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Analysis of
Gear Failures
Lester E. Alban
Metallurgical Engin eer
Fairfield Manufacturing Company, Inc.
Subsidiary o f Rexno rd, Inc.
Copyright 1985
by the
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR METALS
All rights reserved
Preface
From the dis covery of th e failure to the final letter of transmittal, the line of communication should remain open, accurate,
and sincere. There is no other way to achieve an acceptable plan
for corrective a ction.
Not only the titl e of this book, but the entire con ten ts
strongly emphasize the s ystematic approach to an analysis of
the problem. Putting the com ple te picture in a sequential pat tern makes sense. Case histories are good, but they often do not
detail the methods used to determine the final answer. All too
frequently a person vi ews a gear failure , finds a similar pi cture
in a book , and beli eves it to be of the same mode and cause ; this
may not be so.
The purpose of this text is to train the reader in the art of
discipline , to establish a logi cal step-by-step system of anal ysis: begin at the be ginning and continue methodically to the end.
If only we can influ en ce fi eld personnel, field representatives ,
mechanical and metallurgical analysts , and responsible engineers in management to be aware of the overall picture and to
appreciate the role each plays in the final analysis, this book
will be a success.
No work of thi s ex te n t is accomplished by the author alone.
Not only has 36 yea rs of first-hand experience been necess ary,
but also the experienc e of many experts in our peer g roup . Of
course, Fairfield Manufa cturing Company, now a subsidiary of
Rexnord , Inc ., has be en uppermost in supplying the environment of quality reputation ne cessary to maintain a cons is te n t ly
ethical leadership. M y first em ploy er, the late Harrold J. Bat es,
was meticulous in his concern for detail and accurac y. We
iv
learned to orie nt a ll our efforts to ward the need s of our cus t om er s . Thi s tr ain in g ha s been good, a nd thi s philo soph y
continu es .
Since I retired a year ago, Fairfi eld h a s graci ously supplied
a n office for m y use while writing. The Met allurgi cal Dep artment, under th e directi on of R. L. Hugh es, has be en excep tiona lly pat ient a nd ext re me ly helpful in allo w ing me full us e of its
time, tal ent, past reco rds , pho tographi c abilit y, a nd laborat or y
facilities, a nd so me ti mes ju s t b y li st ening. Without the st enogra p hic help of its secre ta ry , th is wo rk w oul d ha ve been a lmo st
impos si bl e. M y wi fe, Fa ye, was a lways enco u rag ing a nd reall y
didn 't beli e ve I had re tire d a ye a r ago , s ince I alwa y s w ent to
wor k at th e sa me time eve ry m orning. Thi s ha s been a work of
di scipline, but pos sible only w ith th e help a nd the faith of those
menti on ed a bove.
Contents
1
Lubrication
28
Incorrect Lubrication
29
The Lubrication System
30
Lack of Lubricant
30
27
vi
CONTENTS
Excessive Lubrication
31
Lubricant Contamination
31
Temperature
32
Lubricants
33
Ambient Temperatures
34
Gear Tooth Operating Temperature
Components
35
Mechanical Stability
36
Personnel -Related Activities
38
Assemblymen
38
Operators
38
Maintenance Personnel
38
Management Attitude
39
References
40
Systematic Examination
34
43
Field Examination
44
Visual Examination
47
Physical Examination
53
Magnetic-Particle Inspection
53
Tooth Characteristic Studies
54
Surface Hardness Testing
54
Ultrasonic Testing
55
Nital Et ching
57
Profilometer Measurements
61
Dimensional Che cking
61
Metallurgical Examination
62
Cross-Sectional Hardness Survey
63
Macroscopic Examination
65
Carbon Gradient Traverse
65
Chemical Analysis
71
Case Hardness Tra verse
72
Microscopic Examination
75
Scanning Electron Micros copy
82
References
83
Fatigue
86
Tooth Bending Fatigue
86
Surface Contact Fatigue (Pitting)
85
94
CONTENTS
Basic Material
130
Steel
130
Forgings
136
Castings
138
Engineering
140
Design
140
Material Selection
145
Heat Treatment Specifications
147
Grinding Tolerances
147
Manufacturing
147
Tool Undercutting, Sharp Notches
149
Tooth Characteristics
151
Grinding Checks , Burns
152
Heat Treatment Changes
153
Heat Treatment
154
Case Properties
154
Core Properties
158
Case/Core Combination
159
Hardening
161
Tempering
164
Miscellaneous Operations
165
109
129
vii
viii
CO NTENTS
Service Applicatio n
167
Set Matc hi ng
169
Asse mb ly , Alignme nt, Deflectio n, a nd
169
Vibration
Mech anical Da mage
1 72
Lu b rica tion
173
Foreig n Material
175
Corros io n
177
Continual Overloading
177
Impact Overloading
180
Bearing Fa ilure
181
Mai nte na nce
182
Operator Error
182
Field Ap plica tion
18 3
References
184
185
Broken S haft
185
Bro ke n Spiral Bevel Gear
188
S piral Beve l Drive Set
194
Spur Pinion
197
Spu r Gear
200
Spiral Beve l Se t
203
Spi ral Beve l Set
207
S pur Gear
211
H ypoid Pinio n
214
219
Field Report
220
Transmittal Report Wit h Fa iled Unit
220
Laboratory Notes of the A na lyst
220
Fail u re Analys is Report
222
22 4
Lett er of Tra ns mi ttal
Et hica l Overview
225
Referen ce
226
Index
227
CHAPTER
Basic Understanding
of Gears
from the central axis of each part. Due to the ratio of numbers of
teeth in each part, the speeds may be increased or decreased.
The transmission of power is in a straight line.
Fig. 1-3. Internal gear and pinion. This set can be either
spur or helical.
s p ira l bevel se ts. Th ere are m an y typ es of s p ira l be vel config uration s; two t yp es a re sho wn in Fig. 1-5.
Hypoid sets. U suall y th e axis of th e s p iral bev el gea r a nd
pinion will int ers ec t at a co mmo n p oint in spa ce. Ho w ever,
w he n th e pinion a xi s is rai sed or lowered in relation to th e gea r
axis, th e resu lt is a h ypoid se t [Fi g. 1-6J. Wh en th e axis of th e
pinion is di spla ced a lm os t to th e cent er of th e gea r teeth a t th e
periph ery , the numb er of teeth in the pini on decrea ses to three
or les s a n d h a s the ac tio n of a wo rm pini on . Thi s se t is ca lle d th e
hi gh- rati o h yp oid set [Fi g. 1-7J.
Tensil e
Comp ressive
Slide-Shear
Rol ling
Roll-Slide
+
+
..
...
<:.:
---.....
..
....------.....
TN
R-S
Torsion
-~-
TR
Spur Gear
As the contacting tooth moves up the profile of the loaded
tooth , a sliding -rolling action takes place at the profile interface. At the pitchline, th e stresses are pure rolling . Above the
pitchline, the rolling-sliding action again takes over, but the
sliding will be in the opposite direction. Keep in mind that the
action on the profile of the contacting tooth is exactly the same
as the loaded tooth except in reverse order (see Fig. 1-9J . The
Helical Gear
The helical gear tooth receives the same contact action as
the spur gear; i.e. , a rolling-sliding action from the lowest point
Fig.l-IO. Secondary stresses set up in associated parameters of a helical gear due to the side thrust action of the
helix.
The straight bevel gear undergoes the same stresses as discussed above, including a very slight helical action laterally.
The larger sliding action component is parallel to the axis of the
gears and tends to push the gears apart, causing a higher profile
contact, and to exert a rotational bending stress in the web of
the part as well as in the shaft.
Spiral Bevel Gear
10
However, there are circumstances (and it may be only momentary) when there is a 1-to-1 tooth contact. This very narrow line
contact may be accepting an extremely high load per unit area,
and a line of pitting will result early in the life of the tooth.
Careful attention should be given to the design characteristics
of these parts, such as spiral angle and pressure angle.
Hypoid Gear
The hypoid gearing has the same applied stresses as those
discussed for the spiral bevel, but sliding becomes the more
predominant factor . This predominance increases as the axis of
the pinion is placed farther from the central axis of the gear, and
is maximum when the set becomes a high-ratio hypoid .
Strength
The strength of any component is measured by the amount of
stress that can be tolerated before permanent strain [deformation) takes place.
Strain, or deflection under load, is a constant for steel regardless of hardness or heat treatment. The amount of deflection under load of a thin gear web or the shank of a pinion cannot be changed by heat treatment or by use of a stronger
material. Hooke's law is the same : A change of deflection can be
accomplished only by a change of design.
Bending strength of a gear tooth is the amount of load per
unit area acceptable at the root radius to the point of permanent
deformation. Permanent deformation of a carburized tooth is
usually accompanied by a crack at the root radius, whereas with
a noncarburized tooth, actual bending may occur. The root radius is mentioned as the point of deformation because it is the
area of greatest stress concentration in tension. Also, stress
[load per unit area] calculations assume that the load is applied
at the pitchline or the midheight of the tooth. Actually , the realistic stress at the root radius varies from approximately onehalf, when the load is applied low on the active profile, to double, when the load is applied near the tooth tip. Bending
Tmax
Elastic-stress
distribution
"m ax
= compressive stress
= tensile stress
J m ax = maximum shear stress
0' 3
0' ,
11
12
(a)
(b)
(c)
[a] Idea l straight li ne . n o ru no u t: very lit tle toot h - to- tooth jump. d ue to he lical tooth o ve rlap .Tb ] Al m ost st raig h t li ne . D.DDl -in . overal l ru no u t : pe rcep tibl e too th-t o-tooth j um p . typ ica l of s p u r ge a r ing . N o le Ihe o ne pro t ub eran ce
d ue to s ur face ni c k . lei Sp ur ge a r w i th D.DD6 - in . ove ra ll runo u!.
13
14
.-
-~
If
.1-<'
I~
...
tt-
I-
_v l--
I
L.l
10...
Fig. 1-13. Charted involute pa tt ern . The straight line indicates true involute of the active tooth profile.
INVOLUTE
Fig. 1-14 . Charted involute pattern of two teeth (180 0
a part) from a gear in service. Unused profile has an excellent involute; the loaded profile shows pitchline and tip
wear.
wearing of the midprofile area and slight wear over the addendum. This pattern also reveals that the gear ran in one direction
only . The involute charts should be read carefully to distinguish differences of thicknesses low on the profile (positive for
interference), high on the profile (positi ve for tip interference or
negative for excessive falling away), and at mid profile (a positive or negative barreling effect that would concentrate the load
pattern at the midpoint or at either extremity).
Lead Pattern
15
16
~
----.,
\
I
. 1
I i ,.
j
I
(a)
(c)
(b)
(e)
(d)
(f)
(a ] True lead a long both profil es . [b) True lead . tooth crow ne d 0.0015 in . per
s ide . [c ) True lead with c row n. Ind icato r s ho ws pi tting a lo ng th e pit ch line. (d )
A cro w ne d tooth with co ns idera ble lea d er ro r. sh ifting th e crow n toward oppo si te ends of ea ch pr ofil e. [e ] Lead pa t tern of load ed side of two ra nd om teeth
of sa me gear; result du e to a bra s ive wea r. If ) T ru e lead . to oth crow ne d 0 .006
in . per side. w hic h see ms abno rm all y high.
What can result from the above lead characteristics is described here. Figure 1-16 is a photograph of a "perfect" gear; i.e.,
the involute is correct, the lead is true, and there is no runout or
taper. But every tooth has failed at one end in one direction by
heavy tooth contact at that end . The reason? It had been mated
with the pinion teeth shown in Fig. 1-15(d) . Refer now to Fig .
1-17. which shows a crack at the center of the tooth contact area
characteristic of tooth crushing through the case. The lead was
true. the case depth was within specification. and the core
hardness was normal for the material. The reason for the crack?
The tooth had been matched with the pinion teeth shown in Fig.
1-15(f).
It is time to mention a very important consideration of failure analysis . The actual part that failed will show th e mode of
failure, but very often the cause of failure is to be found in the
mating or matching part. One should always inspect both parts
very closely for the solution to the problem. In fact. if there are
several components to an assembly. each component must be
suspect until eliminated by the examiner.
Mating-Tooth Contact Pattern
It is difficult to determine any graphic method of checking
characteristics of a spiral bevel gear tooth . Therefore. a mating-
17
18
tooth contact pattern method has been established. The supplier and customer should agree on a contact pattern acceptable
for the application.
The tooth contact pattern method is as follows: A prepared
substance is brushed onto the tooth profile of both matching
parts; the parts are then run on a tester at a predetermined position; the parts are first run at no-load and the pattern is noted ;
and finally, the parts are run under a predetermined load and
the pattern is noted. The pattern is the position on the profile of
each tooth that runs tightly against its mating tooth, thus pushing away the applied substance. The substance used was commonlya mixture of litharge (lead-oxide) and oil. However, the
use of lead products is now highly discouraged, and two pro prietary compounds [one white>and one yellows) are available.
In general, the normal tooth contact pattern under no-load
will be central profile toward the toe end. Ideally, as the load is
increased to full-load, the deflection of the tooth causes a shift
of the contact to a full-length pattern [shown in Fig. 1-18a
and b).7
There are also a large number of usually undesired variations found in tooth-to -tooth contact patterns. They are usually
found during the development stages of gear tooth cutting and
can be eliminated by readjustment of cutting. These are shown
in Fig. 1-18[c) through [pl .
This method of checking tooth contact patterns is very valuable in determining actual field loading applications. The test
machine can be set on the specified positions to see if the parts
had actually run as expected. Then the tester can be readjusted
to show the prevailing conditions [such as deflection or misalignment) under which the parts had been running in the field.
Backlash
Backlash is the rotational arc of clearance between mating
gear teeth when the gears are set at the proper mounting distance. Ideally, when a very accurate involute is generated on
both parts, they will rotate smoothly and easily with zero backlash. However, this condition precludes the use of any lubricant. An intentional backlash is engineered into the design to
compensate for many factors, including lubrication, differences
a s
~
.....
.:;;~:t
.;:::;::::'
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
..............:...
(k) Bridged
(profile) be ar ing
(j) Narrow
(pitch line ) bea ring
~ ~ ~
(I) Long
(full le ngth) bearing
~
(0)
(n) Bridged
(lengthwis e) bear ing
Bias in
~
(p) Bias out
Ske tch es illustra te too th bearings on the pini on toot h . Alth ough a left -h and
pinion is us ed t hroug h out . th e beari ngs are representa tive of those on a rig ht hand pin ion or a s tr a ig ht bevel pinio n as well .
[a] Ce n tra l toe beari ng. Note tha t t he beari ng ex te nd s a long a p p rox ima te ly
one -half the toot h len gth a nd th at it is nea rer th e toe of the toot h th an the heel.
In a d d it io n, th e bearin g is re lieved s lig h tly a long th e face a nd flank of th e
too th . U nder light load s th e tooth bea r in g s hou ld be in th is pos it ion on th e
tooth.
[b] Same tooth as in [a] with a be aring a s it s hould be under fu ll loa d . It
shou ld show s lig h t relief a t the ends a nd a long th e fa ce a nd flank of the tee th .
T here s ho uld be no load co nce n tr a tion a t the ex tre me edges of th e teeth .
[c] thro ug h [e ] s ho w d iffe ren ce s in s pira l a ng le be t wee n th e ge a rs test ed . If )
th ro ugh (h) s how d iffer e nces in p res su re a ng le bet w een the ge ars tes ted . [i ]
throug h [k] illu st ra te w idth of to oth be ari ng. II) thro ug h [rn] illustrate len gth
of toot h beari ng.
(0) a nd [p] illu s t rate b ia s bea rings . Rega rd less of the hand of spi ral o n th e
pin ion , " bia s in" w il l alw a ys ru n from the fla nk a t the to e to the top a t the heel
on the con ve x si de a nd fr om th e top at the toe to the fla nk at the hee l on the
co nca ve s ide .
19
20
When all errors of dimensional characteristics and distortion are added together, the result is the overall, or composite,
error. Many times they are additive and many times they are
subtractive; thus, the resulting composite error may vary from
zero to a major magnitude from gear to gear, even within the
same manufactured and processed lot.
L. D. Martine did an extensive study of the effect of composite error and found that its influence on gearing was affected
most by the contact ratio of the gears . Composite errors were
not affected by a 1.0 contact ratio but tended to integrate rapidly toward zero effect as the contact ratio increased-graphically represented in Fig. 1-19 .
Associated Parameters
The importance of the function of the mating part has been emphasized . There are also components in the design and structure of each gear and/or gear train that must be considered in
conjunction with the teeth.
0 .0016
I .1 .I
:;:
"c
~
I .1
0 .00 14
0 .0012
Q;
iii
0
0 .0 01 0
c.
E
0
"
s:
0 .0008
15
E
0 .0006
i:.
15
0
t-
0 .0004
\
1\\
0 .0002
1.0
/
~
1.2
r-,
1.4
1.6
"-
1.8
'"-
2.0
2 .2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3.0
Conta ct ratio
As con tac t r a tio in c rea ses. increasingl y la rge t ooth- to-t ooth com posit e e rrors a re s mo o thed ou t. T h is curve is based on empirica l d at a ob ta ine d in a
series of tes ts . II is pred icat ed on rea so n ab ly we ll -c u t gea r s a nd is ind epe nde nt of pit ch a nd pressure a ng le.
