Applied Failure Analysis

Service Training Meeting Guide 008 SESV8008

November 2000

TECHNICAL PRESENTATION

APPLIED FAILURE ANALYSIS

GEARS
GEAR FAILURE ANALYSIS
MEETING GUIDE SLIDES AND SCRIPT
AUDIENCE
Service, service support and administrative staff personnel who understand the principles of engine
operation, and who are or may be involved in determining root causes of failures of gears.

CONTENT
This presentation describes gear function, structure, operation, normal wear, abnormal wear, fractures,
parts problems and some gear failure root causes .

OBJECTIVES
After learning the information in this presentation, the student will be able to:

1. describe functions of gears;

2. describe structural characteristics of gears;
3. describe general manufacturing procedures;
4. describe where rolling and sliding loading is present on gear teeth;
5. describe normal wear appearance on gear teeth;
6. identify road signs of various stress risers, pre-cracks, wear types and fracture types on gears;
7. identify road signs of excessive sliding and rolling loading on gear teeth;
8. identify road signs of gear manufacturing problems.

REFERENCES
Gears Applied Failure Analysis Reference Book SEBV0561
Gear Applied Failure Analysis Self-Paced Instruction CD-ROM SEGV8008

PREREQUISITES
AFA STMG 013 Failure Analysis Management SERV8013
AFA STMG 017 Basic Metallurgy SERV8017
AFA STMG 014 Principles of Fractures SERV8014
AFA STMG 015 Principles of Wear SERV8015

Estimated Time: 5 1/2 Hours

Visuals: 206 electronic images
Student Handout: 1 - Lab Worksheet
Form: SESV8008
Date: 11/2000
© 2000 Caterpillar Inc.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................5

FUNCTIONS ........................................................................................................................11

STRUCTURE .......................................................................................................................15

NOMENCLATURE..............................................................................................................28

MANUFACTURE ................................................................................................................32

OPERATION ........................................................................................................................64

LUBRICATION....................................................................................................................74

NORMAL WEAR ................................................................................................................85

ABNORMAL WEAR...........................................................................................................93
Abrasive ........................................................................................................................102
Adhesive Wear ..............................................................................................................110
Corrosion.......................................................................................................................117
Plastic Yielding .............................................................................................................128
Contact Stress Fatigue...................................................................................................132

FATIGUE FRACTURES ....................................................................................................145

DUCTILE AND BRITTLE FRACTURES ........................................................................160

PRACTICE .........................................................................................................................168

GEAR PROBLEMS ...........................................................................................................180

ETCHING SPECIMENS ....................................................................................................202

CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................206

SLIDE LIST........................................................................................................................211

STUDENT HANDOUT......................................................................................................214
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INSTRUCTOR NOTES
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INTRODUCTION

• Gear failure analysis This presentation covers gear failure analysis. Gears are considered to be
failed when they can no longer perform their design function.
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• Presentation content This presentation will review gear function, structure, manufacture,
operation (including loading, normal wear, abnormal wear, and fractures),
and possible gear problems.
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• Use the 8 steps This presentation uses the eight steps of applied failure analysis and the
principles of management, wear, fractures and visual examination.
Familiarity in these areas will prepare the analyst to do a quality job when
analyzing failed gears. The payoff comes by completing steps 6, 7 and 8.
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• Follow the "road As facts are obtained, the analyst needs to carefully identify and follow
signs" wear and fracture "road signs" which will guide him to the root cause.
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• General root cause Root causes of gear failures are most often found in application, operation
areas and maintenance areas. The next most probable root cause area is
installation, followed by manufacturing and then design. Design and
manufacturing problems account for a very small portion of gear failures.
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• Save old books Older gear failure analysis books such as "Analyzing Gear Failures"
(SEBD 0520) contain useful information and should be kept for reference.
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FUNCTIONS

• Gears perform five Gears perform five basic functions:

functions
1. Transmit force
2. Change direction and/or angle of motion
3. Change rotational speed
4. Change torque level
5. Transfer force to a different centerline
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• Driving and driven Gears that apply force are called driving gears, while gears that receive
gears and gear ratio force are called driven gears. Gear ratio is a comparison of the number of
driving gear revolutions to the number of driven gear revolutions. Here
the gear ratio is 1:2 (each revolution of the 24 tooth driving gear turns the
12 tooth driven gear twice).

In direct drive gears the driven gear reverses the direction of rotation.
Changing the number of teeth and the gear diameters can change rotating
speeds.
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• Speed and torque When the driving gear is larger than the driven gear, the driven gear will
change done with have higher rotational speed but lower torque capability than the driving
gears
gear. When the driving gear is smaller than the driven gear, the driven
gear will have lower rotational speed, but higher torque than the driving
gear. Reverse bending loading is applied to direct drive gear teeth only by
reversing gear rotation. Since small gears rotate more times than larger
mating gears and often carry higher stresses, they are frequently designed
and built stronger.
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• Idler gears have many When rotational direction needs to be maintained, or when driven gears
functions are a distance from drive gears, idler gears are used. The size of the idler
gear usually does not affect the gear ratio, the torque capability, or the
rotational speeds and direction of the driving and driven gears. Teeth on
idler gears go through a complete reverse bending load cycle during each
revolution.
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STRUCTURE

• Most Cat gears cut Although most Caterpillar gears are cut from forged steel blanks, they can
from forged steel also be cast, pressed from powdered metal, cut from steel bar stock, or
blanks finished forged (also called net shape forged).
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• Finish forged gears Finish forged steel gears have grain flow parallel to surfaces. Since
have grain flow cracks do not cross grain flow easily, this grain flow pattern helps resist
possible fatigue cracks at stress raisers such as turns, notches, fillets, etc.
Gears cut from forged blanks have side-to-side grain flow, but are also
very strong and durable.

