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Carburizing

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2025-02-27

Solar Atmospheres Adds Two Additional 2-Bar Vacuum Furnaces

Solar Atmospheres in Souderton, PA, is currently commissioning two additional 2-bar vacuum furnaces, expanding its capabilities to meet increased demand in the aerospace, industrial gas turbine sectors, and for specialized hydride/de-hydride processing of Titanium, Tantalum, and Niobium. These vacuum furnaces, produced by Solar's sister company, Solar Manufacturing, feature large working hot zones (45” x 45” x 72”) and are rated for operations up to 2400°F with a precise temperature uniformity of ±10°F.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2024-12-02

ECM USA’s Vincent Lelong Presented at Purdue Heat Treatment Consortium (PHTC)

ECM USA’s Vincent Lelong presented low pressure carburizing with vacuum furnace technology at Purdue University's School of Materials Engineering undergraduate seminar. This seminar regularly features industry speakers, some of whom are members of the Purdue Heat Treating Consortium. 

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2024-05-10

NGC Enhances Gearbox Manufacturing With EndoFlex From UPC-Marathon

NGC Gears, one of the world’s largest wind power gearbox manufacturers, has completed the installation of two additional EndoFlex generators from UPC-Marathon, a Nitrex company, at its new facility in Jinhu, China location. This acquisition brings the total of generator sets to five since 2022, collectively generating an impressive 800 m³/h (22,252 ft3/h) capacity of endothermic gas supplied to carburizing and hardening furnaces used for processing various gear components. The latest installations in February and March of 2024 support the heat-treating operations of the company’s wind energy gearbox production.

EVENT | 2022-07-20

Furnaces North America 2022

The heat treat industry comes together at FNA to deliver the latest technology on maintenance, equipment, energy, compliance, quenching, productivity, metallurgy, cleaning and more. Top suppliers will be on-hand in the exhibition hall to answer questions and discuss the future of heat treating. 

PRODUCT NEWS | 2022-05-24

Ipsen USA Provides Vacuum Furnace to Italian Commercial Heat Treater

Ipsen recently installed the second Turbo2Treater vacuum furnace at Temprasud, a commercial heat treater in Fresagrandinaria, Italy. 

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2022-04-25

LPC Carburizing: The Affordable Alternative to Gas Carburizing

Gas carburizing has been around for a long time. One could argue that gas carburizing is the most common heat treating process. Heat treaters performing gas carburizing are often characterized by a dirty environment, hazy surroundings, and that “smell.” While the product quality may be acceptable, gas carburized parts do come with some challenges, like excessive intergranular oxidation (IGO) or intergranular attack (IGA), which is often ground off. Low-pressure carburizing (LPC) has proven to be a much cleaner and very capable alternative process. Most furnace companies have combined LPC with high pressure gas quenching, which moved carburizing from the dark back room to a relatively “clean room” environment. However, there is still a strong need for oil quenching, which is the common feature of the long used standard integral-quench (IQ) furnace.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2020-12-28

Don't Forget the Follow-Up!

One of the cardinal rules of design engineering is that you will never overcome physics. It is an applied science so misunderstanding or ignoring m...
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TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2020-01-01

Optimum Carburized and Hardened Case Depth

The optimum carburized and hardened case depth for each gear failure mode is different and must be defined at different locations on the gear tooth. Current gear rating standards do not fully explain the different failure modes and do not clearly define the different locations that must be considered.
GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-08-13

Gear Origins: Roman Cisek

I was lucky to get a job as a design engineer – drive train department with a big construction equipment manufacturer (HSW) in Poland, right after ...
FEATURE ARTICLES | 2019-03-01

Moving Heat Treating In-Line

Single Piece Flow Streamlines Production for High-Volume Gear Manufacturers.
GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2019-02-28

Gone but Not Forgotten

Continuing our discussion of veteran machine tools, it occurs to me that many of our younger readers may not be aware that the United States was on...
INDUSTRY NEWS | 2018-11-15

Beautiful on the Inside

Higher Quality Internal Gears

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2018-08-23

Exploding the Study Layout

In the old day...
GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-04-04

What Makes a Good Design?