Round Bores
A round bore , with close toleran ces and ground . may rotate
fr eely around a ground shaft diameter. may fit ti ghtl y against a
gro und diamet er b y ha ving a press fit . or may be the outer race
of a ne edle bearing that giv es fr eedom of rotation. Each application has its own unique problems . A ground bore is always subject to tempering, burning, and ch ecking during the grinding
operation. A freely rotating bore requires a good lubricating
film, or seizing and galling may result. The bore used as a bearing outer race must be as hard as any standard roller bearing
surface and is subject to all conditions of rolling contact, including fati gue, pitting . spalling, and ga lling . The bore that is press
fit onto a sha ft is subject to a definite amount of initial tensile
stress. Also , an y tendenc y for th e bore to slip under the applied
rotational forces will set up a unique corrosi ve action betw een
21
22
[b)
(e)
[d)
( e)
Three modifications of the round bore alter the stress patterns considerably:
[a) Oil holes that extend into the bore are intended to lu-
T I
5.5 ,
.- -
/'
23
24
Shafts
Th e shafts within a gea r train [as well as th e shank of a
pinion , which consti tut es a sh aft in function] are of import an ce
to load -carrying capa cit y a nd load distribution. The y a re continuall y ex p os ed to torsi on al loads, both unidirecti on al a nd reversing. The less ob vious st re sse d cond it ion that is eq ua lly im portant is bending. Bending stresses ca n be id entifi ed a s
unidi rectional, bidirectional, or rotational. Wh en th e type of
s tre ss is identified, th e ca use s fo r s uc h a stress can be explore d .
A number of stresses a p p lie d to a shaft can be imposed by
parts riding on it. For inst ance, heli cal gears will transpos e a
bending s t re s s , as will straight a nd spiral bevel ge a r s ; round
bores ma y be tight e noug h to ca use scoring and galling; a
s pline d bore may ca use hi gh stress conce n tra tion at it s end fa ce;
runout in gea r s ma y ca use rep eat ed defl ections in bending of
th e s ha ft; a nd loose bearings ma y ca use exc essive end pla y and
mor e bending.
References
1. P aul M. Dean , [r. , Geomet r y a nd Theor y of Ge a rs, in Gea r Manu -
4. Don a ld'. Wulp i, T orsi on al Frac ture of S hafts. Meta l Progress. Vol
120 (No .3 j, Aug us t 1981. P 26.
5. #35 W Gear Marking Com po und. Way ne Ch emical Products Com pany. 9470 Copla nd Street. Detroit . Mic higa n 48209.
6. #10 Yellow Gear Marking Compound. P res co tt & Company. Ltd ..
2625 Rue Pare Street, Montreal. Q uebec H4P-1S 1.
7. Gleason Works P ub lica ti on S D3025 B. 1955. in Source Book on
Gear Design . T echnology and Performa nce. American Society for
Metals. 1980. p 341.
8. L. D. Martin. Large Contact Ra tios Mi nimize Effects of Gear Erro rs. Ma chinery. Vol 73 (No .6). February 1967. p 97 .
25
CHAPTER
Basic Understanding
of Environment
28
the
vibrat ion
thing
lubrication
Alth ou gh t he ma jorit y of persons-b oth p rof es s ion al a nd n on p rofes sional-t end s to blame lub ri cati on for most ge ar failures ,
th ere is no doubt in the ir minds that lu bri cati on is a must. The
bl ame app ears to re st on not enough of, t oo mu ch of, n ot th e
rig h t kind of. breakd own of. or con ta m inatio n of th e lubri cant.
Looking a t these causes, one immedi atel y recog nizes the m to be
fa ults not of th e lub ricant , but of the a p p lica tio n of th at lu bri ca n t, or of a number of ex te rn a l for ces a nd co n di tio ns wo r k ing
ag a ins t that lubri cant.
If one were to co ns ide r what a specifi c lubricant is a n d
w ha t its performance is to be, it would b e ea sy to underst and
th e reasons for it not to function under certain condi ti on s. Lubrication is a ccomplished on gear teeth b y th e formation of two
types of oil films : the reaction film, also known a s the " bo un d a ry lubri cant ," produ ced b y ph ysical abs orpti on and/or che mica l rea ction to form a desired film that is soft a nd ea s ily sheared
but diffi cult to pen et rat e or remo ve from th e s urface : and the
ela st oh yd r od yn ami c film that forms h ydrost aticall y on th e
gear tooth su rf a ce as a func tion of th e s urface speed . Thi s second film is very thin , has a ve ry hi gh s hear s tre ngt h , a n d is n ot
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(fl
29
30
31
32
Temperature
Well over 90 % of all lubrication has one specific function-to
remove heat. It is difficult to separate this discussion into two
distinct categories, such as causes of temperature increase and
effects of temperat ure, beca use the causes and effects may be so
closely related as to be simultaneous. For instance, two asperi-
ties come in direct co ntact with each ot her and one is sheared by
t he o ther. T he e ne rgy of s hearing is co nve rted imm edi at el y to
a n extreme ly h igh tem pe rat u re at the s hear p oin t that is above
the flash point of the lu b rican t. and a lso above the critical
tem perature of s tee l tra nsformation . Th e quenc hi ng of this in s ta n taneo us p oint of h eat n ot only causes a slig h t tem per atu re
rise in t he lu brican t. b ut burns a pa r ticl e of o il th at fo rms a min ute amou nt of free carbo n blac k a nd t rans for m s the steel spot to
a n u nte m pere d m a r ten sit e. Th e ma rt en sit e ma y b e s usce p ti b le
to c rac king o r to becomin g a n a bras ive point d uri ng co n ti n ue d
serv ice . In o the r wo rds. th e m ost co m mo n ca use of tem per ature
rise is th e co nve rs io n of mech ani cal ene rgy to heat. w hic h is
mea sured b y temp erature. A fe w of th e more ob vious so urce s of
tempe ra tu re vari ant s w ill b e di scu s s ed in thi s cha pte r . thou gh
th e d iscu ssi on wi ll not be a ll- inc lus ive.
Lubricants ha ve a ce rta in tena cit y o r resist ance to s hea r.
The hi gh er th e viscos ity. the h igh e r the s hear s tre ng th . As th e
gears a nd o t her movi ng parts cut th r ou gh the oil. t he energy
invo lved cha nges to heat a nd t he temperatu r e rises. It w il l co nti n ue to ri se until th e viscos ity is redu ced. th e s hea r s tre ngt h is
reduced . and a s urface equilibrium tem pera ture is r ea ch ed . A
surface equi li bri um tem pe ra t ure is at tai ned w he n the hea t diss ipated fro m th e oil is e q ua l to the hea t ex trac te d by t he oi l. An y
s u bse q ue n t cha nge in speed or load w ill cha nge th e s urface
eq uil ib rium temper ature.
33
34
Temp er color
350
400
450
500
600
700
60 -62
57 -59
55-57
52- 55
47- 52
35-47
No ne
Ligh t st raw
Da rk straw
Dar k p ur p le
Me d ium blue
Very lig h t b lue
35
36
Mechanical Stability
All gears within a composite system depend not only on their
interaction, but on the action and reaction of every other component within the system. However, before any action or reaction occurs within the unit, each component must be perfectly
aligned with its functioning counterparts [Fig. 2-5J. Reviewing
this important step, in the first place, each part must be machined correctly with the awareness that each dimension and
surface finish is crucial not only to itself, but to its functioning
counterpart. Any mistake in the quality of manufacturing may
be a multiplying factor in the breakdown of the entire unit.
Size change in gears that occurs due to change in temperature might have been discussed under the "temperature" heading; but size change is also mechanical. Nevertheless, the diameter of the pitch circle of a gear will increase in size in direct
proportion to an increase in temperature. The linear coefficient
of thermal expansion for the average gear steel is 6.36 X 10-6 in.
per inch per degree Fahrenheit. Why is this important? Many
gear sets running at high speed with minimal backlash will
soon reach a zero or negative backlash with an unexpected rise
in temperature. The ensuing pressure will break down the lubrication film, resulting in high frictional wear.
It is imperative when inspecting a failed gear to ask from
what direction this failure occurred and what conditions existed to cause this directionality. These questions invariably
will lead the analyst to check alignment, deflections, stability,
tooth characteristics, and dimensional accuracies .
These accuracies are so very important that any deviation
from the norm will tend to throw a tooth contact pattern from
its normal central area to perhaps an end-face contact, or from a
broad contact to a point contact. Each condition will drastically
increase the applied load per unit area, which tends to increase
immediately the surface equilibrium temperature and to break
down the lubrication film.
In any transmission or power train equipment there are vibrations. Even the smoothest source of power will generate an
output in pulses. Roller bearings vibrate; gear teeth vibrate; rotating shafts vibrate. Each part vibrates in its own peculiar amplitude and frequency. There is usually no problem unless one
or more add together proportionately to form a high noise level,
or to form a sequence of extremely high load peaks. Some ana-
37
38
Personnel-Related Activities
This subject is as much an environmental factor as any of the
above and should be recognized as such.
Assemblymen putting parts together in one unit or in placing several units into a composite machine must be scrupulous
regarding cleanliness and accuracy of alignment. There is no
allowance for error at this point of the process. Contamination
at this point is instantly destructive. Misalignment will immediately place one or several parts under stress.
Operators of the equipment are the first line of defense. A
good , conscientious operator will have his equipment outlast
any other in the field. The author has said many times: "When a
catastrophic failure occurs, don't look for a microscopi c cause.
Find the cowboy at the wheel or the one that threw the monkey
wrench into the works!"
Maintenance personnel, equipment, and procedures will
make or break a company with several pieces of equipment that
must be kept in good working order. Not only must good replacement parts be used, but care should be taken that all used
parts are cleaned and thoroughly inspected before being placed
back into service. No gear should be reused unless a magneticparticle inspection method has determined a freedom from
crac k p rop aga tion. No mated gear or pinion shou ld be run unmated or with a random part. Again, cleanliness and correct
alignment must be maintained during the reassembly of repaired ite ms. T here are man y use rs of eq uipme nt w ho ha ve p rogra ms of p reventi ve maint en ance, w hic h are in va rious deg rees
of so p histicat ion fro m we ll-t houg ht -out. sys temat ic chec king
of all compo ne nts to a yea rly hit -or-miss checkup of only the
major ope rating pa r ts . It appears that the slogan of some programs is " If it b reak s d own . fi x it !" The utilizati on of th ese p rograms lead s directly in to th e next ca tegor y of per sonn el -rel a ted
ac tiv ities- ma nageme nt a tt itude .
Management attitude. Th is is a n as pect re lated t o pe rso nnel th at is ofte n ove rloo ke d . T hose in management need to de term ine h ow the ir a tt it ude s affec t th e work hab its of those
worki ng for them . Very few assembly . mai ntenance, or operati on al men w ill co nsiste n tly do a job bet ter tha n tha t w hic h is
ex pec te d of th em. Ex pec t th e bes t from yo ur wo rkers, a nd you'll
ge t th e best from yo ur eq uipme n t. Give t he m goo d tool s a nd
good equi pme nt alo ng wit h your good attit ude , and they will do
a good job .
Seve ral years ago. a ro utine in sp ec ti on of a new plane ta r y
syste m w as s po nso re d by a maj or user a nd th e gea r manufacturer . T he in spec tion was d on e on th e wor ki ng sites, w hic h
were ope n-pit mines located over the full b rea dt h of bot h Canada a nd the United States. In on ly four of 143 insta nces were
there fou nd nega tive enviro nme n ta l co nditio ns :
39
40
References
p 20 -26 .
41
CHA~R 3
Systematic Examination
44
Field Examination
In the examination of failed systems, documentation is very
important. It is not a good practice to rely on memory or oral
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
transcription. P h o tog ra ph s and sketches are excellent for docume ntat io n, a lo ng wit h writte n hi st or y. Record th e t yp e of
eq uipme n t, m od el number , se r ia l number, date of p urch a se,
date of fa il ure, number of opera ti ng h ours, numb er of mil es, a nd
t yp e of ser vice (c ontinual, dail y, yea r ly , se aso nal ). Not e the
loading cycle in vol ved. (Is it in onl y one direc tion , or is it in b oth
d irections? Is it stea dy under ma xi mum load , or is it intermitte n t? Is it u phill , d ownhill, ove r roa ds , or ove r rou gh terrain ? Is
it a gradual loadi ng, or is it a n abru p t im pact type?) Copy the
ma inten ance hi s tor y re lati ng to th e unit s in q uestio n. (Wha t is
the ty pe of lub r ican t a nd its co nditio n? An y recorded te m peratu res? Had a ny pa rt s been pre vi ou sl y repla ced ? Had th e gear
assem b lies been di sas sembl ed ? If so, had they b een s ub m i tte d
to magnetic-p article in sp ection b ef ore being rea sse m b led? )
Thi s is a ll pa st hist or y , b ut it mi gh t co n ta in th e ke y to p resent
problem s .
T he next ste p is to re move the asse m b ly fro m the eq uipme nt. Note the co nditio n of th e reta ini ng bolt s-tight or loose.
Has the asse mb led un it bee n leak in g oil or is i t dry? Does the
assem bly re move eas ily fro m the equ ip me n t or is the re obvio us
d iff ic ulty? H a s th e lub ricant been dra ine d fro m the asse mb ly?
What is th e co nd i tio n of the d ra ine d oil? A re th ere a ny vis ua l
co n ta mina n ts in th e oil? If so, a re th e co n ta m ina n ts ma gnetic or
not? Not e th e asse m b ly numb er a nd a ll other stam pi ngs or id en tifica tio n ma rk s o n th e asse m b ly . If helpful, tak e phot ogra ph s.
The cover of the asse mb ly may now be ope ne d . Note the
co ndit io n of the b ol ts . As the cover is b eing re moved, no te the
condit io n of the seal , espec ia lly im p o rtan t if there h a s bee n oil
see page. Wh at is the a p pea ra nce of th e re main ing oil on the
parts? Does it ap pear that lu b ri ca ti on was sufficie nt throug hout th e asse m b ly, or are th ere dr y a reas? Is th ere ev ide nce of
co rrosio n [ru s t ) a nyw he re? A lways keep in min d th e s pacia l
relationship of a ll pa rts w it hi n th e asse mb ly . T he top of th e as se m b ly ma y be dr y , or it ma y be r us ty du e to co nde nsatio n. Th e
bot to m of th e unit w i ll ac t as a s um p a nd w ill co llec t a ll typ es of
metallic frag ments, as we ll as water. Gears a nd bearings low in
the asse mb ly w ill co nt in ua lly g ri nd up met alli c pa rts a nd, if
there is mo isture p resen t , m ig ht corrode easily. Could photogra phs hel p at th is p oint ?
45
46
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
Visual Examination
By far the most important phase of visual examination is that
which is done by the unaided eye. In most instances, all of the
field examination has been accomplished by this method; and
now, the most important decisions of procedure must be made
by this same method.
First, document the part that is being examined. Write
down the part name, part number, and all other markings or
hieroglyphics found stamped, etched, or embossed on the part.
Next, describe in detail what you actually see; i.e ., the physical
47
48
Fig. 3-1. Spiral bevel gear, 2.5 D.P. SAE4820H, case depth
0.068 in ., 58 HRC. Operation: coal mining. Every tooth
crushed and subsequently broken at toe end, mid profile ,
convex (loaded) side.
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
ditional gears arri ved with the same failure and with no mating
pinions, the decision was made to visit the mine. The maintenance department was waiting with nearly a dozen gears on the
floor, in the same damaged condition, but with no pinions. The
first question asked was "Where are the mating pinions?" The
reply: "They're all okay, but you'll find them over there inthe
corner." The pinions were then inspected visually. Every tooth
of every pinion had a visible crack at the root radius, heel end,
concave [drive) side that extended not only down the back face
angle, but along the tooth root radius toward the toe end, to
about three-quarters of the tooth length. This pinion condition
caused full load to be applied from the toe end of each pinion
tooth to the toe end of the gear teeth, which were crushed by the
extremely high load per unit area. The pinion teeth were the
primary failure; the gear teeth were the secondary failure . The
entire story was told by the parts themselves , but someone had
to listen.
This example points out four basic lessons of observation
and logic that a failure analyst must know:
Only the gear was submitted to the analyst for consideration. The analyst observed that every tooth was crushed
at the toe end of the driven side. and that the normal tooth
contact had been properly centered for the greater portion of its service, The next step was to ask two questions: What exerted the extremely high pressure contact
at the toe end of every tooth? And why did the contact
load shift to the toe end? Logically. the only answer to the
first question is that the toe end of the pinion tooth is the
only object available to impress the toe end of each
gear tooth. The answer to the second question must be
found by examining the pinion.