Cast steel, die cast alloy, or powdered metal gears are often used in
accessories, in hydraulic systems, or other lower load applications. Heat
treatment is sometimes used to increase gear strength and wear resistance.
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• Many gear designs Gear designs include spur, bevel, helical, and worm.
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• Spur gears common Spur gears have straight, uniformly spaced teeth that are parallel to bores
and carry high loads or shafts. Teeth make line contact parallel to shafts. Tooth location may
be external or internal. Theoretically, no end thrust is generated if mating
gears are correctly aligned. Spur gears can carry high loads.
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• Spur gears commonly Spur gears are commonly used to transmit force between parallel shafts.
used between parallel In many spur gears, one tooth at a time carries most of the load. There is
shafts
often a slight tooth "jump" when load transfers from one tooth to the next,
causing some gear noise during operation. High contact ratio (HCR) spur
gears spread load over many teeth and give quieter operation.
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• Straight bevel gears Straight bevel gears have uniformly spaced, tapered teeth. The thicker,
similar to spur gears larger end of a tooth is called the heel, while the smaller end is called the
toe. These gears are similar to spur gears and are fairly economical to
manufacture.
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• Bevel gears usually Straight bevel gears are commonly used between shafts that are
used on shafts at an positioned at an angle to each other. Generally, one tooth carries most of
angle
the load at any one time.
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• Other designs Other bevel gear designs include hypoid, spiral, and helical. These gears
are designed so more than two teeth share the load. The gear teeth are no
longer straight, and their angularity causes tooth sliding contact to
increase. End thrust is also generated because of tooth angularity,
requiring use of thrust bearings. These gears are quieter in operation than
straight bevel or spur gears.
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• Helical gears used Helical gears have teeth that lie along a helix (spiral curve), and are used
between crossed or between crossed or parallel shafts. Because of the angular teeth, end
parallel shafts
thrust is present, requiring use of a thrust bearing. When tooth angle
becomes large, several teeth carry load at the same time. A vertical line
of tooth contact occurs with parallel shafts while point tooth contact
occurs with crossed shafts, causing reduced tooth load carrying ability.
Thus, in spite of more teeth carrying load, overall load carrying ability is
not increased. Tooth jump is minimal and gear operation is quiet.
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• Herringbone gears Herringbone, or double-helical gears, are used between parallel shafts.
used between parallel Because gear tooth angle reverses, end thrust balances out and thrust
shafts and cancel
bearings are not required. Two or more teeth carry load at all times and
thrust loads
operation is quiet. Large ships often have marine drives with herringbone
gears.
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• Worm gears Worm gears are commonly used between crossed shafts. They have low
commonly used load carrying capacity and produce end thrust, but are useful in speed
between crossed
reduction and torque increase applications.
shafts
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• Gear teeth placed on Gear teeth can also be placed on the inside of a gear, allowing speed
inside of a gear. reduction, torque increase, and more compact gear spacing. The center
gear shown here is called the sun gear, while smaller gears that rotate
about it are called planet gears. The outer gear with internal teeth is
called a ring gear.
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• Rack gears on When gear teeth are placed on a straight track they are called rack gears.
straight track They produce direct conversion of rotational motion to linear motion.
Steering systems often use rack gearing.
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NOMENCLATURE

• Nomenclature Regardless of the type of gear tooth involved, tooth nomenclature is

common among all similar. The top of a gear tooth is called the tip. The bottom of the tooth
gear types is called the root. The point on the tooth where only rolling contact
occurs is called the pitch line of the tooth, and the circle connecting pitch
lines is called the pitch circle. The section of the tooth above the pitch
line is called the addendum, while the part below the pitch line is called
the dedendum. Both sliding and rolling occur in the addendum and
dedendum areas. The fillet radius between teeth is often referred to as the
root fillet. It should be blended smoothly into the tooth profile.
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• Tooth crown keeps Gear teeth are often slightly thicker in the center than at the ends to
contact in center reduce loading at tooth edges. This thicker area is called tooth crown.
Tooth lead is a measure of the uniformity of a tooth about its centerline.
Measuring the distance from a tooth's central axis to its pitch line from
one end of a tooth to the other checks tooth lead. The shape of the tooth
face is called the involute. Incorrect tooth lead can change crown location
and involute which in turn can lead to stress concentrations, abnormal
wear and to tooth fractures.
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• Teeth need to fit It is important that mating teeth have correct lengthwise positioning so
properly lengthwise that tooth crown and involute match correctly. With ring and pinion
gears, moving the pinion gear often makes this adjustment.
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• Backlash gives Tooth backlash is the clearance between teeth after gears are installed.
needed clearance Backlash compensates for lubrication variations, tooth profile deviations,
between teeth.
tooth deflections under load, tooth runout, thermal distortion, etc.
Backlash adjustment on ring and pinion gears is often made by moving
the ring gear closer to, or further from, the pinion gear. Gear life is
shortened when backlash is either set near zero (too tight) or above
nominal (too loose).
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MANUFACTURE

• Gear manufacturing Gear manufacturing steps include:

steps
1. Producing a gear blank
2. Rough machining
3. Tooth machining
4. Heat treatment
5. Finish machining
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• Gear manufacturing These are the various stages of gear manufacturing. Reviewing these
steps stages will help the analyst better understand gear structure and
properties.
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• Most CAT gears made Caterpillar gear blanks are usually made from forged steel, but can also be
from forged steel cut from steel bar stock or made of cast or pressed powdered metal. Most
blanks
gear blanks are purchased from outside suppliers.
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• Rough machining The center bore and the outer gear circumference are usually machined
done first first. One side of the gear is then machined, the gear is turned over, and
the other side is machined.
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• Gear appearance after After rough machining, this is the typical appearance of a gear.
rough machining
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• Gear teeth cut with The gear is then mounted in a hobbing machine where the teeth are cut.
hob Both the hob and the gear blank rotate during machining to produce the
desired tooth profile.
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• Gear appearance after After hobbing, teeth have rough machining marks on the face and burrs at
hobbing the edges, requiring further finishing.
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• Hob leaves lengthwise Closer inspection of a hobbed gear reveals more clearly the rough surface
machining marks conditions. Notice especially the machining markings in the root fillet
areas. These markings are often still visible on the finished gear.
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• Shaving removes Finish machining is done with a shaving process. Both the shaver and the
small amount of gear turn during machining to produce the desired tooth surface. Only a
surface material
couple of thousandths of an inch are removed by the shaver.
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• Rough edges After shaving, larger gears are run through a tooth debur machine to debur
smoothed by and bevel tooth edges.
deburring
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• Gear was shaved and This is the typical appearance of a gear after the shaving and deburring
deburred process.

The root fillet still has the hobbed finish and the shavers have machined
only the tooth surface.
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• Shaving marks at Finish shaving marks are angled a little off vertical, while rough
angle machining marks are usually horizontal on the gear teeth. These marks
can often still be seen after thousands of hours of use.