In my last post I insisted that good design wins in the marketplace. As a student of automotive history, I am compelled to admit that some very gre...
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FEATURE ARTICLES | 2017-03-01

Heat Treating 4.0

Suppliers are working hard to make sure their heat treating equipment is controllable, repeatable and efficient, and manufacturers continue to incorporate technology that gives heat treaters and their customers more information about what's going on inside the magic box.
GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-02-21

Unreasonable Backlash

Not to worry — no politics here. The “backlash” I want to talk about is the “lost motion” in gear systems. It sometimes seems to rile people up alm...
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2017-01-01

Repair of Large, Surface-Degraded Industrial Gears - a New Approach

This paper presents a new approach to repair industrial gears by showing a case study where pressure angle modification is also considered, differently from the past repairing procedures that dealt only with the modification of the profile shift coefficient. A computer program has been developed to automatically determine the repair alternatives under two goals: minimize the stock removal or maximize gear tooth strength.
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2016-03-01

Practical Approach to Determining Effective Case Depth of Gas Carburizing

Effective case depth is an important factor and goal in gas carburizing, involving complicated procedures in the furnace and requiring precise control of many thermal parameters. Based upon diffusion theory and years of carburizing experience, this paper calculates the effective case depth governed by carburizing temperature, time, carbon content of steel, and carbon potential of atmosphere. In light of this analysis, carburizing factors at various temperatures and carbon potentials for steels with different carbon content were calculated to determine the necessary carburizing cycle time. This methodology provides simple (without computer simulation) and practical guidance of optimized gas carburizing and has been applied to plant production. It shows that measured, effective case depth of gear parts covering most of the industrial application range (0.020 inch to over 0.250 inch) was in good agreement with the calculation.
ADDENDUM | 2016-01-01

Mind-Boggling Gears

Square, rectangular, triangular, oval, even fish-shaped - Clayton Boyer's Weird Gears come in every shape except for circular, and they all work. If you're interested in giving them a gander, check out Boyer's Youtube video (just search "weird gears" and it'll be right there at the top) to see them in motion
GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-07-03

Rework or Scrap?

My last posting on surface temper inspection prompts me to think about the problem of non conforming components. It is never fun to throw valuable ...
GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-04-17

More Adventures in Modifying Machines

[starbox] In my last posting I wrote about some of the projects I have been involved with to squeeze a bigger part in an existing machine. Most ...
INDUSTRY NEWS | 2014-04-14

Vacuum Carburizing Symposium Registration Closes April 28th

Ford Motor Company Conference and Exposition Center, Dearborn, Michigan. The ALD Holcroft Vacuum Carburizing Symposium will feature two days...
GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-03-07

What Did They Know and When Did They Know It?

[starbox] No, I am not launching a criminal investigation. The title of this posting summarizes my ongoing study of the history of gear ratings....
INDUSTRY NEWS | 2013-11-26

ALD Announces Dates for Vacuum Carburizing Symposium

ALD-Holcroft has announced the dates for the 8th Vacuum Carburizing Symposium, to be held in 2014 on May 6th and 7th. This two-day event ...
ASK THE EXPERT | 2013-11-01

High Temperature Gear Materials

What gear material is suitable for high-temperature (350 – 550 degree C), high-vacuum, clean-environment use?
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2013-09-01

New-Formula Acetylene Cool for Heat Treatment

Acetylene with DMF solvent enables benefits of low-pressure vacuum carburizing.
INDUSTRY NEWS | 2013-04-03

Solar Receives Nadcap Approval for Carburizing

Solar Atmospheres recently received Nadcap approval for carburizing. The Souderton, PA plant can now better serve the aerospace market wi...
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2011-10-01

Low-Distortion Heat Treatment of Transmission Components

This paper presents how low pressure carburizing and high pressure gas quenching processes are successfully applied on internal ring gears for a six-speed automatic transmission. The specific challenge in the heat treat process was to reduce distortion in such a way that subsequent machining operations are entirely eliminated.
EVENTS | 2011-10-01

EMO Hannover - More than Machine Tools

Some gear-related highlights from the recent EMO show in Hannover, Germany.
FEATURE ARTICLES | 2010-03-01