The pinion was examined . Every tooth showed evidence
of bending fatigue at the root radius of the drive side.
from the heel end to three-quarters of the length toward
the toe end . Each tooth should show a normal central
contact pattern against the gear tooth until the bending
fatigue crack originated. The progression of this fatigue
crack automatically started the sequence of events as follows: the tooth deflection increases each time it is loaded;
49
50
the deflection allows a premature loading of the next adjacent tooth, which becomes suddenly overloaded until it
originates a bending fatigue crack; and the deflection actually relieves the load at the point of contact and shifts
the heavier contact load toward the toe end. Thus, with
every pinion tooth failed at three-quarters of 'the heel
portion, the entire load was concentrated at one-quarter
of the toe end portion. This answers the questions about
the gear's failure .
The preceding discussion of observation and logic could
have been handled by knowledgeable field service personnel, if only they had recognized that the fault was
within the function of the pinion and had submitted both
parts to the analyst. Time, always an important element ,
could have been saved not only in the final analysis. but
also in a number of down-time hours used for replacing
parts . This shows the very close association that should
exist between field examination and failure examination. In this instance. the field service personnel did not
read the failure correctly, nor did they submit enough evidence (the mating pinion] to the analyst. The analyst
read the failure that was before him. recognized the problem, but did not have the part that provided the cause of
the failure. Only when the whole story was together was
something constructive accomplished .
This example was used primarily to stress the importance of visual examination; but two conclusions stated
were not definitive. The conditions of "crushed" and
"tooth bending fatigue," although generally recognized
by an experienced analyst. cannot be conclusively determined without microscopic examination. Also. without a doubt. even the experienced analyst would have
required that the parts undergo microexamination before recommending corrective action.
Before leaving the above example there are other questions
and comments that are pertinent to the present discussion. It
was obvious to the analyst that the gear was a secondary failure; but the analyst could not be absolutely certain that the pin-
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
io ns h a d fa iled by toot h be nd ing fa tigue a t th e heel porti on befor e he had ever s een t he pinion . He was s eeki ng a reason for t he
shift in load pa tt e rn that caus ed the extremel y heavy toe co nta c t. H e found t he s pec ific rea son . Oth er reaso ns coul d h a ve
been th e breakdown of the p ilot bearings. unstab le assembl y
a llow ing for d eflec ti on s unde r loa d. improp e r ad jus tme n t or
rea dju stm ent in th e a lig nme n t. or imp rop er tooth c u tti ng or dis tor ti on during manufa ct u r in g .
Alt hou gh t he primary failure was establis hed within the
pini on. it co u ld h a ve bee n pos sibl e th a t th e crus hing of th e gear
teeth was th e pri m a r y fa ilu re. If th e microexa m ina tio n of th e
gea r tee th ha d estab lis hed a metallurgical condit ion that cou ld
ne ver ha ve w it hs too d a n o rm al loa d a p p lica Lio n; if th e gear
tee t h h ad bee n cu t or di s tort ed eno ug h to h a ve a llowed hea v y
toe co ntact ; or if severe de flec tio ns or mi s align men t ha d oc curre d ; the crus h ing of th e gea r teeth co uld ha ve bee n the pri mar y failure. Keep i n min d tha t th ere had been n orm al tooth
con ta ct for a n es tablis hed leng th of ti me. a nd that the gear teet h
had been a na lyzed a n d were found to meet th e nece ssary met al lurgi cal requirements fo r norm al loading.
It is ge ne ra lly und erst ood tha t occ urre nces of too th be nd ing fa tigue are ca use d by ov er load . Is thi s a lways the case . a nd
was it th e case here? T ooth bending faLi gu e is a ten sil e o verl oad .
but s pecifica ll y . of the ac tual d esign a nd meta ll urg ica l co nd iti ons ex is ti ng. Th eor e ticall y . th e pi nio n in questio n had n o t
bee n overloa de d. Actu all y . it was sev erel y overl oad ed du e to
s harp unde rcu tt ing a t th e roo t ra d ii. s ha llow case dept h, and
in s uffic ie n t su rf a ce h ardn es s .
As suming th at a ll manufa cturing a nd process cha rac te risti cs fo r th e pin ion a nd th e gea r had been w it hin acce p ta b le limits . th e sa me m od e of fail ure co uld ha ve ha p pened . bu t p roba bl y
n ot as ex te ns i ve ly a s to includ e eve ry s et in o pera tio n. The
ca use wo uld neces s aril y h a ve been a n occasio na l hi gh p eak
ove rloa d th at wo uld ha ve resulted in a ra ndom too t h fa ilure
ra ther th an a patt erned fa ilure .
Vi sual exa m inat io n d oes n ot p recl ud e th e us e of lo w -pow er
microsco pes u p to 20X th a t ca n a nd s hould b e u s ed t o s t udy
fr a cture s urfaces. But th e exam ine r s ho uld be care ful n ot to
ove r loo k th e lower m a gnifi cati on. Ver y oft en , th e b est resolu-
51
52
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
Physical Examination
Ph ys ica l exam ina tion in vol ves a ny proced ure of nond es t ru ctive testing , in cl ud in g m ag ne tic-pa r ti cle inspectio n , toot h charac teristic st udies , s urface ha rd nes s tes ting , ultra s on ic testi ng,
nital e tc h ing, p ro filo me te r mea surement s , a nd di men si onal
c hec ki ng.
Magnetic-particle inspection is perh ap s th e mos t useful
an d importa n t p roced ure to use ; as suc h , it is th e fir s t s te p in our
sys tematic p h ys ica l examina tio n . The re are se veral typ es of
testing equip me nt tha t may be us ed in specific places or ins ta nces, bu t the we t m eth od, us in g flu o res cent ma gne tic parti cl e s , is th e m os t common a nd the m ost revea li ng . In fa ct, ph ot ogra phs are a ccom p li s hed more easil y b y th is method (Fi g . 3 -2) .
T he firs t p u rp ose of magnetic-partic le inspection is to d etermin e th e ex te nt of da mage . Perh ap s onl y a porti on of one gea r
53
54
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
Metal
thickness .
in.
0.006
0 .00 8
0.010
0 .012
0 .014
0.016
0. 0 18
0.0 20
0 .0 22
0 .0 24
0 .026
0 .028
0 .030
0 .032
0 .034
0 .0 36
0 .038
0 .04 0
[ b]
[b]
[b]
(b]
(b ]
[b ]
82
80
74
66
57
47
[b]
(b)
[b ]
(bl
(bl
[b]
(b)
[b ]
[b]
77
74
72
68
63
58
51
37
20
(b)
[b ]
[b]
[b ]
[b]
[b]
86
84
82
78
76
71
67
60
[b]
[b ]
(b )
[b]
[b ]
77
75
72
68
63
58
51
43
[b]
(b)
[b)
69
67
65
62
57
52
45
37
28
20
(a j T hese values are a pp rox ima te only a nd are int end ed primaril y as a guide . (b I No
min imum hardn es s for met al of eq ua l or gr ea ter thi ckn ess.
"H ardness vs Minimum Thickness" cha r t fo r chec king hardness of thin materi al .! It is a ls o a fairl y reliable p ractice to subs tit ute "c ase depth " for "me ta l thickn ess" w hen che cki ng th e
surface hardness of a ca rburized part.
Hardnes s is th e only crit eri on normall y us ed to int erpre t
th e stren gth of the part being exa mine d and ca n be us ed intercha nge a bly w it h confide nce . Table 3- 2 lis ts th e a p prox ima te
equivalent hardne ss numbers for st eel as tabulated b y th e So ciet y of Automotive Engineers Hnndbook .!
Ultrasonic testing is not uni ver sa ll y req ui red , bu t it is used
to a n ad vantage for re vealing subsu rfa ce d is continuities . Ultrasonic testing can be utilized to locate subsurface casting de fects such as porosit y, shrinkage , or blow hol es; subsurface
voids or cracks at or near welded zones; large inclusions or
55
56
Rockwell
C-scal e
hard ness
No .
60
59
58
57
56
55
54
53
52
51
50
49
48
47
46
45
44
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
Brinell
hard nes s
No.. l0-mm
s ta nda rd
ball.
3000- kg load
50 0
487
4 75
464
451
442
432
42 1
40 9
40 0
390
381
37 1
362
3 53
34 4
336
327
319
311
30 1
294
286
279
27 1
264
258
253
247
24 3
237
231
100 .0
99 .0
98 .5
Rockwell
s uge rficia l
har ness No..
s uperfic ia l
Brale
pen etral or :
l 5N scal e.
l5 -kg load
Tensile
s tre ng th
[a p p ro x ].
1000 psi
9 0 .2
89 .8
89.3
88 .9
88 .3
87.9
87.4
86 .9
86 .4
85 .9
85 .5
85.0
84 .5
83 .9
83 .5
83 .0
8 2 .5
82 .0
8 1.5
80 .9
80.4
79. 9
79.4
78 .8
78 .3
77.7
77 .2
76 .6
76 .1
75 .6
75 .0
74 .5
73 .9
73.3
72 .8
72.2
71 .6
71.0
70 .5
69 .9
301
292
283
273
264
255
246
237
229
222
2 15
208
20 1
194
188
181
1 76
171
168
162
157
153
149
145
142
138
135
132
128
125
122
120
117
114
11 2
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
Rockwell
C-scale
hardness
No.
20
Brin ell
ha rdness
No.. l0-mm
s ta nda rd
ball.
3000-kg load
226
219
2 12
203
194
187
179
171
165
158
152
97 .8
96 .7
95 .5
93.9
92.3
90.7
89 .5
87 .1
85 .5
83 .5
81.7
Rockwell
s uperficial
hardness No ..
superficial
Brale
penetrator:
15N sca le.
l 5- kg load
69.4
Tensile
strength
[approx) .
1000 psi
110
10 6
10 2
98
94
90
87
84
80
77
75
57
58
.-
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
59
60
Fig. 3-6. End face nita I-etched pattern of a consecutivetooth-space induction hardening technique. Pattern is
exaggerated and distorted due to the extra heat picked up
by the square edges. The true pattern should be established below the surface.
ni qu e used on a la rge in ternal w hee l re d uct io n gear. The patte rn s how n is exagge ra ted du e to th e e nd effec t of th e sq uare
edges pic king up a g rea te r a mo un t of flu x . S ince toot h end s urfa ce pa t tern s of ind uc ti on h ardening proces ses ca n be so mew hat dis to r te d, i t is reco m me nde d th a t th ey be u sed only as a
g uide, a nd that th e t rue p att ern , w h ic h m a y be 114 in . from th e
end face, be exa mine d. Also , as a n ins pec tio n tool, nit al e tc hi ng
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
Table 3-3. Nital etch production test for ground tooth gears
Solution 1 - 5% con centrated nitric acid in denatured a lcohol.
Solution 2 - 10% conce ntra ted hydrochloric a cid in denatured
alcohol.
Solution 3 - 15% concentrated ammoni a in denatured al coh ol.
(All solutions are to be us ed at room temperature.)
Etching procedure
1. Clean gear of a ll grease and oil (trichlorethylen e).
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
pre ssure.
pres sure.
with a ir pres sure.
again st th e
will quickly point out discrepancies such as the two nonhardened tooth spac es shown in Fig . 3-7 .
There are several very similar nital etching processes being
used by industry as a production check for all ground tooth
gears. One procedure is outlined in Table 3-3. However, if a
qui ck check of only a few parts is to be made either in the field or
in the lab, induction hardened patterns can be etched b y swab bing the areas in question with a 5% nital solution [5 ml concentrated nitric acid with 95 ml denatured alcohol] and b y rinsing
with warm wa ter.
Profilometer measurements show the varia tions in average
roughness height that occur on the surface being tested. This
ma y be important information where surface deterioration is
e vide n t, or at radii a nd other points of high stress concentration.
Dimensional checking has not been mentioned in Chapt er 1
as a ch aract eristic , but its importance is self-evident. Wrong
dimensions may often pla ce a high stress raiser in an area of
high stress conc en tra tio n. If this cond iti on had been in the design, proof of th e results should demand a change in that design .
61
62
Metallurgical Examination
In this section will be discussed the tests that necessitate the
destruction of some portion of the part for further study. The
decision to cut into a part must be done with forethought and
knowledge ; and the examiner should ask whether it is necessary to section the part to gain additional data; what the data
are that must be known; and where the cut must be made in
order to make the da ta meaningful.
It is often the case tha t cu tting merely for the sake of cu tting
turns out to be an exercise in futility. However. when it has
been established that sectioning a part is necessary. one or more
of the following procedures will be applicable:
Cross-sectional hardness survey
Macroscopic examination
Carbon gradient traverse
Chemical analysis
Case hardness tra verse [microhardness 1
Microscopic examination
Scanning electron miscroscopy
The cutting or sectioning of a part must be done very carefully to prevent the heating of any structure. Lower heating may
temper a surface. and higher heating may radically alter the mi crostructure. Parts of lower hardness [less than 38 HRCl should
be cut with a mechanical hacksaw, using a continuous stream of
cutting/cooling fluid . Harder parts, including carburized parts,
should be cut with a relatively soft, powered, abrasive wheel
that will break down readily to ensure a nonglazed surface. A
glazed surface will tend to "burn" the sample. At the same time,
a heavy spray of coolant should play on the part at the cutting
edge . In fact, two sprays are recommended, one at the cutter
inlet and one at the cu tt er outlet.
Electrostatic methods are also very accurate means of cutting sections . But these methods metallurgically alter the cut
surface for a depth of a few thousandths of an inch. and the
surface then must be ground sufficiently to eliminate this
condition.
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
63
64
60
i\
1\
50
SAE 8620H
C=
Mn =
Ni =
Cr =
Mo =
Jl = 45 HRC .
0.20%
0.78
0 .50
0.42
0 .17
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
10
40
-'"
o
a:
<Ii
Vl
Q)
"E 30
I
= 44
=38
= 32
= 28
= 26
= 24
= 24
= 22
'"
20
Q;
Q;
l- -
I
I
a;
a;
"0
"0
(;
(;
c
.s
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SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
65
66
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
"
. . .. .
"
67
68
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
(a)
(b)
(e)
69
70
(a)
(e)
(b)
(d)
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
1.00
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SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
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through the case struct ure. Record the results on a chart similar
to that in Fig. 3-20 and document the information . The accepted
positions for taking a ca se hardness traverse are at the outside
diameter of a shaft or ground bearing of a pinion; at the center of
a space [root) between two splines; or, for a gea r tooth , at both
the midprofile and the root radius [Fig. 3-21).
The root radius tra verse generally starts at that point normal to the surfa ce on a direct line that will inte rse ct th e radial
line through the ce n te r of the tooth at 45 . If a failure occurs at a
radius betw een two different diameters , b y all means take a
microhardness survey at 45 through that radius . In man y in-
I ,.
74
60
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50
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s
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Fig. 3-22. Case hardnes s tr averse of an induction hardened 4145H s tee l gea r too th us ing a T ukon microhardness
te ster with an indenter load of 500 g. Effective ca se
de pth is mea sured to 45 HR C as ind icated by arrows.
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
Effective
case dep th
ha rdn ess. HRC
0 .28-0.32
0 .3 3-0.4 2
0 .43-0 .52
0 .53 a nd ove r . . . . . . . . . . . ..
35
40
45
50
75
76
50 f---/------j---=~..,_____+--+__1
40 f---/------j- - + - - _ +-
-+__1
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
Fig. 3-24. Microstructure, 500X. 3% nital etch. Dense tempered martensite (0.75%carbon). Carburized SAE4320H.
Retained austenite, nil.
77
78
Fig. 3-26. Microstructure. 500X. 3% nital etch. Fine spheroidal carbides scattered throughout a tempered martensitic case.
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
Fig. 3-29. Microstructure, 250 X. 4% nital etch. Gross decarburization of carburized SAE 4118 steel above matrix
of tempered martensite.
79
80
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
81
82
(c)
(a)
(b)
(d)
(e)
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a recent. highl y sophisticated tool in the study of fracture analysis; it is an examining method with a very great range of magnification used on
the fracture surface per se. The sample must not be altered or
abused prior to examination. In general. SEM is not a procedure
SYSTEMATIC EXAMINATION
that is required for every fractured part, but it is highly valuable when positive identification of a fracture mode is required
or when confirmation is needed for documentation. Its extreme
depth of field coverage, which allows for beautiful threedimensional photographs, is an important contribution. It also
has the capability of making a selective qualitative chemical
analysis of a specific structure. Occasionally, an opportunity
will arise when a unique structure within a fracture pattern
must be identified. Figure 3-33 is an example. It should be remembered that the scanning electron microscope is a tool to be
used to complement the other procedures and is not the tool for
a complete analysis.
References
1. Robert Clark Anderson, Insp ection of Metals. Volum e 1: Visual
Examination. American Society for Metals, 1983 .
2. Metals Handbook De sk Edition, American Society for Metals,
1985. p 347 .
3 . Society of Automotive Engineers, Iron & St eel Handbook Supplement HS-30, 1981, Table 4. p 407.
4. Society of Automotive Engineers. Iron and St eel Handbook Supplem ent HS-30. 1981, P 443-444.
83
CHAPTER
86
Fatigue
Fatigue Failure t-e-cracking under repeated stresses much lower
than the ultimate tensile strength-ordinarily depends on the
number of repetitions of a given stress range rather than the
total time under load, and it does not occur below the stress
amplitude called the "fatigue limit." The likelihood of fatigue
failure is increased greatly by the presence of notches , grooves,
surface discontinuities. and subsurface imperfections, all of
which will decrease the stress amplitude that can be withstood
for a fixed number of stress cycles. The likelihood of fatigue
failure is also increased significantly by increasing the average
tensile stress of the loading cycle.