After this finish machining of the gear teeth, the gear is ready for heat
treatment.
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• Gears heated in Heat treatment is used to produce a hard outside layer, or case, over the
furnace softer core, increasing gear strength and wear capability. Most Caterpillar
gears are either carburized or nitrided. The carburizing process starts by
heating gears in heat treat furnaces. Furnaces are heated with either gas
or electricity. The atmosphere inside the furnace is independent of
outside atmosphere, and contains the elements necessary for heat treating.
When natural gas or methane is burned for heat, insufficient oxygen is
supplied, producing not only heat required, but also a carbon rich
atmosphere which is good for carburizing.
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• After suitable time in After suitable exposure in furnaces, gears are ready for quenching in
furnace, gears ready liquids (oils are commonly used) to "freeze" the grain or crystal structure
for quenching
and "harden" the surface. Since rapid cooling is necessary to produce
correct grain structure and hardness, delays in quenching must be
avoided.
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• Oil bath can cause Bright flame erupts around hot gears as they are submersed in oil baths.
flames
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• Smoke remains after Just as quickly as flaming occurs, it is extinguished as the gear sinks
gear is submerged below the surface, leaving only a haze of blue smoke. Larger and thicker
gears undergo little distortion during the quenching process.
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• Racks used to hold Smaller, compact gears are often heated and quenched in racks or stacks.
smaller gears After quenching, many gears are tempered (reheated briefly) to decrease
residual stress and to increase toughness.
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• Thin gears Some gears, such as the ring gear seen here, are susceptible to distortion
susceptible to during quenching, and must be firmly held in a flat, true position as the
distortion
rapid cooling takes place. This process is called die quenching.
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• Adjustable die used to A fixture called a die is used to hold gears firmly. Dies often have an
hold thin gears during adjustable series of rings which can be shimmed to desired height to
quench
support the bottom of the gear. The rings have evenly spaced gaps to
allow cooling fluids to contact the hot gear, leaving black spots where the
die fixture contacts the gear and shields it from the coolant.
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• Hot gear placed on die Hot, carburized gears are quickly placed on the bottom die.
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• Holding ring clamps Inside the quenching fixture, the top part of the die comes down and
gear to die and presses the hot gear firmly against the bottom die. Then the assembly is
quenching begins
submersed in cooling fluid.
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• After quenching gear After quenching, the gear has a dark appearance except where the holding
has dark appearance ring made contact. The gear is now ready for dimensional checks.
except where holding
ring made contact
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• Dimensional checks Each die quenched gear is dimensionally checked before sending the gear
show if gear is on for tempering and finishing operations.
distorted
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• Steel shot chambers After tempering, heat treated gears may have machining burrs or soot
remove any rough deposits on the surface which need to be removed before finish grinding.
surface deposits
A steel shot blasting process can be used to do this job.
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• Some gears are black, However, some gears have black, smooth, clean surfaces after heat
but do not require treatment and do not require cleaning. They are ready for finish grinding.
cleaning
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• Bearing bores may Inside bores may receive final grinding operations.
require finish grinding
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• This gear ready for Finish grinding produces the smooth, clean surface required for
use installation and precision fit of bearings or shafts.
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• Smaller gears may be While larger gears receive tooth edge deburring by grinding before heat
honed to remove treatment, smaller gears are sometimes not deburred until after heat
rough edges
treatment. Burrs are removed from these gears by honing, which leaves a
scratched appearance on gear tooth surfaces.
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• Honing leaves angular Closer inspection shows that the scratches curve downward below the
scratches different pitch line, are straight and parallel on the pitch line, and curve upward
from shaving marks
above the pitch line. These scratches are produced by the rolling/sliding
action of the gear and hone and shouldn't be confused with vertical
scratching that occurs with abnormal abrasive wear in service. There are
sharp, unbeveled edges on these gear teeth. This is the typical finished
appearance of many small gears.
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• Nitrided gears receive Nitrided gears receive all machining, deburring, and cleaning before heat
all machining before treatment. They have a light color after heat treatment and are ready to
heat treat and have a
install.
lighter color
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• Die quenched Visual inspection can sometimes reveal whether a gear was carburized or
carburized gears have nitrided because of the different surface color. For example, the gear on
holding marks
the left is dark and has black spots on the endface -- a carburized, die-
• Lighter color may quenched gear. The gear on the right is lighter in color and has no black
mean gears were dots -- likely a nitrided gear. Although it may not be vital to know just
nitrided or steel shot how a gear has been heat treated, the analyst should practice observing
peened road signs and recording facts.
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• Many gears are made It should be noted that each gear receives individual handling, machining,
in cells by an and inspection in a cell as it moves through Caterpillar processing.
individual worker
Caterpillar is known for innovative heat treatment and other proprietary
today
processing improvements that give gears far greater strength, durability,
and precision dimensions than competitive gears.
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OPERATION

• Gear teeth deflect and As gears are put into operation, loading causes internal stresses, tooth
have surface deflection, and surface movement. Gear life is maximized when loading,
movement backlash and lubrication are correct.
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• Both sliding and When gear teeth begin to make contact, the tip of the driven tooth presses
rolling loading occur against the driving tooth below its pitch line. If the tip makes contact
as teeth make contact
with too much pressure at this stage, it is called "hard line" contact and
• Too much pressure can lead to surface deflection, cracking and pitting below the pitch line.
causes "hard line As contact continues, the two teeth slide and roll against each other.
contact"
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• Only rolling load is At one point only rolling contact is present between gear teeth. This is
present at the pitch called the pitch line on each tooth. This is also the point where full load
line
occurs on the teeth.
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• Rolling and sliding As tooth contact moves above the pitch line, rolling and sliding again
again occur as tooth occur. Sliding forces are away from the pitch line on the driving gear, and
mesh ends
toward the pitch line on the driven gear.
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• Tooth bending causes As load is applied to the face of a gear, compressive stress builds at the
both tensile and back root fillet radius, while tensile stress builds on the front fillet radius.
compressive loads in
Pitch line location is often designed to be low on gear teeth to reduce
root fillets
tooth bending load. This gives gear teeth a shorter dedendum and a
longer addendum. On these gears there is greater sliding contact stress
above the pitch line than below it.
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• Surface contact Surface contact does not occur at only one point, but in a narrow line
occurs in narrow lines along the tooth face. As loading gets heavier, the contact lines widen into
or bands
bands due to elastic flattening of gear teeth faces. The pattern of the lines
of contact varies with the design of gear teeth. In general, the greater the
angle of gear teeth (as with spiral and helical gears), the more vertical the
lines of contact become. The less the tooth angle (as with spur gears), the
more longitudinal the lines of contact become.
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• As teeth become When gear teeth are angular (helical, spiral, etc.), end thrust is produced
angular, lengthwise on both the driving and driven gears, requiring use of suitable thrust
sliding creates end
bearings.
thrust
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• Bending and reverse Although gear teeth are strong, they do deflect when loaded, but they are
bending can occur designed so that deflection is well within the elastic deformation range.

If a tooth is cyclically driven only one way, any possible fatigue crack
would progress one way and begin in a high tensile stress concentration
area, such as a fillet radius.

