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Revision as of 15:21, 2 October 2019 by Lichinsol(talk | contribs)(Problems in the latest edit: "Intuitive" is a wrong word in the lead para. "It is". The curve 'is' made by a string. It is a mathematical article, and the main word was missing: "locus". The mathematical definition given was a definition of stasis(no motion). Quoting a text from the lead "Sometimes, one of the involutes....... ". This paragraph is not for the lead. In the next section,"in fact" is not the right phrase. And some more.)
In mathematics, an involute (also known as an evolvent) is a particular type of curve that is dependent on another shape or curve. An involute of a curve is the locus of a point on a piece of taut string as the string is either unwrapped from or wrapped around the curve.[1]
It is a class of curves coming under the roulette family of curves.
Let be a regular curve in the plane with its curvature nowhere 0 and , then the curve with the parametric representation
is an involute of the given curve.
Derivation
The string acts as a tangent to the curve . Its length is changed by an amount equal to the arc length traversed as it winds or unwinds. Arc length of the curve traversed in the interval is given by
where is the starting point from where the arc length is measured. Since the tangent vector depicts the taut string here, we get the string vector as
The vector corresponding to the end point of the string () can be easily calculated using vector addition, and one gets
If one gets
Properties of involutes
Involute: properties. The angles depicted are 90 degrees.
In order to derive properties of a regular curve it is advantageous to suppose the arc length to be the parameter of the given curve, which lead to the following simplifications: and , with the curvature and the unit normal. One gets for the involute:
and
and the statement:
At point the involute is not regular (because ),
and from follows:
The normal of the involute at point is the tangent of the given curve at point .
The involutes are parallel curves, because of and the fact, that is the unit normal at .
Examples
Involutes of a circle
Involutes of a circle
For a circle with parametric representation , one gets
.
Hence , and the integral is . The equations of the involutes are:
The diagram shows involutes for (green), (red), (purple) and (light blue). The involutes are similar to Archimedean spirals, but they are actually not.
The arc length of the involute with is
Involutes of a semicubic parabola (blue). Only the red curve is a parabola.
Involutes of a semicubic parabola
The parametric representation describes a semicubic parabola. From one gets and . Extending the string by causes an essential simplification of the calculation, and one gets
Eliminating parameter yields the equation of a parabola:
Parallel curves of a parabola are not parabolas! The curves parallel to a parabola are of degree 6 (See Parallel curves).
The red involute of a catenary (blue) is a tractrix.
Involutes of a catenary
For the catenary, one gets , and because of , the length of the tangent vector is , and the integral
Hence the parametric representation of the corresponding involute is
Involutes of a cycloid (blue): Only the red curve is another cycloid
The parametric representation describes a cycloid. From , one gets and (trigonometric formulae were used).
Hence the equations of the corresponding involute are
which describe the shifted red cycloid of the diagram.
Involute and evolute
The evolute of a given curve consists of the curvature centers of . Between involutes and evolutes the following statement holds:[3][4]
A curve is the evolute of any of its involutes.
Involute and evolute
Tractrix (red) as an involute of a catenary
The evolute of a tractrix is a catenary
Application
The involute has some properties that makes it extremely important to the gear industry: If two intermeshed gears have teeth with the profile-shape of involutes (rather than, for example, a traditional triangular shape), they form an involute gear system. Their relative rates of rotation are constant while the teeth are engaged. The gears also always make contact along a single steady line of force. With teeth of other shapes, the relative speeds and forces rise and fall as successive teeth engage, resulting in vibration, noise, and excessive wear. For this reason, nearly all modern gear teeth bear the involute shape.[5]
Mechanism of a scroll compressor
The involute of a circle is also an important shape in gas compressing, as a scroll compressor can be built based on this shape. Scroll compressors make less sound than conventional compressors and have proven to be quite efficient.
The High Flux Isotope Reactor uses involute-shaped fuel elements, since these allow a constant-width channel between them for coolant.
^K. Burg, H. Haf, F. Wille, A. Meister: Vektoranalysis: Höhere Mathematik für Ingenieure, Naturwissenschaftler und ..., Springer-Verlag, 2012,ISBN3834883468, S. 30.
^R. Courant:Vorlesungen über Differential- und Integralrechnung, 1. Band, Springer-Verlag, 1955, S. 267.
^V. G. A. Goss (2013) "Application of analytical geometry to the shape of gear teeth", Resonance 18(9): 817 to 31 Springerlink (subscription required).