Flank breakage is common in a number of cylindrical and bevel gear applications. This paper introduces a relevant, physically based calculation method to evaluate flank breakage risk vs. pitting risk. Verification of this new method through testing is demonstrably shown.

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.