If a tooth is cyclically driven from both sides, it is possible for bending

fatigue cracks to begin on both fillets, producing reverse bending fatigue
fractures.
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• Flattening and In addition to elastic tooth bending, the face also deforms elastically
dragging of surface under load. During rolling/sliding contact above or below pitch lines, the
material also occurs
curved tooth face is elastically flattened by rolling loading and put in
tension by sliding loading. During rolling contact at the pitch line the
tooth is only elastically flattened. Heat treatment produces a harder,
stronger surface to help resist these movements.
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• Backlash clearance The radial clearance between teeth is called backlash. Each gear has a
helps compensate for design backlash which compensates for minor tooth misalignment, tooth
many variables
spacing deviations, irregular profile, load deflections, thermal growth,
lubrication problems, etc. If gears could be perfectly made of perfect
materials, less backlash would increase gear life, but manufacturing,
material and environmental problems do exist and correct backlash
settings are important. Thus, if backlash is set too tight or too loose,
shortened gear life should be expected.
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LUBRICATION

• Lube oils primarily Lubrication is a very important factor in gear life for it not only lubricates
separate gear teeth, (separates tooth surfaces), but also removes generated heat and keeps
remove heat, and gears clean. Since different type gears have different rolling/sliding
clean surfaces
action, different lubricant specifications are required. Bearings associated
with gears may require different lubricant qualities. It is important that
the lubricants specified by manufacturers be used, and that recommended
lubricant and filter change intervals be followed.
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• Hostile environments Even if lubricant quality and quantity are correct, hostile environments
can cause lube oil can cause gear teeth to penetrate oil films and make direct contact.
films to diminish
Excessive loading, high temperatures, and excessive rpm are some of the
most common hostile environments.
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• Many factors affect Many factors play a part in good lubrication. Two oil films, a boundary
lube films layer and a hydrodynamic layer, separate and lubricate loaded gear teeth.
In addition to these layers, surface equilibrium temperature, ambient
temperature, oil viscosity, loading and extreme pressure lubricants all play
a part in proper lubrication. If lubricants become superheated, they can
oxidize, vaporize or solidify.
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• The boundary layer is The boundary oil film provides lubrication as gear teeth begin to make
a soft film that is contact, and when they finish contact (mostly during sliding action). The
chemically bonded to
boundary layer is formed when lubricant, heat, atmosphere, and gear
the gear surface
surfaces come in contact, react, and produce a semi-solid, soft film that is
chemically bonded to gear surfaces. This thin layer is hard to penetrate or
remove, and is effective in preventing asperity contact and adhesion under
low rpm, moderate load conditions. Final drive gears and bearings
operate much of the time with boundary layer lubrication.
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• The hydrodynamic As gear rpm increases, the surface of the gear tends to carry lubricant
layer forms as gear along with it and that lubricant pulls more lubricant along, forming a
sliding speed
hydrodynamic layer ("hydro" means fluid, "dynamic" means moving).
increases
The hydrodynamic layer is the effective lubrication film when gear rpm is
moderate to high.
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• Heavy loads Under heavy load and moderate to high rpm conditions, the
elastically deform hydrodynamic oil film becomes elastohydrodynamic, reflecting the elastic
contact surfaces,
flattening of gear surfaces ("elasto") and the hydrodynamic action of the
forming the
elastohydrodynamic oil. Elastic deformation of the gear teeth causes an increase in contact
oil film surface area. This larger area briefly traps the hydrodynamic oil layer in
the deformed area, giving the oil film the name "elastohydrodynamic."
Elastohydrodynamic lubrication layers are very thin (a fraction of a
thousandth of an inch), have very high apparent viscosities, and can carry
extremely high loads.
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• Equilibrium As load is applied to rolling/sliding gear teeth, the lubricant removes most
temperature is when generated frictional heat. Under set load, gear rpm, ambient temperatures,
heat generated equals
and oil viscosity, gear tooth surface equilibrium temperature will be
heat removed
reached when generated heat is equal to removed heat. Increase of load,
gear rpm, ambient temperature, or oil viscosity will increase the
equilibrium temperature, and if temperatures become too high, the oil film
will break down and no longer separate the gear teeth.
AFA STMG 008 - 81 -
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• Ambient factors affect Many ambient factors can affect equilibrium oil temperatures and gear
oil equilibrium life. These factors include the air temperature immediately surrounding
temperatures
the component, the color of the component (light colors reflect and dark
colors absorb), direct sun or shade, wind or calm, etc.
AFA STMG 008 - 82 -
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• Viscosity is a measure Viscosity is a measure of a fluid's resistance to flow or shearing. When

of a fluids resistance oil is moved and sheared during gear tooth rolling/sliding action, heat is
to flow or shearing
generated and oil temperature increases. Oil temperature on a gear tooth
can rise many degrees as the tooth goes through mesh. This slowly raises
oil sump temperature. Any increase in gear rpm or loading or ambient
temperatures will also increase oil temperature. As oil temperature
increases, oil viscosity decreases, reducing lubricant load carrying ability.
AFA STMG 008 - 83 -
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• Extremely high When lubrication temperatures become too high, oils can also oxidize,
operating vaporize or solidify. Continued operation under high temperature
temperatures can
conditions can lead to breakdown of oil films and to adhesive wear.
vaporize lubricants
AFA STMG 008 - 84 -
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80

• EP oils are needed Extreme pressure (EP) lubricants are used when gears are subjected to
when low speed, high low rpm heavy loading that minimizes hydrodynamic lubrication. EP
load, extended time
lubricants contain additives which chemically react with gear or bearing
conditions are present
surfaces to form a corrosion layer which acts as a lubricant, preventing
• These oils corrode mating gear surface asperities from making direct contact and scoring.
metal surfaces, This layer forms more rapidly when surface temperatures become high.
forming a tough
surface layer
AFA STMG 008 - 85 -
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NORMAL WEAR

• Normal wear polishes It is normal to find polishing of gear faces, minor pitting, machining
gear faces marks, white layer flaking, or frosting. If the analyst is familiar with
these normal conditions, he will be better able to identify abnormal
• Machining marks or
small white flakes conditions during visual examination of used gears.
may be seen
AFA STMG 008 - 86 -
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• Gear surfaces should As gears are loaded, machining ridges or irregular high spots on gear
become polished with surfaces begin to be smoothed. Polishing occurs and should be centered
normal wear
on the gear tooth.
AFA STMG 008 - 87 -
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• Tiny high spots can If ridges or high spots are present in high load areas, surface cracks and
be crushed, leaving pits may begin to develop. Such pits are generally less than .8 mm (1/32
small "initial" pits
inch) in diameter and tend to distribute the load by progressively
during first hours of
operation removing the high contact areas. When the load is more evenly
distributed, pitting slows and the surface begins to polish. This is called
"initial pitting", or "corrective pitting".
AFA STMG 008 - 88 -
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• Eventually shaving It is more common for shaving or honing marks to slowly polish away
marks and initial pits without development of surface pits. Load carrying surfaces may become
blend into a polished
polished until they are mirror-like. This gear is crowned, as seen by
surface
center polishing.
• This gear is crowned
as seen by the center
polishing
AFA STMG 008 - 89 -
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• Horizontal marks are Horizontal marks seen on tooth surfaces are often rough machining marks
rough machining cuts and are usually too shallow to act as stress concentrators which cause
fatigue fractures. The machining marks here are severe, but have not
caused any operational problem or gear failure.
AFA STMG 008 - 90 -
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• White layer flaking During nitriding, not only is a hard case formed on gear teeth, but also a
can be seen on very thin, brittle, surface layer is formed. Normal loading can cause this
nitrided gears
layer to crack and break away in small areas, producing a white area that
is nicknamed "white layer flaking."
AFA STMG 008 - 91 -
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• As long as no pits are Magnified view shows that this layer is uniform, only a fraction of a
in the steel surface, thousandth of an inch thick, and has distinctly different metallurgical
the gear is not
properties than the steel structure below. Because there is no disruption
damaged
of the load carrying steel structure, white layer flaking causes no stress
concentrators and should be considered a normal condition.
AFA STMG 008 - 92 -
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• Bigger white areas are If very thin surface layers are missing in bigger areas, it may be a
called "frosting" condition called "frosting." This occurs when surface asperities make
contact and microweld. The surface metal then either pulls out or
• No pits should be
present in the metal fractures on a very small scale. This results in a gray matte appearance
surface which is not detrimental at this stage. However, if the conditions causing
"frosting" are not corrected, destructive pitting may begin.
AFA STMG 008 - 93 -
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ABNORMAL WEAR