Why Vacuum Carburizing

Heat treat alternative offers advantages over conventional methods.
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2009-09-01

Low Pressure Carburizing of Large Transmission Parts

Often, the required hardness qualities of parts manufactured from steel can only be obtained through suitable heat treatment. In transmission manufacturing, the case hardening process is commonly used to produce parts with a hard and wear-resistant surface and an adequate toughness in the core. A tremendous potential for rationalization, which is only partially used, becomes available if the treatment time of the case hardening process is reduced. Low pressure carburizing (LPC) offers a reduction of treatment time in comparison to conventional gas carburizing because of the high carbon mass flow inherent to the process (Ref. 1).
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2009-03-01

Grinding Induced Changes in Residual Stresses of Carburized Gears

This paper presents the results of a study performed to measure the change in residual stress that results from the finish grinding of carburized gears. Residual stresses were measured in five gears using the x-ray diffraction equipment in the Large Specimen Residual Stress Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
VOICES | 2008-09-01

The Staying Power of Low-Pressure Carburizing

Open any heat treating journal today and you’re certain to find multiple references (articles, technical papers and/or advertisements) promoting low-pressure carburizing (LPC). The uninformed might breeze by these references thinking it’s the next flash-in-the-pan, but unlike in the past, this time the process has legs.
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2008-08-01

Distortion Control by Innovative Heat Treating Technologies in the Automotive Industry

The proper control of distortion after thermal treatment of powertrain components in the automotive industry is an important measure in ensuring high-quality parts and minimizing subsequent hard machining processes in order to reduce overall production costs.
EVENTS | 2008-07-01

Vacuum Carburizing Takes Center Stage

ALD-Holcroft Vacuum Technologies Co. will host a two-day technical symposium at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan September 23– 24, 2008.
FEATURE ARTICLES | 2007-08-01

New Vacuum Processes

This paper introduces new process developments in low-pressure carburizing and carbonitriding using either high-pressure gas quenching or interrupted gas quenching.
FEATURE ARTICLES | 2007-06-01

Wind Turbine Market Leads Hansen Transmissions to India

When Belgium-based Hansen Transmissions was under the ownership of Invensys plc in the late 1990s, the parent company was dropping not-so-subtle hints that the industrial gearbox manufacturer was not part of its long-term plans. Yet Hansen’s CEO Ivan Brems never dreamed that, less than a decade later, he would be working for an Indian company.
PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2006-11-01

Coming Soon! The New Gear Technology - Bigger! Better! More Often!

Psst! Hey buddy, can you keep a secret? Don't tell anyone, but the folks at Gear Technology are planning all kinds of changes...
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2006-09-01

The Effects of Pre-Rough Machine Processing on Dimensional Distortion During Carburizing

A study was conducted to isolate the influence of pre-rough machine processing on final dimensional distortion.
PRODUCT NEWS | 2006-03-01

Shorter Cycle Times for Carburizing

Dana Corp. is developing a process that carburizes a straight bevel gear to a carbon content of 0.8% in 60 fewer minutes than atmosphere carburizing did with an identical straight bevel.
INDUSTRY NEWS | 2006-01-15

Solar Atmospheres Offers Full Production Vacuum Carburizing Services

Solar Atmospheres’ new Low Torr Vacuum Carburizing furnace and services are now operating at Solar’s Eastern Pennsylvania ...

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2005-07-01

Systematic Investigations on the Influence of Case Depth on the Pitting and Bending Strength of Case Carburized Gears

The gear designer needs to know how to determine an appropriate case depth for a gear application in order to guarantee the required load capacity.
EVENTS | 2005-01-01

Events

The complete Events section from January/February 2005, including coverage of a vacuum carburizing conference.
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2004-05-01

Evaluation of Bending Strength of Carburized Gears

The aim of our research is to clearly show the influence of defects on the bending fatigue strength of gear teeth. Carburized gears have many types of defects, such as non-martensitic layers, inclusions, tool marks, etc. It is well known that high strength gear teeth break from defects in their materials, so it’s important to know which defect limits the strength of a gear.
FEATURE ARTICLES | 2004-03-01