There are three stages wi thin a fa tigue fail ure to be studied
closely: the origin of the fracture, the progression under successive cycles of loading, and final rupture of the part when the
spreading crack has sufficiently weakened the section. Most attention is devoted to the first. to determine why the crack
started at a particular point. The second stage is observed to
determine the direction of the progression. A fa tigue crack will
follow the path of least resistance through the metal. The final
area of fracture may result from shear or tension. but, in either
case, examining this area may help determine the apparent
magnitude of stress that had been applied to the part.
Tooth Bending Fatigue
Fig. 4-1. Spiral bevel pinion showing classic tooth bending fatigue with origin at midlength of the root radius on
the concave (loaded) sid e.O .6X.
87
88
Fig. 4-2. Photoelastic study of two mating pinion teeth receiving full load. Note the high concentration of compressive stress at the point of contact, the tensile stress at the
root radius. and the zero-stress point at the tooth centerline below the root circle.
89
II
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90
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il
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Fig. 4-6 . Helical gear, 1.12 X. Tooth bending faligue followed by looth bending impact. Origin is off-center of the
tooth midpoint but is directly above the center of the web.
91
92
Fig.4-7. Spur pinion, 100 X. Tooth bending fatigue at midlength of tooth at root radius, but origin is at an inclusion
located in the case/core transition.
Fig. 4-8. Spiral bevel gear tooth, O.7X. Tooth bending fatigue with origin at the apex of the drilled bolt hole , which
terminated just below the root radius.
Fig. 4-9 . Spur pinion tooth, 2X. Bidirectional tooth bending fatigue , with applied loads at a high spot at the top
edge on both sides. Origin is at the case/core interface,
near the crown of the tooth.
the surface. The origin was at the apex of a tapped bolt hole that
had been drilled from the back face of the ge a r and had terminated less th an 1/4 in . from the root radius . Th e fati gue crack
progressed to the surfa ce at the root radius, a s well as into the
core toward th e zero -stress point.
Figure 4-9 also shows tooth bending fati gue, but it is of a
different nature . In fact, from appearance only, it might be
called "spalling." However, due to the reasons of origin and
93
94
95
96
Sh ear st re ss
Di st an ce
bel ow
su rf ace
/
I
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Pur e sliding
,./
;/
/
/"" ;~
Combin ed rolling
and sliding
Fig. 4-13 . Helical gear teeth, 2X. Pitting initiated along the
pitchline and just above the pitchline. In some areas , the
progres sion ha s been continuous.
Fig. 4-14 . Spiral pinion tooth , 200X. Nea r-pit chline pitting
fatigue. Origin is s ub surfac e at plane of ma ximum shear.
rolling co mpo ne nt, ofte n res ults in surface fatig ue a t the poin t
of ma ximum shear bel ow th e s ur face. In man y ins ta nces , it is
difficu lt to determi ne whet he r some pitting cracks actually ini tiate at or below the surface. Figure 4 -13 s hows initiation of
pitt ing fatigue both at the pitchli ne of a helical gear tooth and
d ire ctl y above the pit ch li ne. Progress ion u p the ad de nd um in
so me areas make s it difficult to diffe re ntia te betwee n the two . A
surface -pitted a rea near th e pit chline is illu s tra ted in Fig. 4-14.
97
98
Although the surface was in a rolling-sliding area, the immediate surface shows no catastrophic movement; so it is most
probable that shearing fatigue took place as the initiating force
below the surface. Also , the freedom from surface movement is
an argument for the lubrication of the gear teeth.
The lowest point of single tooth contact is the point that
receives the tip of the mating tooth as it makes first contact low
on the active profile. Tip contact will produce high pressures
per unit area, even if a small fraction of the actual load is transferred by the tip. Also, the maximum sliding speed, both in approach and recess, occurs at the tip contact. Two types of pits
prevail at this area. One is shown in Fig. 4-15; this appears to be
a swift shear and lift-out type . Perhaps it can be questioned
99
100
Fig. 4-16. Surface fatigue pitting initiated in a short concentrated area of a spiral bevel tooth, when that tooth was
momentarily assuming full load with no help of overlap
from adjacent teeth.
tion of time . During this moment, the load more than doubles on
an area that is not much more than a line contact (Fig. 4-16 J. The
resulting stress will be high enough under full-loaded conditions that pitting will quickly initiate in this area.
.1 ,
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rJ.
Fig. 4-17. Gear tooth section, 100 X. Unetched. Rolling
contact fatigue. Crack origin subsurface. Progression
parallel to surface and inward away from surface.
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101
102
(a)
(b)
103
104
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.
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Fig. 4-21. Same sample as in Fig. 4-17. Nital etched. Note
the "butterfly wings," or altered martensite, along the
shear planes.
,I
Fig. 4-22. Same sample as Fig. 4-18. Nital etched. Note the
"butterfly wings," or altered martensite, along the shear
planes.
oncoming cracks appear to follow those boundaries. Many academic studies refer to these same structures as transformed
shear band products formed by "adiabatic shear."s
Contact Fatigue (Spalling)
Spalling generally is not considered an initial mode of failure. but rather a continuation or propagation of pitting and rolling contact fatigue. It is very common to refer to this failure
mode as "pitting and spalling." As an example. Fig. 4-23 shows
a spiral gear tooth with pi tting low on the profile, which subseq uently progressed un til spalling occurred over the top face and
back side profile. This apparently rapid and extensive progression is often referred to as the "cyclone effect."
Idler gears were removed from three planetary drive assemblies. The teeth on each gear showed a remarkable example
of pitting and spalling progression. Figure 4-24[a) shows lines
of pitting just below the pitchline; [b) shows the pitting progressed to light spalling up and over the addendum; and (c)
shows complete spalling of all teeth .
105
106
Thermal fatigue in gearing is most often considered (although not ne cessarily correctly) to be synonymous with frictional heat. This is virtually the only kind of alternating heating
and cooling that is applied in the field . Then, too, thermal fatigue is not commonly found on the active profile of the gear
(a)
(b)
(e)
107
108
60
50
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Fig. 4-26 . Spalling-a subsurface fatigue failu re ori ginat ing at the ca se /core inte rface , s ub seq uen tly progressing
under the case.
.
(a)
109
(b)
There is a remote chance that grinding checks and quenching cracks could be construed as very rapid thermal fatigue .
Both are discussed as manufacturing causes in Chapter 5.
Fatigue of Round, Splined,
and Keyed Bores
110
Fig. 4-28 . Schematic showing subcase failure of bidirectionaltorsional shear fatigue followed by torsional tensile
failu re of the case.
/
Fig. 4-30. Splined section of a shaft. The typical threedirectional reversing torsional fatigue "rosette."
111
112
~
Case
No s tress
con centration
Stress
condition
On e-way
bending load
Two-way
bending load
Reverse bending
and rotation
load
Low
over stress
High
overstress
Low
overstress
High s tres s
concentration
High
Low
High
overstress
overstress
ov er stres s
c
e
It
-
e0
e
-
f_ - (!)
"
Impact
Tooth Bending Impact
Fig. 4-31. An arm of a differential spider. Two-way bending load; mild stress concentration; very low overstress.
Fig. 4-32 . A tt/a-in. shaft next to thread relief. Slight reversed bending under rota tionalload; high stress concentration; very low overstress.
113
114
Fig. 4-33. A 4-in.-diameter keyed shaft. Reversed bending ; rotational load; high stress concentration; high overstress.
flat path across to the opposite root radius , rather than travel
downward toward the zero-stress point. Figure 4-35 shows a
stress-coated overlay above a one -shot broken tooth. The frac ture did not have time to follow the usual stress pattern. A field
failure example is shown in Fig. 4 -36.
Tooth Shear
When the impact load is very high and the time of contact
very short, and if the ductility of the material will allow it, the
resultant tooth-failure mode will be shear. The fractured area
appears to be highly glazed, and the direction of the fracture is
from straight across the tooth to a convex shape. For instance, a
loaded gear and pinion set were operating at a high rate of speed
when the pinion stopped instantaneously (Fig. 4-37J. The momentum of the gear was great enough to shear the contacting
pinion teeth from the reverse direction, leaving the remaining
teeth in excellent condition . The gear teeth were partially
sheared and were all "scrubbed" over the top face from the reverse direction.
115
116
(a)
(b)
Fig . 4-37 . Spiral be vel gear and pinion set, 1 .5X. Sheared
in reverse direction. The pinion came to a sudden and
complete stop at the instant of a primary failure of the
unit, allowing the gear to shear the contacting teeth and to
continue rotating over the failed area.
117
118
Case Crushing
Case crushing wi ll occur when an extreme overload is applied to a~~rburized case. Four factors combine to cause a case
to be crushed. Consider Fig. 4-40 : Case crushing depends on the
stress applied at the point of contact, the radius of curvature of
the contacting surfaces, the thickness of the case, and the ha rdness of the core material. The resulting failure is caused by
119
II
I
I
com press ive load s per unit area tha t are excessive for the ex ist ing conditions. T he fracture starts at the case/core inte rface and
continues to shea r in to the core and outward to the surface . Figure 4 -41 shows the subsurface propagation of the crushi ng effect. [Refer also to Fig. 3 -1 for a view of a typ ical surface a ppearance of case cr us hi ng.) For an examp le quite the opposite of
120
the one in Fig . 4-41, see Fig. 4-42: very heavy loads, light case
depth , and low core hardness; it displayed excellent ductility
and never lost a tooth.
Torsional Shear
Wear
Surface deterioration of the active profile of the gear teeth is
called "wear." There are two distinct modes of wear that will be
discussed-abrasive and adhesive .
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Abrasive Wear
121
122
Fig. 4-45. Pinion tooth profile,100X. Glazed surface showing the start of catastrophic movement of surface material. Frictional heat has already started to temper the
surface.
showing the entire tooth profile cleanly cut away with no microstructural damage to the underlying material.
Abrasive wear cannot be deterred by lubrication, because
the lubricant is often the vehicle that contains and continually
supplies the abrasive material as a contaminant. When contamination occurs, all moving parts . within the assembly are affected, including seals, spacers, bearings, pumps, and mating
gears (see Fig. 2-3).
When abrasive wear is isolated to only one part [i.e., either
gear or pinion), it is imperative to examine closely the surface of
the mating part. For instance, a very heavy amount of massive
carbides (refer to Fig. 3-27 and 3-28) that impinged upon the
surface may easily cut into a softer mating surface.
Adhesive Wear
Adhesive wear occurs on sliding surfaces when the pressure between the contacting asperities is sufficient to cause local plastic deformation and adhesion. " Whenever plastic deformation occurs, energy is absorbed as heat-frictional heat.
The first indication of trouble is a glazed surface, followed by
galling, then seizure. A glazed surface may not undergo any dimensional changes, but examination of the microstructure reveals a catastrophic movement of surface material (Fig. 4-45).
As frictional heat increases, the surface softens, and adhesive
ability becomes greater; further plastic deformation occurs; the
heat becomes high enough locally to change the microconstituent at the surface completely (Fig. 4-46); and now galling oc-
123
124
Stress Rupture
When the internal residual stresses build up to a magnitude
beyond the strength of the material, the part will rupture. The
rupture occurs at the point at which this critical value is exceeded. either internally or externally.
Internal rupture. The point within a gear most likely to attract a buildup of residual stresses is the case/core interface
near the top face or corner of a tooth. Figure 3-3 (b J shows an
excellent example of case /core separation due to internal residual stresses exceeding the strength of material at the case /core
transition zone. Figure 4-48 shows the same mechanism at the
corner of a tooth. In severe cases, the entire top of the tooth
might "pop off" (Fig. 4-49).
125
126
.'
References
1. H. J. Grover, S. A. Gordon, L. R. Jackson, "Fatigue of Metals and
Structures," Battelle Memorial Institute, prepared for Department of Navy, Bureau of Aeronautics, NAVAER 00-25-534,1954,
P 15-19.
2. Charles Lipson and L. V. Cowell. Handbook of Mechani cal Wear,
Ann Arbor: Universit y of Michigan Press , 1961 , p 135.
3. D. L. Seager, ASLE, Separation of Gear Teeth, in Approach and
Recess, and the Likelihood of Corner Contact, in S ource Book on
Gear Design. Technology and Performance, Ameri can Society for
Metals , 1980. p 25 -29.
4. Appendix IX of Gl ea son Works Publication SD4052A, Ma y 1966,
in Source Book on Gear Design, Technology and Performan ce,
Ameri can Society for Metals, 1980. p 366-411.
5. Harry C. Rogers. Adiabatic Plastic Deformation . in Annual Review of Mat erials S cience. Vol 9,1979, P 283-311.
6. D. H. Breen. Fundamental Aspects of Gear Strength Requirements, in Source Book on Gear Design . T echnology and Performan ce. American Society for Metals , 1980. p 63-65.
7. Charles Lipson. Why Ma chine Parts Fail. The Penton Publishing
Company . Cleveland . Ohio, 1951, p 25.
8. T. S . Eyrie, An Introduction to Wear (Section 1). in Source Book on
Wear Control T echnology, American Societ y for Metals . 1978.
p 1-10.
127
po
CHAPTER
Basic materi al
Engineerin g
Manufacturing
Heat treatment
Service applicati on
130
Basic Material
With full understanding that gears are also manufactured from
nonferrous materials such as copper and aluminum alloys , and
from powdered metal products, both ferrous and nonferrous,
this text will discuss only steel gears .
Steel
Segregation is a de pa r t ure fro m th e average che mica l co mpos i tio n. Ge nerally the rna terial ric hes t in the a lloying e le me n ts
w ill b e in the zo ne of la st cooli ng, th e ingot ce nter. T he a mo unt
of seg rega tio n, o r che mica l differen ce , is ve ry se ldo m of mu ch
co n se q uence, exce p t th at it ma y influ en ce heat tr eatmen t. As a n
exa m p le , in a ca se of ex tre me se gregati on, th ere ma y be a 0 .04%
difference in a ve rage ca r bon con te n t from th e a rea outsid e th e
in got to th e ce n tra l area. Th e central a re a co n tai n s th e hi gh er
a mo un t of ca r b on . Th is differen ce in ca r b on co n te n t is maintained in th e same proporti on , ev en in th e roll ed bar stock to be
used later as forgin g s or as ma chined pa rt s. An y gear manufa ct ure d fr om th is heat of s tee l has a ma rk ed differen ce of ha rd ena bi li ty from th e o uter materi al to th e inne r ma te ri a l.
Ingotism is th e remaining evid en ce of th e co lum na r s tr uc ture of th e in got as it has b een roll ed into us able bar s toc k s izes.
A mi crostru ctural type of se gregation , it s lig h tly a ffects tooth
charact e ri sti cs du ring heat treatment in ex tre me inst ances.
Nonmetallic inclusions are c on ta ine d in a ll st eel in gots a nd
thu s , in all steel produ ct s . The y co ns is t of oxides and s ulfid es in
va rio us co m b ina tio ns a n d a re d eri ved chie fly fro m th e oxid izin g reacti ons of the refining processes, and from th e de oxid izing
materials added to th e molten steel. Some of th e large inclusions
ma y be silicates or aluminates resulting from the erosion of the
ladle or other refra ctories during pouring. This latter type of
inclusi on (illustrated in Fig. 3-3) is usuall y an isolated incident ,
random in its positi on, and not co ns is te n t throughout other
parts of th e same lot.
In the allo y steels us ed fo r hea vy dut y ge a ri ng, most nonmetallic inclusions are very small. we ll sc attered, and random.
The y ca use n o problem a t all . unless th ey occur at p oints of cri tical stress. Figure 4-11 shows a subsurface crack originating
131
132
Fig. 5-2. Top corner of a spur gear tooth, lOX. A "bull'seye" fatigue fracture centering around a nonmetallic
inclusion at the case/core interface. Only one tooth
spalled. An isolated, random case.
tooth bending fatigue pattern. An example of the effect of a remotely placed inclusion is illustrated in Fig. 5-2. The inclusion is
located near the top corner of one spur pinion tooth at the case/
core interface. It would never have been instrumental in this
tooth failure if the applied load had not shifted from the central
area of the tooth to the high outside edge of the tooth profile. At
this position, the inclusion is at the applied shear plane and becomes the nucleus for the crack propagation. The fracture starts
slowly with a "bull's-e ye" pattern, progresses subsurface for a
period of time, and finally, drops off as a spall. The cause of
failure was the inclusion since the strength of the tooth was
sufficient to function under the applied loads, even though they
had shifted posi tion.
Figure 5 -3 shows an example of a shaft failure in torsional
fatigue along the longitudinal shear plane, with its origin centered along an elongated oxide stringer [inclusion] in the core
near the case/core interface.
Note: Many fractures show one or more inclusions somewhere on their surfaces. All fractures cannot be caused by an
133
134
Fig. 5-4. Normal hot rolled steel bar flow lines have been
pressed into a forging-die cavity to strengthen the ultimate product.