• Noisy gears can When gear trains begin to make noise, gear damage or improper fit is
indicate gear damage usually present. Most gear damage is a result of abnormal conditions
or improper fit
such as improper assembly/adjustment, improper loading, abrasive wear
or bruising (debris indentations), adhesive wear, corrosive wear, plastic
yielding, contact stress fatigue, fractures. Proper maintenance of the
lubrication system minimizes the occurrence of many abnormal
conditions which result in either unnecessary wear or fracture.
AFA STMG 008 - 94 -
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• Wear location and As the analyst studies abnormal wear, he should gather facts on the
type should be location, the type of wear, and loading conditions. Improper location of
recorded
wear can indicate misalignment or misassembly. The type of wear can
• Improper loading can guide us to specific fact gathering areas. Excessive loading can lead to
increase wear gear tooth deflection and misaligned wear.
AFA STMG 008 - 95 -
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• Wear location should With proper installation and normal loading, wear should be centered
be somewhere in the fairly evenly on the tooth faces as shown here.
central tooth area
AFA STMG 008 - 96 -
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• Wear on the small end Improper tooth alignment can result in a toe bearing wear pattern.
is called toe bearing
AFA STMG 008 - 97 -
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• Wear on the big end is Improper tooth alignment can result in a heel bearing wear pattern
called heel bearing (sometimes caused by overloading).
AFA STMG 008 - 98 -
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• Low wear is called low Improper tooth alignment can result in a low bearing wear pattern.
bearing
AFA STMG 008 - 99 -
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• High wear is called Improper tooth alignment can result in a high bearing wear pattern.
high bearing
AFA STMG 008 - 100 -
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• Addendum and Most noticeable gear tooth wear is usually located above and below the
dedendum usually pitch line because sliding occurs in those areas. There is usually less wear
have more wear than
at the pitch line where only rolling occurs.
the pitch line
AFA STMG 008 - 101 -
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• Loading and gear rpm This chart shows conditions of loading and velocity at surface contact
are important points that produce wear, scoring, pitting or breaking of gear teeth. In
variables in gear wear
area (1) loading is high and velocity is low, allowing more contact and
wear. In area (2) load, velocity and lubrication are correct (hydrodynamic
and elastohydrodynamic lubrication), and wear is minimized. In area (3)
contact velocity and loading are great enough to break down lube films,
allow metal-to-metal contact and create scoring. In area (4) load and
contact velocity are great enough to flex the metal surfaces and cause
cracking and pitting. In area (5) load and contact velocity are great
enough to cause tooth breakage. Improper loading and velocity can be
can lead to abnormal gear tooth wear and fracture.
AFA STMG 008 - 102 -
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Abrasive

• Abrasive wear is the Abrasive wear is the most common abnormal condition that damages
most common gears. If the contaminant particles are small, fine scratching and
abnormal gear wear polishing of gear teeth occurs. If contaminant particles are larger, heavy
type
scratches, cuts and bruises are common.
AFA STMG 008 - 103 -
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• Very fine abrasive When very fine contaminants have been present during operation, gear
wear makes mirror- teeth may become prematurely polished to a mirror-like finish.
like surfaces
AFA STMG 008 - 104 -
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• Pitting is polished, Closer inspection shows that serious pitting had developed earlier,
indicating pits were because edges of the pits have been smoothed and rounded by the fine
present first
abrasive action. More information is needed about earlier conditions that
caused the pitting. (Failing gears can cause seals to fail and allow dirt to
enter. Perhaps this is what happened here.)
AFA STMG 008 - 105 -
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• Larger abrasive Larger abrasive particles can cause noticeable scratching of the hardened
particles make bigger gear face.
scratches
AFA STMG 008 - 106 -
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• Abrasive wear is Abrasive cutting is usually more pronounced in the addendum than in the
usually most dedendum because much of the sliding action with trapped debris occurs
pronounced in the
there. Also, the addendum is often larger than the dedendum, giving more
addendum
sliding action.
AFA STMG 008 - 107 -
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• Particles are self- As gears deteriorate, larger pieces of hardfacing can dislodge, pass
generated and through tooth mesh and cause the hardface to be dented (bruised).
abrasive wear
Continued operation with hard contaminants can cause the hardfacing to
increases
crack and spall away, exposing the softer core. Often the tooth is less
damaged at the pitch line because only rolling action occurs there.
AFA STMG 008 - 108 -
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• Once through the Once wear has progressed into the soft core, gear teeth more rapidly wear
hardcase, gear teeth away and are more easily cut and gouged. In this weakened condition,
rapidly deteriorate
gear teeth can break with normal loading.
AFA STMG 008 - 109 -
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• Look at softer end Sometimes softer parts next to gears have better abrasive facts than the
plates and housing for gears themselves. The analyst should carefully inspect such parts for
clues about abrasive
embedded particles and other clues which will help identify the actual
particles
abrasive particles. Once the particles are identified, he will know which
direction to go to find the root cause.
AFA STMG 008 - 110 -
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Adhesive Wear

• Adhesive wear results Adhesive wear, sometimes called scoring, results when metal-to-metal
when metal-to-metal tooth contact occurs under load. It can begin on gear teeth whenever the
contact occurs lube film or its strength is insufficient, when loading or rpm is excessive,
when misalignment of gear teeth is present, etc. Metal-to-metal contact
means that asperity tips rub together and microweld. Continued metal-to-
metal contact can then produce macrowelding and larger metal pullout.
Scoring often begins above or below the pitch line where sliding action is
present, and can produce an irregular, furrowed surface. Less damage is
often seen at the pitch line because only rolling action is present there.

Speed + Load + Sliding = HEAT

Heat = Oil film oxidation, evaporation, disruption, disappearance.

