Complete Product News for July/August 2003.

The selection of the heat treat process and the congruent material required for high performance gears can become very involved.

Using the DANTE software, a finite element simulation was developed and executed to study the response of a carburized 5120 steel helical gear to quenching in molten salt. The computer simulation included heat-up, carburization, transfer and immersion in a molten salt bath, quenching, and air cooling. The results of the simulation included carbon distribution of phases, dimensional change, hardness, and residual stress throughout the process. The predicted results were compared against measured results for hardness, dimensions and residual stress. The excellent agreement between predictions and measured values for this carburized 5120 steel gear provides a basis for assessing the various process parameters and their respective importance in the characteristics of not only these heat-treated parts, but of other compositions and shapes.

Carburized gears have higher strengths and longer lives compared with induction-hardened or quench-tempered gears. But in big module gears, carburizing heat-treatment becomes time-consuming and expensive and sometimes cannot achieve good hardness due to the big mass-effect. Also, it is not easy to reduce distortion of gears during heat treatment.

Complete Industry News for May/June 2002.

Compared to non-heat-treated components, case-carburized gears are characterized by a modified strength profile in the case-hardened layer. The design of case-carburized gears is based on defined allowable stress numbers. These allowable stress numbers are valid only for a defined "optimum" case depth. Adequate heat treatment and optimum case depth guarantee maximum strength of tooth flank and tooth root.

an advancing technology and higher energy costs appear to be leading heat-treating companies in the gear industry toward cleaner, more energy-efficient processes. These processes may offer some relief to heat treaters through cooler factories and some relief to their companies through reduced energy usage.

The tooth-by-tooth, submerged induction hardening process for gear tooth surface hardening has been successfully performed at David Brown for more than 30 years. That experience - backed up by in-depth research and development - has given David Brown engineers a much greater understanding of, and confidence in, the results obtainable from the process. Also, field experience and refinement of gear design and manufacturing procedures to accommodate the induction hardening process now ensure that gears so treated are of guaranteed quality.

The induction hardening and tempering of gears and critical components is traditionally a hot subject in heat treating. In recent years, gear manufacturers have increased their knowledge in this technology for quality gears.