Fig. 5-5. Microstructural banding shows alternating layers of ferrite and pearlite. Nonmetallic inclusions tend to
follow the ferrite bands.
135
136
Fig. 5-6. Banding influences the diffusivity of carbon during carburizing. Note the resulting banded areas of retained austenite (white structure) .
Forgings
A s th e d ef ects and cha ra c te ris ti cs of basi c st eel products
affect the forging o pe ra tio n, th e forging d ef ect s and cha rac te ristics affect all subse quent op erations. Again, th ere is repetiti on, but repetiti on w it h refinem ent. During h ot forging op erations , it is com mo n for s ur face defects to occur.>Larger def ects
137
are visible and can be removed at the forge source; but small
imperfections may not be visible, so most of these imperfections are removed during subsequent ma chining operations.
Flow lines. The flow lines and banding discussed above
have been reoriented to follow the direction of the material into
the forging die . The forging press is designed to direct this flow
evenly and consistently throughout the volume of the die [Fig.
3-10,3 -11, and 5-4 J. When this is not the case (Fig. 3-12J nonuniform gea r tooth characteristics ma y occur during subsequent
heat treatment.
Forging laps are formed at or near the surface of a forged
part when an overlapping piece of material is pressed back into
the part , yet is separa ted by an oxidized film or scale (Fig. 3-15 J.
At times, a hardening quench crack can be confused with a forging lap; but a microscopic examination reveals the difference,
because the crack formed by a forging lap will show a flow-line
pattern and will have a scaled surface [Fig . 5-7) . A special type
of forging lap occurs when the cooled corners of a billet are
pressed into the gear blank . It is easily recognized by the occurrence of one to four quarter-moon-shaped laps, each at a
quadrant.
Internal rupture may be caused by uneven heating of the
billet that allows a differential stress during deforming. Gener-
'I
I
138
Castings
The castings associated most with or having an influence
on gears are the housings used in the gear box assembly. This
may be a transmission box, a differential carrier. a wheel reduction unit, or a speed reducer assembly. The purpose of the casting is to house the gear assembly and the lubricant.
The first casting characteristic to note is the accuracy of the
alignment of the locating holes in the housing. Misalignment
within the assembly housing causes many problems for both
the gears and the bearings. A misaligned gear tends to have a
load pattern shifted toward one end of the teeth, but the pattern
will be uniform and consistent on all teeth. The shaft will be in a
continuous state of bending in one spatial direction. but with
rotational bending around its own surface.
The second characteristic to note is the rigidity of the hous-
139
..
140
Engineering
Engineering of gears is not only a matter of design. The entire
finished gear is accomplished by the mechanical (design] engineer, with close cooperation from the materials engineer, who
in turn must consult the metallurgical engineer, who must work
closely with the industrial engineer. This places heavy responsibility on several persons, with the ultimate goal of a good
product by the integration of design, material selection, heat
trea t specifica tions, and allowable tolerances for final grinding
or finished sizes.
Design
The designer's world is uniq ue, one that staggers the irnagina tion with the possibilities of achievement. The following
words were written many years ago by Ken Lane of Lynn,
Massachusetts:
The designer ben t across his board,
Wonderful things in his head were stored.
And he said as he rubbed his throbbing bean,
"How can I make this thing tough to machine?
If this part here were only straigh t
I'm sure the thing would work first rate.
But 't would be so easy to turn and bore
It never would make the machinists sore.
I better put in a right angle there
Then watch those babies tear their hair.
Now I'll put the holes that hold the cap
Way down in here where they're hard to tap.
Now this piece won't work, I'll bet a buck,
For it can't be held in a shoe or chuck.
It can't be drilled or it can't be ground
In fact, the design is exceedingly sound."
He looked again and cried-"At lastSuccess is mine , it can't even be cast!"!
141
142
Crock (I of 3)
---.- - 'D
7.0 0 diorn -
i6
Fig. 5-12. Carburized spiral bevel gear fractured from fatigue originating at the acute angle intersection of the root
fillet to the bolt hule,s
143
144
CD D=J [tJ
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- =:.o:.~-=-
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Material Selection
Materia l se lect io n can be acco mp lished only w hen th e ac tua l loadi ng co nditions are know n . Ofte n it occurs that loa d s
applied to a set of gears far exceed the des igned load charact eris ti cs of those gears . T he refore , th e ma te ria l a nd heat treat me n t
(or eve n th e de s ig n) wo uld ha ve bee n co r re ct if th e fie ld opera tio n were what the desig ne rs thought it would be .
In case of a n over load failu re, che ck firs t the specifica tio ns
to determine if they h a ve been m e t; but exercise cautio n: th e
specifications were a rrived a t arbitrarily , based on ass umed
kn owl ed ge . The specifications ma y not ha ve bee n ac ceptable.
Check to determ in e if the loa d s actuall y applied are no rm al for
th e ope ra tio n in que s ti on or if they ha ve bee n ab no rma lly o ut of
line . If the part has been und erdesig ned, wrong in for m a tion
145
146
placement gear [as did the teeth of the alloy steel gear); they
s im ply wo re o u t in a ve ry s ho rt time.
Heat Treatment Specifications
T he heat treating ope ra tio ns a re ge ne ra lly th e so le res po ns ib ili ty of th e gear manufa c ture r, as lon g a s the end resu lt mee ts
th e me tallu rgi cal re quireme n ts ag reed to by th e c us to mer a nd
th e manufa cturer. Th e heat treat s pecific a tio ns [i.e., th e s peci fi cations to th e hea t treat de partme nt) m us t be estab lis hed to
meet tho se requirements . T he es ta b lis he d s pec ifica tio ns a re
based on th e m a teri a l used a nd th e ca pability of the hea t treat ing eq uipme n t. If a specificati on to th e heat tr eat dep artment is
in cor rect, it is due of te n to po orly re layed i nfo rma tio n or to poor
ju dgm ent on th e part of th ose making th e s peci fica tio n. Not follow in g th e s pec if ica tio n is not th e fault of th e spec ificat io n.
Grinding Tolerances
Th e ge nera l mean s of ob ta in ing a fi nal dimen si on of a p ar t,
a fte r ca rb uriz ing a nd ha rd ening, is th rou gh grind ing . G ri ndi ng
re moves th e s urfac e of a carburized area, w hic h red uce s the
dept h of a hard en ed case . Th e judgm ent of th e indus tri a l e ng ineer con cern in g the allowa bl e a mo un t of grind ing s toc k to p rovide , a nd th e judgmen t of th e metallurgi st to com pe nsa te with
a n a d d i ti on al a mou n t of carburized case, are a very cri tical rna tter . This is t rue es pec ia lly a t a s ho ulder rad i us [as in Fig. 5-16)
where bending fati gue ma y or ig ina te due to ins uffici ent case.
Manufacturing
Afte r th e desi gn s tage , w hen a ll the s peci fi cati on s h a ve bee n
es ta b lis he d, comes th e m a nufa cture of the parts . The qu alit y of
ea ch part depends on the s kill of each pe rson parti cipa ting in its
manufa c ture a nd th e ca pab il it ie s of th e eq uip me n t used to prod uce the part.
If th e read er observes that the inspec tion d ep a rtmen t has
b een left ou t, he is ri ght. Q u a li t y is nev er inspect ed int o a part.
In specti on ge ts th e "k lun ke rs'' out. T h ere is a n e xc ellent pro-
147
148
149
Although a shoulder radius at a change of section is a designed function [see Fig . 5-13) many fatigue failures at a radius
cannot be attributed to the design. All too often a cutting tool
had not been properly formed to cut the designed radius and as
a result, a sharp corner, a smaller radius, or an undercut was
formed. This is a manufactured stress raiser that may readily
lead to bending fatigue.
Figure 5-17 shows rapid fatigue originating around the
base thread of a differential holding bolt. Figure 4-32 illustrates
bending fatigue that started at a sharp shoulder radius, and Fig.
4-33 shows what can happen at a sharp corner of a keyway.
As a graphic example of machining incapabilities, Fig . 5-18
should be observed. Each spline had been individually cut with
a small vertical milling cutter that was moved from the open
end to the shoulder. In order to "square" the rounded corners , a
hammer and chisel were used as a swage. This resulted in the
squared corners being cracked, and field fatigue failure took
place soon after.
From a visual observation, it would seem that all tooling
cutter marks and all tooling undercuts are detrimental. While
this is not necessarily so, generally it is good manufacturing
practice to produce a part free from cutter marks, with all radii
surfaces smooth and continuous .
Perhaps the one gear tooth characteristic that has been held
responsible for many gear failures is that of roughing cutter
I
I
II
I,
150
marks in the center of the root fillet. Oddly enough, tooth bending fatigue failures do not occur at the roughing cutter marks
but at the radius just below the active profile . A photoelastic
study was made to determine the actual effect of the cutter
mark upon the tooth bending strength. Figure 5-19 shows the
photoelastic stress pattern on a tooth with a 0.022-in.-deep cutter mark in the root center being loaded by a tooth with no cutter
mark. The radii of both teeth are the same and were loaded to a
capacity equivalent to 6.5 stress fringes . At the same time, the
small radius of the cutter mark had a stress equivalent of 6.0
fringes. The fringe pattern was the same when the mark cut to a
depth of 0.017 and 0.010 in. In each instance. the cutter mark
radius was retaining a stress concentration amounting to 92% of
what was retained by the active root fillet. However, whenever
a deep cutter mark coincides with the radius, a notch effect is
expected.
Tooth Characteristics
151
152
Fig. 5-20. Double helical gear. Severe frictional heat developed due to runout and taper in the gear. The heated
section had less than zero backlash.
(e) Refer to Fig. 1-1 7. Thi s int ern al ge a r s how s ind icatio ns
Grinding chec ks characteristica lly are a lig ned per pendi cula r to the grinding directio n and are sometimes joined to form
153
II
154
Heat Treatment
Although heat treatment is a manufacturing process , it drastically changes the chemical and metallurgical characteristics to
the extent that a separate discussion is necessary.
Case Properties
The properties of the case are important both at the midprofile and at the root radius of the gear tooth, but for different
reasons. John Halgren of International Harvester Company
made an in-depth study of subsurface stresses and the hardness
required to prevent subsurface failures. This work was published in the SAE Journal of March 1954, and is reproduced in
Fig. 5 -22. The curves are designed for a 7 D.P. spur gear, but the
100
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80
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60
ro
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40
10 0 ,----
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80
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, --
---,--
-----,
Based on
57 HRC m in. surfa ce ha rdness
304. 000 psi min. tens ile stre ngt h
at point of max . stress
60 I--- - f -- - I --
40
- - r ----,-
f----'~+_
-t-----t-
..-t7"--f----'-+---
----i
--1
"E
ro
20 1---
-!-'Ir--I---3,.-t--f----t-
----i
0.020 0 .0 40 0 .0 60 0 .080
Fig. 5-22. Subsurface stresses (left) and the hardness gra dients necessary to prevent subsurface failure (right);
shown for a 7-pitch spur gear.
155
156
20
18
16
14
12
10
9
8
Ca se de pth st a nda rd s . in .
S p ur-he lica l
Bevel s
.... 0 .015-D.020
. , .. 0.01 5 -0 .0 20
0 .015-0 .0 22
0.018 -0 .0 25
0 .020 -0.028
0 .0 25 -0 .03 3
' " . 0 .0 2 7 -D .0 3 5
. .. . 0 .030-D .040
(b)
(b)
(b)
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0 .0 15 -0 .020
0 .0 20 -0 .030
Diam e tra l
pil ch
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Ca se dep th st a ndards. in .
Sp ur-heli cal
Bevels
0 .035 -0 .04 5
0 .040-D.050
0 .045-D .05 5
0 .0 50-0.065
0 .060 -0.0 75
0.0 7 5-D .09 5
0 .09 0 - 0 .11 0
0 .0 2 5 -0.03 5
0.030 -0.040
0.03 5 -0 .04 5
0 .04 5 -0 .060
0.050 -0 .0 65
0 .060 -0 .08 0
0.0 70 -0 .090
tal Th is is on ly a g uide . s ub jec t to modificati on dep ending on desi gn a nd appl icat ion .
[b 1 Cons ult met a ll urgical de pa r tment.
157
158
carburized case as the primary cause of a failure . Each undoubtedly contributes to the timing of a fracture or to the mode
of failure; but when a catastrophic failure takes place. an examiner does not usually look for a microscopic cause.
Core Properties
The core of a gear tooth is the basic material under the carburized case that maintains the initial percentage of carbon. It
may have been quenched and tempered. or it may remain as
annealed. depending on the heat treating processes used.
The required properties of the core are few. The core must
be ductile enough to absorb shock loads without fracturing. and
hard enough to be resilient under impact and to withstand the
compressive applied loads without permanent deformation.
The structure may be ferrite and pearlite. as rolled. or annealed;
fine pearlite as heated and slow cooled; or low-carbon martensite as quenched and tempered. The ultimate strength of any
core is measured by its hardness (see Table 2 in Chapter 3).
Case/Core Combination
Failures in the core of a gear tooth a r e not common ; there fore, th e case a nd core s ho uld be co nside red toge ther in a ny
a na lysis . Two m aj or mod e s of fa il ure in gear teeth po in t direct l y to th e ca se/ co re combinatio n .
The case c rush ing illustrated in Fig. 4-40 vividly de picts
th e dep th of the ca r b ur ize d case a nd the s tre ng th of th e co re as
t w o co n tr ib uti ng fa ct ors . T ypi cal result s a re s how n in Fig . 4 -41
a nd 4-4 2.
Int ernal r u p t ure of a carb u rized toot h is a di rec t resu lt of
th e ac cum ula ted res idual te nsi le stresses exceedi ng the stre ngt h
a nd ductility of the material at the case/core inte rface, nea r t he
top of th e to oth or near a to p co rner at one e nd. [S ee Fig. 4-48 a nd
5 -2 4 . J T h is co nd it ion is aggrava te d b y fo ur fa ct or s. Each fa ct or
by itself ma y be be neficial, but , w he n these fa ctors exis t to get her, they ca n be det r ime n ta l:
Fig. 5-24. Internal stress rupture. Origin at case/core interface near top of tooth. In extreme cases, the entire tooth
top may pop off.
159
160
Hardening
Hardening (as opposed to carburizing and hardening) assumes the use of a medium- or high-carbon plain or alloy steel
that will harden consistently throughout its cross section, and
the strength generated at the surface will be maintained throughout. Concerning gears, the application may be limited. Tooth
hardness may range from 40 HRC to 60 HRC, but teeth at lower
hardnesses may be subject to wear and those at higher hardnesses may be somewhat brittle. Perhaps the dominant
through-hardening cause of failure is quench cracking. Usually
quench cracking occurs in such magnitude that it is noted immedia tel y, bu t, if it is suspected in a finished part , a metall urgical examination of a cross section through the crack may be
expedient. A quench crack is distinguishable from a forging lap
because the fracture surface of a quench crack is homogenous
and free from scale or oxides.
Selective hardening [i.e., producing a case by induction
hardening) is a very successful way of utilizing the hardenability of a medium-carbon steel to produce core strength , as well as
producing a fairly hard case to withstand wear and maintain
bending strength. The procedure is to uniformly heat, quench,
and temper a forging or a gear blank to a machinable hardness
of 30-35 HRC; finish-machine and cut the teeth; and induction
harden the tooth surface to 48-55 HRC. Two basic methods of
induction hardening gear teeth are accomplished by placing a
circular coil around the major diameter of the gear and heating
all teeth simultaneously, and by traversing one tooth space at a
time . The first method hardens the entire tooth and should
penetra te below the root. The second method hardens only the
tooth and root profile and has the effect of a hardened case (see
Fig . 3-17).
For the induction hardened case to be a cause of failure,
quality must be deficient. For instance, a spur pinion had a
tooth bending fatigue failure originating at the root fillet at the
end face (Fig . 5-25). Etching of the end face revealed the origin
to be at the terminus of the induction pattern. The teeth had
been through hardened but had not been hardened beyond the
tooth root. As a second example , a large spur gear was failing by
161
162
Fig. 5-25. Spur pinion induction hardened by using a single round coil. Hardened area terminus at the root fillet
end face set up a stress notch that invited failure by tooth
bending fatigue.
163
Fig. 5-27. Internal spur gear induction hardened by scanning one tooth space at a time. The inductor was misaligned, allowing for a non hardened addendum on one
tooth profile. This soft area was easily worn.
tooth bending fatigu e at the root radius. Etching showed a surfa ce hardness pattern a long th e en ti re profile , but it had terminated at th e root fillet (Fig . 5-26) .
Some analysts claim that induction hardening is for tooth
w ear onl y and that hard ening of the root is not necessary. Other
analysts differ ver y strongly. Observations verify that most
failures. not only of bending fati gue. but of tooth surface fa tigue. are associated with the hard ened zon e terminu s. With
this observation in mind, a university study was conducted to
determine the residu al stress pattern at th e induction hardened
ca se/core transition zone . The result was th e establishment of
the fact that a high peak of residual tensile stress occurs at the
hardened case terminus. This cond it ion becomes a self-induced
metallurgical notch , potentially a point of fatigue ori gin.
