central shaft and rim of the gear can both be used for input or output. Direction of the power flow defines the conversion.

• Using shaft as input and rim as the output allows to increase the speed by a factor of 5, at the cost of reducing the torque by the same factor;
• Using rim as input and shaft as the output allows to achieve the opposite effect, increasing the torque by a factor of 5 and decreasing speed by the same factor;
• Using rim as input for multiple power sources allows to combine the torque from those sources, while resulting speed will be defined by the fastest input;
• Using rim as input for single power source allows to distribute that energy to multiple outputs, conserving speed and torque.

As evident from example of complex gear setup on this page, multiple gears can be used together to achieve desired conversion and distribution of energy.