Oil film problems = Metal Contact and high temperature

High temperatures = Macro-welding and Scoring

AFA STMG 008 - 111 -
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• Initial scoring occurs Initial scoring is caused when mating gears penetrate the lube film and
when asperities make make contact with surface asperities, microweld and pull out some tooth
contact, microweld
surface material.
and pull out some
surface material
AFA STMG 008 - 112 -
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• Scoring is sometimes As scoring progresses, damage often is done both above and below the
worse in the pitch line, as seen here. Little damage is present at the pitch line where
addendum where
only rolling action has occurred, and scoring has progressed more in the
more sliding occurs
large addendum area than it has in the smaller dedendum area of this
tooth.
AFA STMG 008 - 113 -
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• Continued operation Continued operation with insufficient lube film can lead quickly to more
can lead to massive massive adhesion and metal pullout on tooth surfaces. Resulting damage
adhesive wear
can progress through the pitch line.
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• Teeth can become so As adhesive wear progresses, clearances can quickly grow, causing noise
hot that large areas during operation. Gears can develop a charred, black appearance. Teeth
friction weld and pull
can macroweld and wear to a thin edge. The analyst should next look for
out
facts to explain adhesive wear and look in the lubrication system area
first.
AFA STMG 008 - 115 -
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• Temperatures can get The last stage of adhesive wear is high temperature melting, macro-
so hot that the tooth welding, and plastic deformation as seen here. Temperatures get high
can get weak and
enough that the teeth can move with applied loads, leading to tip
move with applied
loads interference the next time around.
AFA STMG 008 - 116 -
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• Misalignment can If there is an alignment or tooth fit problem, only a part of the gear tooth
overload one area on may carry all applied loads, overloading oil films in those areas and
gear teeth
causing adhesive wear. Misalignment can cause overload of the tooth
surface and possible cracking, pitting or fracture. Mating gears may have
a profile problem, or the gears may be loose on their mounting shafts, etc.
Other parts must be inspected to get facts that will lead to the correct root
cause.
AFA STMG 008 - 117 -
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Corrosion

• Corrosion can Corrosive wear seldom causes gear failures because most gear
discolor gears, make compartments are protected from corrosive environments and are filled
pits, and contaminate with lubricants that prevent corrosion. However, if abnormal corrosive
lubricants
environments do occur, corrosion road signs such as discoloration or rust,
surface pitting, and lubricant contamination are usually seen.
AFA STMG 008 - 118 -
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• Corrosion can darken Corrosion may create shallow surface deposits which appear as
surfaces discoloration with no obvious pits.
AFA STMG 008 - 119 -
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115

• Corrosion can make Corrosion may develop uniform pitting over gear tooth surfaces, but the
pits pits may be small enough that gear function is not affected. Bearings
more frequently fail under these corrosive conditions than do gear teeth.
AFA STMG 008 - 120 -
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• Corrosion can remove Longer exposure to corrosion may cause larger surface damage as seen
larger surface areas here. If parts related to failure have been carefully protected after failure,
the analyst knows that the corrosion happened in service, a significant
clue in finding the root cause of failure.
AFA STMG 008 - 121 -
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• Corrosion should Corrosion affects exposed metal areas of a gear, not just the tooth face.
affect any exposed For example, the end of this gear has corrosion damage.
metal

Internal splines should also show some corrosion effects.

AFA STMG 008 - 122 -
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• Inner splines are Closer inspection with magnification shows that the inner splines are
pitted discolored and rough.
AFA STMG 008 - 123 -
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119

• Pits are quite deep Better lighting and higher magnification shows that the discoloration and
and numerous roughness are caused by corrosion and pitting.
AFA STMG 008 - 124 -
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• Corrosion can cause Corrosion can lead to pitting and failure of gear teeth. Damage starts with
surface irregularities surface discoloration and minor pits.
and pits
AFA STMG 008 - 125 -
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121

• Irregular surfaces can Surface irregularities can cause stress concentration and lube film
cause stress interruption, leading to cracking and pitting of larger areas of the hard
concentration and
face.
cracks
AFA STMG 008 - 126 -
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122

• All of the gear surface Eventually, it is possible for hardface to be broken away in broad areas.
can crack away The analyst should remember that if corrosion is responsible for gear
failure, corrosion effects should be noticeably present in many areas
besides the deteriorated tooth face.
AFA STMG 008 - 127 -
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• Electrolytes can If lubricants are severely contaminated with moisture, emulsification and
contaminate lube oil thickening of lubricants or lubrication with water can occur, leading to
and lead to adhesive
lack of lubrication and adhesive wear as well as corrosive wear.
wear as well as cause
corrosion
For example, adhesive wear (scoring) has occurred in the bore and on the
back face of this gear. The analyst should inspect all gear surfaces and
look for facts such as these.
AFA STMG 008 - 128 -
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Plastic Yielding

• Plastic yielding is Another mode of gear failure is plastic yielding, creating ledging,
permanent change of rippling, pitting or spalling. Plastic yielding can result when gears are too
gear shape or size soft, carry excessive load, or when lubrication films are inadequate and
allow metal-to-metal contact.
AFA STMG 008 - 129 -
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• Plastic yielding The analyst should not confuse machining burrs on tooth edges with
(burrs) can be caused plastic yielding. During tooth manufacture, dull cutting or shaving bits
by machining with a
can cause slight metal flow and burrs as seen here. Light burrs such as
dull cutter
these usually cause no problems in service and should be considered
acceptable.
AFA STMG 008 - 130 -
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126

• Rippling is plastic Rippling is another of the ways plastic yielding can be seen. Rippling is
flow of surface limited plastic movement of surface metal that results in periodic wave-
material
like appearance, but does not disturb the crystalline structure of the
surface or its strength. Rippling often results when loading is high and oil
films are thin. While rippling can look alarming, it generally does not
cause surface cracks or pits to form. Here pitting is occurring below the
pitch line, and rippling (without pitting) is present above the pitch line.
Both rippling and pitting are road signs of high surface stress.
AFA STMG 008 - 131 -
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• Lipping is a little metal Lipping and ledging are other evidences of plastic yielding. They result
flow at tooth tip, and when the gear surface permanently deforms because it is not strong
ledging is a lot of
enough to carry applied loads. Here other teeth have already broken, and
metal flow
the remaining tooth has developed ledging as a result of shock loads and
• This is ledging overloads due to missing teeth. If a gear is loaded in forward and reverse
direction, then ledging should be expected to be present on both sides of a
gear tooth. The analyst should next check to see if loading was excessive,
if lubrication was improper, if surface temperatures were too high, or if
the gear was too soft.
AFA STMG 008 - 132 -
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Contact Stress Fatigue

• Contact stress fatigue Contact stress fatigue can cause gear tooth surfaces to crack, pit and spall.
can cause surface When the gear tooth is loaded, elastic deflection of surface material
cracks, pitting, creates cyclic tensile and shear stresses. When surface movement and
spalling and tooth stresses becomes too great, fatigue cracks can occur. Possible root causes
fracture
include excessive loading or rpm, misalignment, improper backlash,
extended service, improper lubrication, elevated temperatures, incorrect
gear geometry, etc.
AFA STMG 008 - 133 -
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• This tooth is polished, From a distance, it may look like only normal wear and polishing is
but looks ok in this present on this gear tooth.
view
AFA STMG 008 - 134 -
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130