Improper indu ction hard ening ma y be th e cause for other
problem s, such as excessi ve wear along a nonhardened addendum (Fig. 5 -27), or tooth bending fatigue from a quench crac k at
the open end of a tooth root radius or from inductor burns at the
tooth root (Fig. 5-28).
Selecti ve hardening also incl udes flame hardening. The
problems involved with this technique are more flagrant than
with induction hardening, since flame hardening of teeth is
more difficult to control. Nonuniform hardened areas and overheated corners may be the most common types of problems to
occur when flame hardening is utilized.
it
164
Fig. 5-2 8. A tooth space inductor set too close to the root
caused severe burning and melted material at the root
centers of several teeth.
Tempering
T empering is th e process of subj ecting h ard en ed ge a rs to a
low -t empe ratu re reh ea t , desig ned to reduce the s urface ha rdness s lig h tly and to reduce th e residual s tresse s ca use d b y
quen ching. T empering of gea rs, a fte r hard ening or s ubze ro
treatment , pl a ces the ca uses mostl y in one of tw o ca tego ries , to o
much or to o little. If a part remains too h ard (to o littl e temp erin g), it ma y b e s ub jec t to brittl e frac t ure s . If a pa rt is to o soft
(t oo much temp ering] , it m a y be s u b je c t to surfa ce w earing
problems or tooth bending fatigue.
When ce r ta in a ll oy st eel s a re heat ed to a temperatu re b et wee n 500 OF and 700 OF, th ere is a n increa se in s tre ng th , bu t a
165
166
(a)
(b)
Service Application
Dr. Charles Lipson was quoted as saying: "The fact is that the
vast majority of service failures cannot be traced to the metal-
167
168
Load
Str ess
T-----.-,"-r>""TJ- --
J.......<....L.L.L-_
c-
Str ess
T----"""'~--
B--~~L-..----
Com pression
Tensi on
Fig . 5-30. Residual stresses in a shaft due to plastic bending duri ng a straightening operation. (a) Stress dist ribution during plastic bending. (b) Residual stress measured
after load remova\. 9
Now, w hy, s ince service a p p lic a tio ns a ppear to be th e g rea tes t ca use for gear fa il ures, ha s so -m uc h energy bee n s pe n t ex pl aining a ll of th e o the r rea s ons first ? P erhap s Rob ert P . Havilan d ha s the a nswer: " A fa ilure po in t in a per fec t objec t occurs
w he n th e energy s to re d b y a g ive n mech ani sm excee ds so me
cri tica l va l ue ." He th en ex pla in s , "T h is means th e break is going
to occ ur a t the wea kes t lin k." !' Th e disc ussio n up to thi s point
has bee n se t ting th e s tage for a disc ussio n abo ut wea k link s .
An y s ervice a pp lic a ti on failure is going to occur a t th e w eak est
link . It is n eces s ar y fir st to ha ve a n un d er st anding of w ha t
caused those areas of weakness. Also, any failure at the weakest point within the gear train is not caused by that weakest
point, if the load applied had been greater than the designed
load-carrying capacity of the assembly or of the failed part.
Conversely, if failure at a specific area continues as a pattern
and, if the applied loads are normal for that application, the
area of failure must be strengthened.
The causes of failure relating to service application will be
discussed, not in order of importance or magnitude, but in order
of operational sequence.
Set Matching
Spiral bevel and straight bevel gear and pinion sets are
matched by tooth contact pattern and serialized as sets . Although the tooth contact pattern is generally arbitrated by the
customer and vendor, there is a customarily acceptable no-load
pattern [see Fig. 1-18a]. Any deviation from this pattern may be
caused by misassembly, misalignment, or deflections. The deviated patterns [illustrated by Fig .1-18 c through p] can be recognized in the field by the wear pattern of the gear teeth on both
sides . Another very common cause of a deviated pattern is a
mismatching of sets. Very often a set is returned with different
serial numbers on the pinion and gear. Mismated parts should
never be in operation together.
169
170
As it happened. the left-hand unit. driving in the reverse direction. had a pinion in its assembly that had never been adjusted
to this type of operation. The result is apparent in Fig. 5-31.
A fast-growing industry of renovating and reconditioning
exists in the present economy. In fact, it is possible to purchase
a reconditioned gear box for nearly every type of original box
that has been manufactured. In order to compete with this new
industry. many manufacturers of original equipment have been
forced to renovate and to resell used assemblies. This is a scary
practice and could have disastrous results unless every internal
part has been closely inspected dimensionally. observed by
magnetic-particle examination, and kept meticulously clean.
The correct alignment of parts is very important. A misalignment can cause tooth loading to shift from the central profile
contact to an end contact. Whenever shifting of load pattern occurs through misalignment. it is recognizable because the patterns are consistent. continuous. and uniform. But this is not the
case with shifting contact patterns caused by deflections.
These patterns constantly shift back and forth as loads are increased. decrease d . or reversed . In one exam p le (s how n in Fig.
4 -5]. a s ud de n ove rload ca used by a n ex treme wi ndup of a ll internal parts p laced an immedia te e nd contact loa d on one tooth
of a pinio n. whic h cracked at the root radius.
A m at ch ed gea r a nd pini on se t ha s in s crib ed on a s urface of
eac h part a setti ng or m ou n ting dis tance. in a la ng uage agreed
upon by the ve ndor and the customer . If th is sett i ng ha s n o t
bee n adjus ted p roperly in th e assemb ly. th e norma l loa d co ntac t
area w ill be di spla ced. Fig ure 5-3 2 ill us t ra tes a tooth bending
fa tigue orig ina ting nea re r th e heel e nd . By p laci ng th is pinio n on
a tes te r and observi ng the pattern. it was determined that the
part had bee n pres et 0 .0 20 in . ou t fro m t he gear a nd 0.0 20 in .
b ack tow ard th e h eel . away fr om th e es ta b lis hed se tt i ng
informat io n .
Any tra nsmissio n or power trai n equ ipme nt ha s vibrations.
Ev en the s m oo t hes t s ource of po w er will pul s at e. Roller bear-
171
172
Mechanical Damage
Mechanical damage is damage to the gear inflicted by a
force of another object during the manufacture. packing and
shipping , unpacking. or assembly. This may be the same type of
damage as that inflicted by a foreign object. but from a different
context of environment and time. For instance. a cutting tool
had broken and gouged a tooth surface [Fig. 5-34). not causing
the trouble it might have; a bump on the top face of a gear tooth
subsequently caused bidirectional tooth bending fatigue [see
Fig. 4-9 and 4-10); one finished gear, dropping on the ends of the
teeth of a second gear (Fig. 5-35), caused impact failure or cracking for subsequent fatigue. Also , many instances of ni cks and
bumps-too numerous not to be noticeable-have set up stress
raisers for several modes of failure.
Lubrication
173
174
Foreign Material
Alth ou gh th e co n ta mina n ts in th e lubri cant a re es se n tially
fore ig n materia ls, they are co ns ide red contami na n ts on ly as
long as they a re sma ll eno ug h to be tra ns ported by the lub ri can t.
Wh en pa rticles become la rge or hea vy e no ug h to set tl e out of the
lubri cant a nd becom e enme s he d w ith in th e gea r teeth or a ny
oth er moving part s of th e assembl y, they are clas sified as foreig n material. The failure resulting fr om for ei gn material is usua lly a seco nda ry failure, s ince th e for eign ob ject in vol ved is
ge ne ra lly a b rok en par ti cl e or object res ulting from the pri ma r y
fa il ure. Se veral exa m p les foll ow. A bolt beca me loose a nd
Fig. 5-36. Differential spider arms worn deeply by abrasive material as a contaminant in the lubricant.
175
176
- ...
..
'
.-
. --
. _~,,-
.., ........-
Corrosion
Corrosion is chemical deterioration of a surface (as shown
in Fig. 5-39J. The corroded surface may not be considered a fail ure in a power transmission gear, for example, since it can still
function for its intended purpose, though it may not look good
and may be slightly noisy. However, if it were a pump gear for
liquid transportation, it would certainly be a failure, since it
could not function efficiently for its purpose. The most dangerous aspect of a corroded surface is its ability to become a stress
raiser and enhance pitting, spalling, tooth bending fatigue, and
brittle fracturing, all of which can happen without notice and
cause tremendous overall damage .
Continual Overloading
The result of consistency is uniformity and predictability.
Consistent, continual overloading of a gear will result in a uni-
177
178
load ed for th e co ndit io n tha t exis ted a nd not for its desi gned
stre ngt h . No gear is desig ned for fu ll load to be app lied at th e
ends of the tee th . Fig ur e 4 -42 ill us tr a tes gear teet h tha t were not
fun ctioning, a lt houg h onl y no rm al load s w er e being a p plie d .
The fa ilure was co ns is te n t a nd uniform. The co nditio n of s ha llow case de p th a nd low core hard ness was bei ng ove rloaded .
The shaft fa ilu re illus trated in Fig . 3 -2 w as ca use d b y contin ual overloadi ng . T he fail ure pattern was un ifo rm a nd p redi ct a ble. The part w as d esign ed to ha ve with st ood normal load s .
Figure 5-41 shows a s pur gea r tha t had been co nti n ua lly overloa ded. The ad hes ive wear pattern is uniform on both sides (not
th e case w it h gea rs r un ning in only one d irecti on ) a nd on a ll
teet h. The loa d s we re hea vy eno ugh to break th rough th e lub rica ting film and a llow seve re s urface fr ic tio n. O verloading do es
179
180
not cause only breakage ; it can also cause wear, pitting, and
spalling . A continual overload due to improper design is illustrated in Fig. 5-14 .
In general. if the mode of failure is rolling contact fatigue
distinguished by "butterfly wings," continual overloading is
almost certainly the cause .
Fatigue failures originating at sharp corners and undercuts
are caused by continual overloading for the condition existing,
but may not be overloaded for the designed application. An analyst has to be careful about making an incriminating statement
about a condition. For instance, a shaft was designed with a
keyway and the engineers took that into account and said that
the designed load for continuous operation was X-amount.
However, the part operated continually at a load of 1.25X. It
failed in fatigue as expected, at the keyway, but the failure was
the fault of overload, not of the keyway. Without the keyway,
the shaft could have easily withstood loads of 4X; but that evidence had nothing to do with this application. However, had the
designing engineer ignored the keyway and stated that the designed load was 4X, the keyway failure at an applied load of
1.25X would have been the fault of improper engineering design. From another angle, the designing engineer calculated that
a certain keyway, if carburized and hardened at all radii the
same as all other surfaces of the shaft, would have an operating
strength of 3X. However, manufacturing decided that dimensions were the most important characteristic; so the shaft was
routed to carburize, slow cool, cut keyway, and reharden. The
closer dimensions were held; but the low hardness of the keyway radii allowed the shaft to fail in fatigue at 1.25X of load.
The cause of failure was manufacturing misjudgment.
The obviousness of a particular mode of failure does not in
any way change the analyst's method. It should be deliberate
and thorough, and the analyst should be certain of the accuracy
of his results.
Impact Overloading
A term equivalent to impact overloading is "sudden peak
overload." Both imply that a gear may be operating at a consis-
(tl
In some ins ta nces, toot h crus hi ng ca n be ca used b y impac t overload [F igure 4 -41] .
[g J Torsio na l ten si le failure ma y be ev ide n t [Fig ure 4 -2 9 J
as sud de n ove rloa d .
[h) T o r si on al t ran s vers e s hear [Figure 4 -43 J is a d efinit e
case of s hoc k loading.
Bearing Failure
Ju st as m isalign m ent a n d d efl ec tion s ca n s hif t load con tac t
areas on ge a r tee th . so ca n bea ri ng fail ures . In fa ct , a fa iled bearin g ac t ua lly m is a lign s the e n tire associa ted gear train. Th e
m od es a nd ca use s of bearing failu r es a re ju st as man y a nd va r-
181
182
ied as for gear failures; but all that will be said here is that a
failing bearing will affect the life of the gears. Conversely, the
bearing analyst will admit that a failing gear will affect the life
of the bearings. It is in the best interest of all concerned that
both analysts recognize the interrelationship, not only of gears
and bearings , but of all moving and nonmoving components of
an assembly.
Maintenance
Maintenance personnel, equipment, and procedures can
make or break a company . Not only must good replacement
parts be used, but care must be taken that all used parts are
cleaned and thoroughly inspected before being placed back into
service . No gear should be reused unless a magnetic-particle
inspection method has determined a freedom from crack initiation. No mated gear or pinion should be run mated with a random part. Again, cleanliness and correct alignment must be
maintained during the reassembly of repaired items. Many users of equipment have programs of "preventive maintenance,"
in various degrees of sophistication, from well-thought-out
systematic checks of all components, to perhaps yearly hit-ormiss checkups of only the major operating parts. Other equipment users wait for parts to break down before fixing them.
Probably the most common and most abusive evidence of lack
of proper maintenance is insufficient or improper lubrication.
operator Error
The operators of equipment are blamed for more than their
share of failures; but it is often the result of operational error
that failures occur. In one situation, the operator of an airport
snow-removal vehicle was pushing the large bucket at 25 miles
per hour through the snow and slamming into the large bank of
snow at the end of the field without slowing down. Each time,
the rear end of the vehicle lifted up about six feet and slammed
back down on the concrete. This procedure was not at all necessary, nor was the equipment (especially the gears] designed to
take this abuse time after time. (The pinion of Fig. 5-40 and the
Field Application
It is possibl e th at field a p plica tio n is th e most imp ortant
fa c tor or, as so me be lieve, the cause of the grea test n um be r of
gea r fail ure s. It is cer ta in ly tr ue th at the fail ures occ ur dur ing
se rv ice ope ra tio ns; but unles s it ca n be prov en th at th e a p plica tio n is defi nite ly overs tressi ng th e gears , the a pp licat io n may
n ot be the primary cause. What e ve r the mode of failure, the
s tre ng th a t th e or igi n mu st be det e rmined, to verify w he the r th e
fi eld appli cat ion w a s beyond th e sc ope of th e d esi gn ed ca pa b il ities. If th e a p p lie d loa d th a t origi na ted the fa ilure was ran d om
a n d an is olat ed case, th ere is not mu ch tha t sh oul d be d on e. If,
on th e o the r h and, th e field appli cation is to b e co ns iste n t w i th
th e loads ca us ing fa ilure , b y a ll mean s , th e app lica tio n for th e
asse mb ly be ing used s ho u ld be cha nged, or the asse m b ly redes igne d to acco m m oda te reali sti c load s .
One more im por ta n t s ub jec t m us t b e d iscu ss ed ; i.e. , a
cha nge of a pp lica tio n in th e field . Ag ain , a n illu stra ti on: The
a u th or and hi s fa the r bou ght a H z-ton fl atbed truck for use to
haul wood, h a y , li ves tock , a nd w ha t-have-yo u. The y made different ra ck s a nd s ides to acco m mo da te the typ e of load s . Th e
father w as a lso a mining man; s o the y des igned a dumping bed
for hauling o re, put on tw o se ts of ove rload s pri ngs, a nd h aul ed
bet w een 3 a nd 4 to n s pe r load. T hey c ha nged the fie ld a p p lica ti on but did n ot ch ange th e differential or th e two dri ve sh afts.
An yone ca n g ues s th e re sults , w h ic h were rather co s t ly to repai r. The o ther a spect of cha nge of a p p lica tio n co mes abo ut
w he n th e manufac turer of th e orig ina l equ ip men t d ecides that
g rea te r horsep ower is req uire d to me et th e cha lle nge of competi ti on. It is s urp ris ing ho w man y times inc rea se d h orsep owe r,
as we ll as ove rl oad spring s, a re the on ly items th at seem t o
make a differen ce in a job a pp lic a tion.
183
184
References
1 . Ha rold E. McG ann on . Th e Mak ing . S ha p ing . and Treatin g of
St eel. 9th ed ., U n i te d Stat es St ee l. 197 1, p 588-5 89 .
2 . A. D. Merrim an. A Concise Enc ycl oped ia of Metall urgy. Ne w
York: Ame rican El se vi er Publishing Co. , In c.. 19 65 . p 284 .
3. Manua l of Open Die Forgin gs. Op en Die Forging In d us tr y , New
York , Ne w York . 1949 . p 13 .
4 . Reprint ed with perm ission fr om Am e rican S ocie ty for M et als.
5. Metal s Han d boo k 8th ed .. Vol 10 . Failure Anal y sis a nd Pre vention. American So ci et y for Met a ls. 197 5. p 52 0.
6. So u rce Book in Fa il ure A nalys is. Am eri can So ci et y for M et al s .
1974 . p 129.
7. "Embrittlement of Steels." Metal s Handb ook Ninth Editi on. Vol t ,
Propertie s and S ele ctiqn: Irons a n d Steels . Americ an Soci et y for
Metals , 19 78 , p 683-688.
8 . Metal s Prop erti e s. Handbook of Th e Am eri can S oci et y of M echani ca l En gineers . 1st ed .. New York: M cGraw -Hil l. 19 54 .
9 . T . J. Dol an. Residu al Stress. Strain Hard ening a nd Fatigu e. in In ternal St re s s es and Fatigu e in Metal s. S ymposium on Int ern al
Stresses and Fati gue in M eta ls [held in Detroit a n d Warren . Mich igan. 1958] . Els evier Pub lishing Co ., New York. 1959, p 304-305 .