Low Pressure Carburizing with High Pressure Gas Quenching

High demands for cost-effectiveness and improved product quality can be achieved via a new low pressure carburizing process with high pressure gas quenching. Up to 50% of the heat treatment time can be saved. Furthermore, the distortion of the gear parts could be reduced because of gas quenching, and grinding costs could be saved. This article gives an overview of the principles of the process technology and the required furnace technology. Also, some examples of practical applications are presented.
REVOLUTIONS | 1999-07-01

Revolutions

Welcome to Revolutions, the column that brings you the latest, most up-to-date and easy-to-read information about the people and technology of the gear industry.
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1996-03-01

The Effect of Metallurgy on the Performance of Carburized Gears

Gears are designed to be manufactured, processed and used without failure throughout the design life of the gear. One of INFAC's objectives (*see p.24) is to help manufacture of gears to optimize performance and life. One way to achieve this is to identify failure mechanisms and then devise strategies to overcome them by modifying the manufacturing parameters.
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1996-03-01

Minimizing Gear Distortion During Heat Treating

Graded hardening technology has proven over the years to yield very good results when used in the heat treating of carburized gears. It is especially advantageous for smaller companies, subject to higher competitive pressures. Unfortunately, despite the fact that graded hardening is a very well-known method, its use has been limited. We strongly recommend this technology to all of those who need to produce gears with high metallurgical quality.
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1995-03-01

How to Carburize a Finished Gear

Precise heat treatment plays an essential role in the production of quality carburized gears. Seemingly minor changes in the heat treating process can have significant effects on the quality, expense and production time of a gear, as we will demonstrate using a case study from one of our customer's gears.
INDUSTRY NEWS | 1993-07-01

Gear Tip Chamfer and Gear Noise; Surface Measurement of Spiral Bevel Gear Teeth

Could the tip chamfer that manufacturing people usually use on the tips of gear teeth be the cause of vibration in the gear set? The set in question is spur, of 2.25 DP, with 20 degrees pressure angle. The pinion has 14 teeth and the mating gear, 63 teeth. The pinion turns at 535 rpm maximum. Could a chamfer a little over 1/64" cause a vibration problem?
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1993-03-01

Controlling Carburizing for Top Quality Gears

A carburized alloy steel gear has the greatest load-carrying capacity, but only if it is heat treated properly. For high quality carburizing, the case depth, case microstructure, and case hardness must be controlled carefully.
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1992-03-01

Gear Hardness Technology

In a very general sense, increasing the hardness of a steel gear increases the strength of the gear. However, for each process there is a limit to its effectiveness. This article contains background information on each of the processes covered. In each section what is desired and what is achievable is discussed. Typical processes are presented along with comments on variables which affect the result. By reviewing the capabilities and processes, it is possible to determine the limits to each process.
INDUSTRY NEWS | 1991-01-01

The Effects of Surface Hardening on the Total Gear Manufacturing System

Carburized and hardened gears have optimum load-carrying capability. There are many alternative ways to produce a hard case on the gear surface. Also, selective direct hardening has some advantages in its ability to be used in the production line, and it is claimed that performance results equivalent to a carburized gear can be obtained. This article examines the alternative ways of carburizing, nitriding, and selective direct hardening, considering equipment, comparative costs, and other factors. The objective must be to obtain the desired quality at the lowest cost.
INDUSTRY NEWS | 1990-01-01

Achievable Carburizing Specifications

A widespread weakness of gear drawings is the requirements called out for carburize heat treating operations. The use of heat treating specifications is a recommended solution to this problem. First of all, these specifications guide the designer to a proper callout. Secondly, they insure that certain metallurgical characteristics, and even to some extent processing, will be obtained to provide the required qualities in the hardened gear. A suggested structure of carburizing specifications is give.
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 1986-05-01

Selection of Material and Compatible Heat Treatments for Gearing

The manufacturing process to produce a gear essentially consist of: material selection, blank preshaping, tooth shaping, heat treatment, and final shaping. Only by carefully integrating of the various operations into a complete manufacturing system can an optimum gear be obtained. The final application of the gear will determine what strength characteristics will be required which subsequently determine the material and heat treatments.
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