• Changing the lighting After the tooth is cleaned, well lighted and magnified, additional features
shows a significant can be seen. Serious cracking and pitting is already present above the
"V" shaped pit
pitch line. The pit gets wider as it progresses upward, producing a "V"
shape, a characteristic of sliding contact stress fatigue on a good gear
tooth.
AFA STMG 008 - 135 -
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• Pits get bigger if the If a pitted gear is kept in service, larger pieces of tooth surface may spall
gear is kept in use away, causing noisier operation and introducing hard debris into the
lubrication system. This is classified as moderate pitting, but the gear is
well on its way to failure.
AFA STMG 008 - 136 -
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• Sliding contact stress As seen in this example, sliding contact stress fatigue cracks usually
causes these pits progress upward, get wider, and produce a "V" shaped pitted area. The
tooth surface also has more cracks radiating upward and outward from the
• Cracks are getting
wider at the top top corners of the pit.
AFA STMG 008 - 137 -
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133

• Pits may generally Sometimes the "V" shape is not so distinct, but the tendency for the pit to
widen widen as it progresses up the addendum is still noticeable. It is usually
sliding loading, not rolling loading, that causes surface pits to develop and
grow.
AFA STMG 008 - 138 -
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134

• Eventually, larger Once pitting starts, tooth surface surrounding the pit carries increased
pieces of the tooth load, leading to development of secondary cracks and pits. Eventually the
may break away
weakened tooth will begin to fracture. As surface roughness and gear
backlash increase, gear noise during operation also increases and an
operator may become aware that gear failure is occurring.
AFA STMG 008 - 139 -
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135

• After the tooth breaks As remaining pieces of a damaged tooth begin to break away, only a
away, little evidence is rough, ragged series of pits and fracture faces may be left. Clues that
left to tell the earlier
would explain why damage occurred have been removed from the
story
damaged tooth. The analyst must look at other teeth on the gear, or at
• Look at remaining and teeth on mating gears for facts which will guide him to the root cause of
mating teeth failure. The next tooth on this gear shows hard line contact on the heel,
suggesting misaligned contact.
AFA STMG 008 - 140 -
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• Destructive pitting The mating bevel gear also has destructive pitting (spalling) present.
and spalling are Heavy polishing and cracking is present on the right side of gear teeth, as
present on the mating
well as the more advanced spalling. The analyst should study the
gear
damaged teeth more closely.
AFA STMG 008 - 141 -
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• This heavy cracking is After cleaning, close inspection of a less damaged tooth in good lighting
caused by excessive reveals that deep cracks are already present parallel to the pitch line. This
rolling contact stress
type of surface cracking is called case crushing and results when applied
compressive rolling loads are greater than the strength of the tooth
surface, resulting in excessive movement of the hard tooth surface against
the softer core. Causes include (1) loading is excessive, (2) tooth core is
too soft, (3) tooth hardface is too thin, (4) loading is misaligned, etc.
AFA STMG 008 - 142 -
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138

• As cracks break If operation is continued after surface cracks have developed, spalling can
surface material, occur, removing large areas of the tooth surface. As damage progresses,
spalling occurs
original road signs are removed, leaving only resulting rough fracture
• Rolling contact stress faces. Eventually, the only remaining clue may be that one side of a tooth
fatigue starts below is more severely damaged than the other, suggesting misaligned loading.
the surface and ends It is usually rolling loading that causes case crushing as seen here.
at the surface
AFA STMG 008 - 143 -
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• As one tooth looses Closer inspection of the pinion gear teeth shows that loading increased
material, the following dramatically on the tooth following the failed one. There is heavy
tooth picks up more
polishing on the heel and pitting is occurring just above the tooth root
load
radius.
AFA STMG 008 - 144 -
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140

• A bending fatigue Good lighting and magnification reveals that a fatigue crack has already
crack is progressing progressed about halfway through the tooth just above the pitted area.
due to the overloading
This fatigue crack is a result of heavy abnormal cyclic loading caused by
misalignment and by the previous tooth not carrying load properly.
AFA STMG 008 - 145 -
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FATIGUE FRACTURES

• Fatigue fractures Fatigue fractures most commonly begin at or near the tooth root because
normally start in tooth maximum tensile stresses (caused by tooth bending) are present there.
roots The fracture face usually goes slightly downward into the gear body, then
rises upward where final fracture occurs.
AFA STMG 008 - 146 -
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• Three teeth have Several teeth are broken on this gear, and some are fatigue fractures as
fatigue fractures evidenced by the presence of distinct beachmarks. Fatigue fracture
occurred first on the center tooth as shown by the large proportion of
smooth fatigue fracture and the small proportion of rougher final fracture.
When this tooth broke, the loading was increased on both the lower and
upper teeth. The upper tooth fracture is mainly crystalline, rough and
woody with only a small pocket of fatigue fracture present at the top,
indicating that the loading which broke this tooth was primarily shock
loading and overloading. The lower tooth fracture has some rough and
woody final fracture at its lower left and right sides.
AFA STMG 008 - 147 -
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143

• The center tooth has Closer inspection of the center fracture face with better lighting reveals
the smoothest more clearly the beachmarks and ratchet marks which start at the tooth
beachmarks and the
root fillet radius. The ratchet marks indicate that fairly high bending
smallest final fracture
stress was present and that several cracks started to relieve that stress.
• It broke first Because the initiation sites are at the surface, inclusions or precracks are
not involved. The analyst should check loading and application next, and
• No abnormal stress last check to see if the gear was weak.
risers at initiation site
AFA STMG 008 - 148 -
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144

• This is a fatigue This fatigue fracture started at the root fillet on the lower right hand side
fracture with a larger where the beachmarks and ratchet marks begin. The tooth was loaded in
final fracture
only one direction, as seen by the absence of reverse bending beachmarks
• Loading was higher and the presence of ductile final fracture at the top. The analyst should
next study the initiation site to determine if any stress raisers such as
• Look at the initiation grooves, notches, casting flaws, pits, etc., are present. If no stress raisers
site for stress risers are present, he should gather operation and application facts. This
procedure usually leads to the root cause of the fatigue fracture.
AFA STMG 008 - 149 -
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• Pinion gear teeth were These transmission gears failed after only a few hundred hours of service.
broken The transmission had no synchronizing of gears to make shifting easier.
The gears were engaged by the "bump-and-grind" method where the
operator held the gears against each other and increased or decreased rpm
until the gears engaged.
AFA STMG 008 - 150 -
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146

• The customer thought The customer felt that the teeth on the pinion were weak or that
the teeth were weak manufacturing "flaws" led to tooth breakage.
AFA STMG 008 - 151 -
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147

