Induction hardening is widely used in both the automotive and aerospace gear industries to minimize heat treat distortion and obtain favorable compressive residual stresses for improved fatigue performance. The heating process during induction hardening has a significant effect on the quality of the heat-treated parts. However, the quenching process often receives less attention even though it is equally important.
Bringing new or improved products to
market sooner has long been proven profitable for companies. One way to help shorten the time-to-market is to accelerate validation testing. That is, shorten the test time required to validate a new or improved product.
Over the past several months, many gear manufacturers and industry suppliers have been telling me how busy they
are. Their backlogs are the largest in history, their sales the highest they’ve been in many years. They’ve invested in new capabilities, new machinery and people.
In the August 2008 issue of Gear Technology, we ran a story (“Gearbox
Speed Reducer Helps Fan Technology for ‘Greener” Jet Fuel Efficiency’) on the
then ongoing, extremely challenging and protracted development of Pratt
& Whitney’s geared turbofan (GTF) jet engine.
In November, Gear Technology conducted
an anonymous survey of gear manufacturers. Invitations were sent by e-mail to thousands of individuals around the world. More than 300
individuals responded to the online survey, answering questions about their manufacturing operations and current challenges facing their businesses.
Gear flank breakage can be observed on edge zone-hardened gears. It occurs, for example, on bevel gears for water turbines, on spur gears for wind energy converters and on single- and double-helical gears for other industrial
applications.