10. Charles Lipson . Wh y Ma chin e Part s Fail. Th e Penton Publish ing
Co mpan y . Cleve land . Ohio. 1951 . p 5 .
11 . Robert P. H a vil and. Vall e y Forge Spac e T echno log y Center. and
G enera l Ele ctric Compa n y , Engin eerin g Reliabilit y and Lon g Life
Design . P rin ce ton: D. Van N os trand Co.. In c.. 1964. p 6-13 .
CHAPTER
Broken Shaft
One end of a broken a xle shaft w as re turn ed to th e manufacturer and subsequently submitted for analysis .
Background Information
Field appli cation: The a xle shaft was used in a heav y-dut y
op en -pit mining tru ck hauling overburden. The shaft had faile d
afte r op erating for 27 ,000 hours . Previous failures had resulted
from longitudinal shear, but this had not ; the c us tome r thought
the material was defective.
186
Visual Examination
THE FINALANALYSIS
~I!!!i--- Go ug e m ark
187
188
Progr essi on is normall y dow nwa rd. tow ard th e neutral poi n t bel o w the ce nter of the tooth . a nd th en upward to th e opposite root. In this instance . a bolt
hole wa s in te rce p te d nea r its termi nal end . A seco ndary fatigue IS ) start ed a t
th is in ter cept. a nd s low ly con ti nue d b ot h acros s and through the en tire cro s s
sec tion of th e gear un til fi na l se para tion occu rred .
Fig. 6-2(a). Fracture " A" in a spiral gear. The origin (0) of
tooth bending fatigue is near the toe end of the concave
(reverse) root radius. See also Fig. 6-2(b) and 6-2(c).
Fig. 6-2(b). Fracture "8 " in the gear shown in Fig. 6-2(a).
This fracture is an exact duplicate of fracture "A ." See
also Fig. 6-2(c).
189
190
Visual Examination
r
THE FINALANALYSIS
191
0---0- - -
o --:........_
192
Physical Examination
Magnetic-particle inspection w as us ed to d et e rmin e a n y
e x te nde d da mage du e to th e prim ar y failure of tooth bending
fatigue of th e gea r . It in d ica te d seve ra l o the r gea r teeth prog ess in g in th e sa me fa il ure patt ern as th e 15 fail ed tee th. It a lso indica te d t ha t eve ry pini on tooth had s ta r ted to fail b y tooth bendin g fa tig ue i n th e forward dire cti on a nd a t th e h eel e n d. Both
dis c ov e ri es s u b s ta n t ia te d th e cro s s ed tooth patt ern disc usse d
ea rl ier .
Th ere was al s o a seco n d re a s on for ma gneti c-p a rticl e ins pec t io n . Th e teeth o f bo t h p art s h a d bee n g ro un d b y a s p ira l
be v el tooth g ri nder. so it was n eces s a r y to in spect for g rind ing
chec ks th at mi ght h av e been a fac tor . N on e w ere found .
Nital etching w a s used to d e te rmin e if th e re we re a ny
g rin di ng burn s th at co uld ca use tem pered s po ts in c ri tica l
a reas. Ag a in , n on e were found .
Metallurgical Examination
A d ec is ion mu st n ow be m ad e as to whi ch . if a ny, of th e
met allu rgi cal test s a re to be mad e . A lt ho ug h th e ca us e of failur e
ma y be a p pa re n t a t thi s time . so me do ub t w o uld re ma i n unl es s
a ll rem ainin g p os si biliti es w ere c hec ke d .
Th e p rim ar y m od e w a s tooth b en ding fatigue . bo th of th e
gear a nd of th e pini on . Wa s th e ca rb urize d case ha rd e no ug h a nd
d eep e no ug h a t th e roo t radi us to h a ve wi th st ood no rm al load s ?
A ca se h ardne s s tra ve r s e mu st be tak en to d et ermine case prop e rt ies . Sin ce th e failure w a s a t th e root rad iu s tow ard th e toe.
se lec t a tooth fr om eac h part th at re ma ins but is c rac ke d in th e
sa me a rea . and s ecti on th at to oth a t.th e point of th e c rac k or igi n .
Prepare the sam p le for th e mi croh a rdn ess test e r a nd tak e th e
h ardn es s re adin g s as cl osel y as reaso na b le to th e c rac k .
Th e teeth of b oth p a rt s h ad b een g ro un d . Co u ld th is m ak e a
difference in case c ha racte r is tics fr om o ne s ide to th e o the r?
Ind eed it c o uld, a n d of te n d oes . Therefo re . a case ha rdn es s
tra vers e at both r adii is n ece s s ar y.
Is it nec essa r y t o run a ca se hardness tra ver se a t th e midp r ofil e o f both si des? Wh en d et e rmining fa ct ors for tooth b end-
Gea r
58/59 H RC
0.044 in .
0.048 in .
0 .077 in .
0.077 in .
Ni l
41 -32 HRC
Final Analysis
193
194
a t th e toe e nd w he n go ing in re ve rse . T he co ndi ti on was too co ns iste nt to be a defl ecti on un d er load ; th eref ore. it most lik el y
was perm anent mis alignm ent w i th in th e asse m b ly.
Background Information
Field a pp lic a tion: Thi s w as th e main dr iving set in th e diffe re n tia l h ou sing of a large fr ont-end loader mo ving coa l in a
s to rage area. Th e ma ch in e ha d opera te d for a p proxima te ly 1500
hours.
Visual Examination
Identifying markings:
Marking s
PART
FO- 129
4817
41 -8
Markings
PART
F-O
FO -129
48 20
4 1-8
on pinion : PA RT
FO-1 29
48 17
41 -8
Part number [n ot di scl os ed].
Mat ed w it h ge a r as se t No. 129 in Jun e 1970 .
G ra de of s te el us ed [S AE].
Set rati o; gea r 41 teeth , pinion 8 teeth.
on ge a r: PA RT F-O FO-1 29 4820 4 1-8
Pa rt number [not di scl os ed] .
Manufa ctured in June 197 0 .
Mat ed with pini on as se t N o. 129 in June 19 70 .
G ra de of s tee l us ed [SAE].
Se t rati o; gea r 41 teeth , pini on 8 te eth .
THE FINALANALYSIS
195
Fig. 6-3. Spir al bevel pinion tooth, 2X. T ooth bend ing fat igu e w it h or igin (a rrow) at the root radius. ex ac tly midwa y between th e ends of th e teeth.
196
THE FINALANALYSIS
Spur Pinion
One end of a n axle shaft containing th e integral s p ur pini on was
s ub mitt ed for e xa m ina tion, along with the report of a tooth pitting failur e (Fig. 6-4).
Background Information
Th e s p ur pinion , in tegral to th e axle s ha ft, ope ra ted in a
med ium-size, off-high w a y truck at a n ope n-p it mine. The pinio n w a s th e input sun pini on of a gea r-red uc tion unit in th e rear
,
,~ ~
'1"# 0
' ' - - -
197
198
Visual Examination
Identifying markings. Onl y th e pin ion h ea d h a d bee n returned . Th e s haf t por ti on h ad been torch -cut away . Th ere we re
no markings o n th e porti on re t urne d. Th e acco m pa nying rep ort
did menti on th e pa rt numb er , w h ic h is a ll th at ca n be used at th e
s tart.
Physical appearance. All th e teeth we re in ta ct a nd s howed
very little w ea r . O ne side s howe d a lin e of fin e pit s, mostl y full length , ver y low on the profil e. Th e y in crea sed in in tensity toward th e ope n e nd of th e teeth , as ind ica ted b y heav y pitting
a nd s palli ng . The opposite s ides of th e teeth a lso s howed fulllength co n tac t ve ry low on th e profile b ut d id n ot s how th e same
exte ns ive pitting d amage.
Physical Examination
199
200
Spur Gear
Three spur gears that had formed a straight-line train in a speed
reducer were brought in for examination and evaluation, with
no report accompanying them.
Background Information
No background information was submitted. The analyst
was told only that the gears were to be returned intact. Therefore. he could not section them.
Visual Examination
Identifying markings:
PAR T. 8622, D-2. on each gear
PART Part number [not disclosed).
8622
SAE grade of material.
D-2
Manufactured in April 1972 .
[It was a well-mated set of three.)
201
Neithe r a physica l exami nat io n nor a me tall urgical examinati on was pe rform ed.
Final Analysis
A tel eph on e ca ll was th en mad e to the user . A li st of q ues tio ns a nd res po nses fro m th is con versa ti on follows:
Fig. 6-5 . Spur gear, O.9X. Only two teeth pitted, one low on
profile and th e adjacent tooth high on profile. Mating gear
had two teeth as mirror image. This could onl y occur with
th e gea rs in a s ta tic posi tion under a reverbera ling typ e of
load.
I !
I
-202
THE FINALANALYSIS
Background Information
This was a spiral bevel dri ve set with th e g ea r a ttached to a
differential. The assembl ed unit was driving a new, large ,
experimental farm tractor in th e norma l p lowing and tilling operations .
Visual Examination
Identifying markings:
Markings on pinion: PART
0-4
E4-1425
PART
Pa r t number (not disclosed].
0 -4
Manufa ctured in April 1974.
E4 -1425 Mated with the gear as set No . 1425 in Ma y
1974 .
203
-204
Physical Examination
Magnetic-particle inspection showed a fati gue crac k p rog res s ing through on e of th e two inta ct pinion teeth a lo ng th e
s ame path as that obse rve d in th e fail ed teeth . No indicati on s
w ere obs erv ed on th e ge a r teeth.
Hardness checks on th e s urface of th e pinion teeth ra ted th e
hardness a t 61 HRC.
Metallurgical Examination
From th e e xa m ina tio n , a numb er of conclu si on s w ere
drawn. The primary failure is definit el y associat ed with the
pini on; th e gea r need not be exa mine d . The mode offa il ure mu st
be d et ermined through th e co nce n t ra te d load area . T o acco mpli sh thi s , a ca se h ardnes s tra verse must be mad e throu gh a
represent ati ve a rea a nd th e m icrostructure s t ud ied. Th erefore,
se ct io n th e one remaining pin ion to oth through th e mid secti on .
Mount a nd prepare the sa m p le fo r a case h ardne ss tra verse a nd
a microscopi c ex a mina tio n.
From th e d at e of manufa ctu re, th e d ocument ed in form ati on
on han d s howe d the pini on to be one of 10 forging s mad e from
Republi c Heat 6070929, g ra de 4820H. A ni ck el s po t chec k co nfirm ed th e grade . No fur the r che m ica l a na lys is wa s neces sar y.
Results of examination
Case d epth : (specifi ed 0.055-0 .070 in. effec tive ]
0.0 70 in . effe c tiv e d epth a t .mid p rofil e
0.0 58 in . effec tive de p th a t roo t radius
Case hardn es s: (specifi ed 59 -63 HRC]
59 HRC surfa ce at midprofil e (b y Tukon]
58 HRC surfa ce a t roo t ra d i us (b y Tukon]
Co re ha rdn css:
45 HRC tooth centerline a t midheight
44 HRC tooth cent erline a t roo t ci rcle
Fig. 6-6(b). Case microstructure (100X) of a high-compression area of one of the two intact teeth in the spiral bevel
pinion shown in Fig . 6(a). Note the altered martensite in
the subsurface shear plane. These "butterfly wings" extended from 0.010 to 0.035 in. below the surface.
205
206
Final Analysis
Background Information
This spiral bevel set was the primary drive unit for the differential and axle shafts of an exceptionall y large front-end
loader in the experimental stages of development.
Visual Examination
Identifying markings
Pinion markings: PART
L-9
L9-211
#1
6-38
PART
Part number [not disclosed].
L-9
Manufactured in December 1969 .
L9-211
Mated with gear as set no . 211 in December
1969.
#1
The first set mated and tested for the order being processed.
6-38
Set ratio; pinion 6 teeth, gear 38 teeth.
Gear markings: PART
L-9
L9-211
#1
38-6
The same information as for the pinion above.
Physical appearance of pinion. The tooth contact area appears to ha ve been hea vy a t the toe end and low on the profile of
the concave [drive) side. The entire active profile shows surface
rippling for over half the length of the tooth from the toe end, as
shown in Fig. 6-7[a) and [b]. Pitting has originated at the lower
edge of the profile, 2 in . from the toe end of the concave side [Fig.
6-7a]; it has subsequently progressed in both directions along
the lower edge of the active profile and upwards toward the top
of the tooth, changing the mode from pitting to spalling [Fig.
6-7b]. Both photographs show evidence of a double contact: the
original setting, and a secondary pattern with the pinion moved
out and away from the center of the gear. The convex (reverse]
sides are slightly worn and scuffed high over the profile.
207
-208
(a)
(b)
[a] A rip p led surface for 'I. lengt h of th e too th fr om th e toe e nd . Pit ting has
or igi na ted low on th e a ctiv e profil e. 2 in . fr om the to e e nd . [b I Pit ti ng area ha s
e x te nded in both directions a nd has bro ad e ned . Th e ce n tra l profile ha s a n area
of s pa ll ing tha t a p pea r s to be con tig uo us wit h the pi tti ng. T he micr os t ru ct ure
in di cat es th e tw o modes a re occ urri ng inde pen dentl y .
Physical Examination
Magnetic-particle inspection. There is no evidence of tooth
bending fatigue on either part. The several cracks indicated are
associated with the spalling surfaces on the concave sides of the
pinion teeth. The gear teeth show no indication of fatigue.
Tooth characteristics. The original setting test charts taken
on this set in December 1969 are on file and document a very
good and normal tooth contact pattern. The secondary tooth
pattern that prevails at this time could not be duplicated on the
gear tester. The pinion appears to have moved away from the
center of the gear, thus activating a very heavy low-profile contact toward the toe end.
Surface hardness tests. The surface hardness of both parts
is 58 -59 HRC, which is within the specification of 58-63 HRC.
Metallurgical Examination
The rippling [Fig . 6-7a and b) is extensi ve and covers the
entire area of the initial contact pattern. Rippling reflects
movement or a tendency to move. The movement can be superficial adjustment of a surface heavily rolled while sliding; or it
can be an adjustment of the surface during absorption of energy
by retained austenite . Rippling is not always associated with a
failure, nor is it detrimental in itself. It does usually indicate,
however, a rolling/sliding condition that is highly compressive .
The pitting is originating in a localized area, and the spalling appears to be a contiguous event, although this type of spalling could easily have been found as an independent mode with out the association of surface pitting. It is therefore necessary
to section the pinion tooth normal to the active profile, near the
spalled area shown in Fig. 6-7[b), and to prepare this section for
a microscopic examination and a case hardness traverse.
209
.......
210
Note: th e surface s how s no ca ta strophic mov em ent; th e "b utt erfly w ings"
are gen erall y parallel to the s urface but ex tend 0.027 in. below th e surface; and
microstru cture is ver y fin e acic ula r mart ensite retaining less than 5%
aust enite.
The material and process specifications have been met satisfactorily. The primary mode of failure was rolling contact fa-
THE FINALANALYSIS
60
/\/\
M
J.
I POin t -
~ ~.......,
u
50
a;
;:
-'"
o
0
. /
oat radius
40
0 .05 3 in .
cr:
--
r-- r----.. /
~ .,
0 .082 in.
r-..
<Ii
'"
OJ
c:
30
"0
J:
20
10
Spur Gear
A porti on of t w o la rge s pur tooth bull gears t ha t had spalling
teeth w as submitted for eva luatio n (Fig. 6-8a ).
Background Information
The gea rs we re taken fro m a fi na l dri ve w hee l re d uc tio n
unit of a very large ope n -p it mining tru ck . T he dri ving pinion s
were not s ubmitte d ; th e usu al ass ura nce w a s give n tha t th e y
w ere in goo d condit io n a nd were still in ope ra tion. Apparentl y,
211
-212
(a)
(b)
Fig. 6-8. Spur gear tooth, SAE 4147H, quenched and tempered to 311 HB, machined completely, induction hardened with a tooth space inductor by traversing one tooth
space at a time. (a) Surface spalling along one tooth flank.
(b) No hardened case on active profile of one side of the
teeth.
these two gears had been operating for relatively few hours.
The loads were considered to be maximum for the opera tion.
These parts were to have been SAE 4147H steel, quenched
and tempered to 262-311 HB, finish machined, induction hardened [both the spline and the spur teeth). and tempered at 350 of
to a specified hardness of 55 HRC minimum on the hardened
surface.
Visual Examination
Physical Examination
Magnetic-particle inspec tion. There were no indications
other tha n t hose assoc iated w ith the s palled areas.
Sur face hardness testing. The ends of the teeth were at 311
HB (specified , 262-311 HB). The surface at the root was 58 HRC
(specified, 55 H RC mi n).
Nital etching. The end faces of the gear teeth were polished
and nital etched for a view of the hardened area. (This viewing
area is the same area examined by the induction hardening operator on eac h p roducti on pa r t to maint a in consiste ncy .) T he
end face of a ll s ubmi tted teet h s howed a cons is te n t ha rde ned
pattern a long the full profile and around the root fillets . From
this vantage point, they would have been acceptable .
Metallurgical Examination
Up to this point. no incriminating evidence has been found;
but there is a need to find out what has happened in the spalled
areas. T he consiste ncy in the spalled pattern is that every
spalled tooth has a spa lled area 1 11z in . from one ope n end. T herefore. both eight-toot h sections shou ld be cut para lle l to and at a
plane l lfz in . from the end face . The freshly cut plane will thenbe
nital etched for a macroscopic examination.
Macroscopic examination [Fig . 6-8bJ of th e nita l-etc hed
surface revealed that the spalled areas retained very little, if
an y. induction hardened case. The compressive loads originated the failures at the case/core interface and at the terminating junctio n of the surface harde ned zo ne . A lso . a lo ng the profile of the teeth tha t ha d not failed, the h a rd en ed case was as
sha llow as 0 .020 in .
Chemical analysis confirmed the rna terial to be SAE
4147 H. as specified.
213
-214
Final Analysis
The parts had met the material and initial heat treat hardening specifications. The mode of failure was tooth profile spalling . By definition, spalling originates at a case/core interface or
at the juncture of a hardened/nonhardened area.
The cause of this failure was either insufficient or no induction hardened case along the active profile. The cause was activated by a nonfunctioning induction hardening coil that did not
or was not allowed to harden the mid profile of several teeth.
The teeth had been induction hardened by the single-tooth
method, wherein the adjacent profiles and included root, defined as a tooth space, are heated by a tooth space inductor traversing the length of the tooth. Continuous cooling and quench
flow must be maintained very closely; any interruption will result in an improperly hardened pattern. Since the hardening
pattern was uniform on most of the teeth, the problem appears
to have been related to the flow of cooling water. When noticed
by the operator, the condition was corrected; but the induction
machine operator's error was failing to ha ve the gears checked
closely for a lack of a hardening pa ttern on those few teeth. Next
in line was the nital etch procedure set up by the inspection
department, which also failed to discover the condi tion . Though
the problematic condition was overlooked during two other
stages, the cause ultimately goes back to the heat treatment
process. This failure was determined to be an isolated case and
did not warrant a recall of all the gears in operation.
Hypoid Pinion
The hypoid pinion shown in Fig. 6-9(a) was placed on the failure analyst's desk with the usual 'p lea for assistance. To the
analyst's question of where the mating part was, the response
was that there was nothing wrong with it, so it was still in service. Please note: Those who disassemble units must recognize
the importance of observing every drive gear set to determine if
it had been mated properly. Too many times, new parts are
33
43
45
48
pla ced in operation with apparently "good" used parts; but the
toot h charac teristics of one may be abso lute ly wrong for the
other. S ubse q ue n t fa ilure of the seco nd set ma y be exceptio na ll y rapid . If mism a ti ng occ urs , it is ve ry diffic ult to determi ne
respons ib ility; b u t no gear ma n ufa cturer should be respo ns ible
to warra n t a ny serialized pa rt th at ha s bee n misma ted.
Background Information
T he h ypoid pini on was the d ri ving memb er of a pow er unit
opera ti ng a rapid tran sit car. The pini on had been re moved fro m
service a t the end of th e initial test peri od becau se it showed
u ndue wear. (Kee p in m ind th at tran sit ge a ri ng ru ns under f ull
load in both directi on s. )
215
216
Visual Examination
4820
6-43
J-7
K7-97
THE FINALANALYSIS
60
l oot ra dius
50
a;
~u 40
o
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e:
Fr ~ r0t
Midprofil e
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~
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30
"0
rn
J:
20
10
217
218
CHAPTER
220
Field Report
II
221
222
WRITINGTHE REPORT
223
224
during the examination. It discusses the effectiveness of answering the "why" questions brought up by the customer in
relation to the incident; and it discusses the relative merit of various corrective measures that could be recommended. In general, the evaluation is not the closing portion of the report , but it
is the main context for the letter of transmittal of the report to
the customer.
Letter of Transmittal
The shortest letter of transmittal will be, for example:" Accompanying this letter is our report No. 750, which is selfexplanatory." The assumption of this letter is that report No.
750 is complete regarding conclusions, recommendations, and/
or evaluation. However, if the report is not complete in these
respects, the letter of transmit tal should be expanded to incl ude
the necessary closing. The author of the report and the author of
the letter of transmittal should be in communication before the
report is concluded, to determine who is to do what about the
closing.
It is essential to be realistic, first concerning the responsibility of the analyst who is also the author of the report. If the
analyst also authors the letter of transmittal, the report should
close in a logical manner and the letter used to expand or emphasize. If the analyst is not the head of the department, but the
letter of transmittal is to be sent by the department head , the
analyst may close his report to answer the objective and allow
the letter to range from one simple sentence to a lengthy evaluation , with recommendations as necessary. If the letter of transmittal is to be sent by a member of the sales department, in most
instances the report must be complete in every detail.
Also, the author of the letter of transmittal must read the
report carefully. Ha ve the objecti ves been answered? Check for
conclusions and recommenda tions. Are they clear and concise?
Are they in logical order? Are they clearly supported by the
results in the body of the report? Are there any other conclusions or recommendations that come to mind as you study the
report? If there need to be addi tional emphases or expanded recommendations, the letter of transmittal is the only means
available to bring the incident to a final conclusion.
Ethical Overview
An obse r ve r ma y of te n be in fl ue nced b y p re vi ou s obse rva ti on s or b y a ce r tai n des i re to see thing s th at s im p ly are not
there . For thi s reas o n, it see ms ex pe d ie n t to d isc uss so me p oin ts
of e thi cs [or ju st g ood e t iq ue tte ] n ot as c ri ticis m, but t o em p ha -.
s ize c ha racte r . In th e ac t of s t udy ing a failed part a n d in p a s sing
in format ion on to o the rs , it is of utmost imp ort an ce tha t th ree
ch a ra c te ris tics a re k ept in pl a in vie w : acc ura cy , cl a rit y, a n d
la ck of b ia s .
A cc ura c y is in th e eyes of th e behold e r. Wh at e ve r is see n
s ho uld be ex p la ined in clea r a n d si m p le d et a il. und e r st and a bl e
to th e reader. A ca tas tro p h ic fa ilure in th e fi el d of o pe ra tio n
req uires a firs t- ha nd rep ort fr om th e o pe ra to r. T he fie ld pe rso n ne l exam i ni ng a fa ile d un it need s to accura te ly p ort ra y w ha t
h e sees . Th e field re pres ent at i ve mu st be exac t in s ub m i tt ing
de ta i ls to th e a na lys t. Th e a na lys t mu st m ak e a si ncere effor t to
piece th e sto ry togethe r a nd run e no ug h test s to de ter m ine a
clea r-c u t a nswer.
N o ac tio n is m ore e m b a rrassi ng th an giv ing a c usto mer a
firs t-s ig h t o p in io n, a llowi ng h im to acce p t it as fa c t, a nd lat e r
fin ding th at th e "obvio us" was al l w ro ng. Th e exam iner s ho u ld
be ce r ta in tha t e noug h in fo rma tio n is re a dil y ava ilab le to be
co nvinc ing both to him self a n d to hi s c us tome r .
Clarity is th e q ua li ty of b eing cl ear , free fro m co nf us io n,
a nd s im p ly und e r s tan d a bl e. Th e ai m of th e a u thor of a n y of th e
p rint ed do c ume n ts d isc ussed ea rlier s ho uld be cla ri ty, n o l on ly
for th e a ut hor's benefi t, but fo r th e benefi t of those pers on s ye t
225
226
Reference
1. Harry E. Chandler, T echni cal Writer's Handbook, American Society for Metals . 1983 , p 111-133.
Index
NOTE.
228
INDEX
En gin eering
ca uses of failure . 140 -14 7
des ig n [F) , 140 -14 5
d esi gn failure ca use in s pira l be ve l se t.
206
g rindi ng tol er a nces [F), 147 -148
hea t t rea tme nt s pecifi catio ns. 147
mat erial se lec tio n [F). 145- 147
En vironmental fa ct or s
lu b rica tio n. 28- 32
mech an ical s tability . 36-3 8
per sonnel-rel at ed activ it ies . 38 -40
tempera ture. 32-3 5
Ethi ca l ove rview. in failure a nalys is report. 225-226
Eva lua tio n. in closi ng of fail u re a na lysis
re po rt. 223 -22 4
.
Exa mination pr ocedu res and res ult s . of
fa ilu re a nalysis report . 222
Externa l ru pt ur e [F ). 59. 126-1 27
F
Failure a na lysis
of broken s ha f t. 185-1 88
of h ypoid pi nion. 214 -218
of spira l bevel drive set, 194 -196
of spiral bev e l gea r. 188-194
of s pira l beve l se t. 203-211
of spur gea r. 200 -202, 211 -214
of spur pinion. 197-200
Failure a na lys is rep ort. 222-224
ba ck ground inf ormati on . 222
closing. 223 -22 4
e xam in at ion pr ocedures a nd result s .
222
heading. 222
Fatig ue. 86
in s ha fts [F.T). 109 -11 4
of round sp lined a nd ke yed bores . 109
pilling IF). 94-100
rolli ng con ta c t fa tig ue ( Fl. 96 .100 -105
s palli ng IF). 105-108
th ermal fa tigu e (Fl . 106 . 108-109
too th bendi ng fa tigu e [F). 86 -94
Field appli cation. 183
Field examina tio n . 44- 47
primar y a nd seco nda ry fra c t ure . 46
remo val of ass embly. 45
re vie w of parts. 46
us e of docu me n ta tio n, 44- 45
Field report . 220
Flame hard en in g. 163
Flow lin es
banding [F) . 134 -136
{n s teel [F). 134 -136
in s tee l forg ing [F]. 66-67 . 135. 137
For ei gn mat erial. in gear tee th or mo vin g
pa r ts of asse m bly [F), 175 -176
Forg ing la ps . in stee l forg ings (F) . 68 .
137
Fo rg ings . Sl ~ ( ~ S te el for gi ngs
Fri ct ion . 35
Fri cti on a l e ne rg y. ef fec t on tem pe ra tu re.
35
INDEX
Harden in g..161
na me ha rden in g. 163
induc ti on hardening. 16 1
q uenc h crac ki ng. 161
Ha rd ness
cross-sec t iona l survey [F) . 63 -65
eq uiva len t num be rs for s tee l (T ). 56 -57
Head in g. of failure a na lys is rep ort . 222
Heat treatment
case/ co re com bina ti on [F ). 119 -120 .
124.1 59 -160
ca se prope rti es [F). 154- 158
co p per st ri ppi ng so lutions . 167
co ppe rpla ti ng.165 -167
core prope r ties. 158
follo w ing s pec ifica tions to pre vent
fail ure . 147
ha rd ening. 161-164
imp rope rly placed th readed plugs. 167
s t raig h te ning of pin ion sh ank s a nd
s ha fts (F). 166 -168
tempe rin g. 164-1 65
Heli cal gea rs (F ). 2-3
a pp lied s t resses [F) . 7-9
int erna l gea rs [F) . 3
H yp oid gea rs
a p plied s tresses. 10
se ts (F) . 5
H yp oid pinio n. fa il ur e a nalysis
bac kgrou nd inf ormatio n . 215
ca se hardnes s trave rse (F) . 216 -217
fi na l a na lysis. 217-21 8
ide n ti fy ing ma rks . 216
magn et ic-p a rti cle inspecti on . 216
met a llurgical exa mina tion . 216-217
micr oscop ic e xa mi na tion. 217
ph ysi cal a ppea ra nce . 216
physi ca l exa m ina ti on . 216
surface ha rd nes s [F ). 215 -216
vis ua l exa minatio n. 216
H ypoid se ts [F). 5
Idler gears
ph otoel a s tic pa tte rn [F). 22-23
Im pact
case crus hing [F) . 48 .118-120
s tress ruptu re (F), 125 -127
too th ben d in g im pact [F). 112. 115-116
too th chipp ing (F). 118
tooth s he a r (F) , 115-1 17
tor sion al s hea r [F), 120-121
w ear [F ), 120- 125
Im pact over loa d ing [F). 8 7. 91 , 1 10. 116,
118-119,1 21 , 180 -181
Induct ion ha rden in g, 16 1
cause of too th profile fa ilure in spur
gea r. 214
fail ur e in , 161-164
Ingo tis m , in s tee l. 131
Intern a l gea rs (F). 3
In tern a l ruptu re [F). 58, 124- 125
in s tee l fo rgi ngs, 137-138
In volute patt e rn (F), 13-15
K
229
230
INDEX
Manufacturing [co nt .]
tool undercutting", sh arp notches [F),
149-151
82-83
o
Op erators of equipment, 38 , 182-183
Overheating , 152-153
in steel for gings [F). 138-139
Overloading
ca use of tooth failure in spiral bevel
drive set , 196
p
Personnel-related activities , environmental factors. 38-40
Physical examination, 53-61
dimensional checking, 61
magnetic-particle inspection (F),
53-54 , 59
INDEX
vibration, 169-173
bea ring failure, 181-18 2
con ti n uous ove rl oa d ing [F}, 177-180
cor ro sion (F). 177
field a pplic a ti on , 183
foreign material (F). 175-177
imp act overloading [F}, 8 7, 91,110 ,
116 ,118-119 ,1 21 ,180-1 81
lubricati on. 173-175
mainten an ce , 182
me ch anical damage (F). 172-174
operator er ror, 182-18 3
set mat ch in g (F). 19 , 169
Set mat ching, mismat ch ing, 169
Settling, 171
Sh aft , broken , fa il ur e analysis of
ba ck ground informa tion, 185
field a pplica tion, 185
met allurgic al exa mina t ion, 186- 187
visual examination [F] , 186-187
Shafts, 24
bending fatigue (F .Tl , 112-114
co n tin uous overloading (Fl. 53, 179
tors ional fatigue (F). 109-111
torsiona l shear [F] , 120-121
tor sional she ar in ca se /cor e combinati on fail ure , 160
Sh ear tears, in steel forgings , 138
Shot peening, in case/c ore comb ina tion
failure, 160
Size cha nge , 36-37
Solid con ta mina nts (F). 32-33
Spall ing (Fl , 105 -108
mode of too th profile fa il ur e in spu r
ge ar , 214
Sp ir al bevel drive set, failure an aly sis of
back g round info rmat ion , 194
field appli cation, 194
final anal ysis , 196
identifying marks , 194
magn eti c-p article in sp ection, 195
met allurgic al exa m ina tion, 195-196
ph ysical appearance of gea r, 195
ph ysi cal a ppeara nce of pinion , 194
ph ysi cal exa mi na t ion , 195
visual exami na ti on, 194-195
Spiral bev el gear, broken, failu re a na ly sis of
background in form ati on a nd customer's eva lua ti on [F), 188-189
field application , 188
final anal ysis, 193-194
id entifying ma rks , 190
ma gn eti c-par ticl e in spection, 192
metallurgical exa m ina t ion [T] , 192-193
nit al etc hing, 192
ph ysi cal appea rance of ge a r [F},
189-191
physical appeara nce of pinion, 190
231
232
INDEX
T
Temper color, 35
Temper ature, 32-33
eff ect of ambi ent temper atures of s ur round ing at mos phere, 34
eff ect of fri ctional ene rgy , 35
effect of lubri cati on, 33
effec t of risi ng te mp er ature s [F] , 34 -36
gea r tooth ope ra ting tem pe ratures ,
34-35
T emp ering , 35, 164 -165
britt len ess, 165
T he rm al fa tigu e [Fl, 106, 108- 109
To ol und er cutting [F) , 149-1 50
Too th bearings [F) , 18-19
To oth bend in g fati gu e [F ], 86 -89
va ria tions in [F) , 89 -94
Too th be nding impa ct [F), 112, 115- 116
T ooth charac te r is tics , 12-20
ca uses of manufacturing fa ilure (F),
13,1 6-17 ,106 ,151-1 53
stud y of in phys ical exa mina tion, 54
Toot h chi ppi ng [F ), 118
To oth co n tac t, pitt in g [F), 98 -99
Tooth s hea r [F) , 115-117
T ooth tip int erfer en ce, ca use of fa ilure in
s p ur pini on , 199
Tooth-to- tooth runn ing patt ern [F),
12 c 13
To r si onal fatigu e
in s ha ft a nd pinio n sh ank s [F) , 109- 11 1
mod e of fa ilure in b rok en s ha ft, 186
T ors io na l s hea r
of s ha ft in ca se / co re combina ti on failure, 160
of s ha fts a nd pinion sh ank s [F),
120-1 21
T o rsiona l s t re ng th (F) , 11-1 2
T or si on al vib ra tio ns . Se e Vibra tions
Tran smitt al le tt e r. See Lett e r of tra nsmitt al
Tran smittal report wit h fail ed uni t, 220
u- w
U ltraso ni c test in g (Fl, 55, 57-58
U nde rc u ts , cont in uo us overl oading, 180
Vibration s [F), 37 -38 , 171-172
mod e of fa ilure in s p ur gea r, 200- 202
Visu al e xami nati on , 47-5 3
use of low-powe r mic roscop es , 51
use of obs e r va tio n a nd logi c, 49- 50
Wear
ab ra sive wear [F), 121-122
a d hes ive wea r [Fl, 123 -125