• Beachmarks say it is a Closer inspection with good lighting shows a small fatigue fracture near
fatigue fracture one end of a tooth, starting from the root fillet radius. Ratchet marks and
caused by cyclic
distinct beachmarks grow outward, with a large brittle and ductile final
overloads
fracture. The analyst should suspect that misaligned, severe cyclic
• Look for stress risers bending load was present until fracture occurred.
at the initiation sites,
then check loading
AFA STMG 008 - 152 -
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• The mating gear teeth Teeth on the mating gear have impact damage and chipping present on
are damaged and leading edges, indicating harsh engagement. These road signs say to get
chipped indicating
the facts about operation. Perhaps the operator is shifting improperly, or
harsh engagement
perhaps he is trying to shift properly, but the shifting apparatus does not
give him sufficient shifting control.
AFA STMG 008 - 153 -
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• Overload can also If gears are subjected to overload conditions, tooth bending under load
cause bending fatigue can cause the misaligned contact. These gears were subjected to a 40
fractures
percent increase in load above design guidelines, and within a few
hundred hours a tooth on the pinion failed.
AFA STMG 008 - 154 -
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150

• The fatigue fracture Closer inspection of the pinion shows that fatigue fracture of the tooth has
started at the heel occurred, and that it has started at the heel (upper part of the tooth in this
slide). There appears to be some roughness at the upper right corner of
the fracture, indicating that misaligned loading, pitting and spalling may
have been present before the fatigue fracture. Wear location looks normal
on the backside of remaining teeth (loading in reverse direction was
normal), and there appears to be no pitting or cracking generally present.
AFA STMG 008 - 155 -
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• Cracking and chipping Changing lighting angle and looking at the front side of the next tooth
were present at the shows that the wear pattern was much heavier on the heel, and that hard
heel and acted as
line contact (cracking, chipping and pitting) has occurred.
stress risers to start
the fatigue fracture
AFA STMG 008 - 156 -
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• Mating gear teeth Inspection of the mating ring or bevel gear teeth shows that the tooth tips
show hard line were making hard line contact with the dedendum of the pinion teeth.
contact had been
occurring, indicating
that tooth deflection
and loading were too
great
AFA STMG 008 - 157 -
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• Cracks are present at Good lighting and magnification show that case crushing is present. The
tooth tips verifying crack on the end face has progressed half way through the tooth. The 40
excessive contact
percent overloading explains the misalignment, hard line contact, case
crushing and spalling which are present.
AFA STMG 008 - 158 -
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• Fatigue fractures are If gears operate with normal loading, but in misaligned position,
present on one side of abnormally high bending stress will be present on only a part of the gear
several teeth
tooth. This can cause cyclic overloading and fatigue fracture of one side
of a tooth, as shown here.
AFA STMG 008 - 159 -
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155

• Magnified view shows Good lighting and magnification shows the beachmarks and the ratchet
ratchet marks and marks radiating away from the initiation site at the lower left root fillet of
beachmarks starting
each tooth. These road signs clearly say the loading has been off center,
at a sharp fillet radius
resulting in fatigue fracture. The analyst next needs to get facts about
gear misalignment.
AFA STMG 008 - 160 -
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156

DUCTILE AND BRITTLE FRACTURES

• High, sudden loads Many gear fractures result from impact or shock loading. Brittle fractures
can cause brittle or appear bright and crystalline and are rough to the touch. Ductile fractures
ductile gear tooth are dark, rough and woody, and often have shear lips at final fractures.
fractures
AFA STMG 008 - 161 -
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157

• Ductile fractures can Ductile fractures result when overloading is sufficient to fracture a gear
reveal grain flow, and tooth in one load cycle. Fracture faces will be woody in appearance,
are therefore called
usually look dark and will be rough to the touch, as shown here.
"woody"
AFA STMG 008 - 162 -
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158

• Closer inspection The surface has a texture similar to a block of wood that has been split.
shows the grain flow The woody appearance is due to slippage and separation along flow lines
more clearly
in the steel. This gear was made from bar stock that had side-to-side
grain flow. Ductile fractures are usually results.
AFA STMG 008 - 163 -
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159

• Quicker loading can When gear teeth are broken with one sharp impact load, characteristic
cause brittle fractures brittle fracture features are usually produced. The side on which the crack
and shear or
starts usually has a crystalline appearance, while the last part of the tooth
"compression" humps
to break (final fracture) is often sheared, forming a compression hump.
Here the compression hump is across the top of the fracture.
AFA STMG 008 - 164 -
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160

• End view shows the It is easier to see the shape of a typical brittle fracture (caused by shock
compression hump loading) from the end view of the broken tooth. Here the crystalline
more clearly
initial fracture is on the left and then the final fracture (impact sheared
compression hump) is on the right.
AFA STMG 008 - 165 -
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161

• The compression Closer inspection of the gear body fracture face may show see these
hump is an area of characteristics more clearly. The impact shearing "compression hump" at
impact shearing
the top rises upward and is much smoother in texture than the bottom
• The brittle fracture brittle/ductile area. If shock loading is either slower or of lower
area is caused by magnitude, the majority of the fracture face may be brittle or ductile, and
shock tooth bending the compression hump may be smaller. In other words, the larger the
and tensile load in the compression hump the greater the applied energy.
root fillet
AFA STMG 008 - 166 -
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162

• Less energy causes When either less energy is applied or the energy is applied less abruptly,
the crack to grow metals have a chance to adjust to the load during fracture. This can
slower and can leave
produce a mixture of ductile and brittle characteristics with little or no
a rougher surface with
a smaller compression hump. This tooth has some chevrons (brittle fracture
compression hump characteristic), some rough and woody areas (ductile fracture
characteristics), and a very small compression hump at the top (impact
shearing). The smoother area around the fracture is the finer grained
carburized case.
AFA STMG 008 - 167 -
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163

• Chevrons point to the Here the chevrons point to a broad, central area of the gear face, showing
crack initiation site that the fracture started at the surface in the middle and that loading was
centered on the tooth.
AFA STMG 008 - 168 -
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164

PRACTICE

• Practice The next pictures of gears are for practice looking at fractures and reading
their road signs.
AFA STMG 008 - 169 -
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165

• Brittle fracture with This fracture is brittle, because of the crystalline surface and large
fair sized compression hump. Shock load or very sudden overload caused this
compression hump
fracture. This crack started across a broad lower central section.
Misalignment was probably not involved, because the fracture began in
the central portion of the tooth, not at one end.
AFA STMG 008 - 170 -
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166

• Brittle fracture caused This fracture is brittle, because of crystalline surface and chevrons. The
by sharp impact load crack started at the top left of the fracture where the chevrons start.
on the tooth tip
Shock load caused the fracture. Hard foreign material going through gear
mesh may have caused the shock load as suggested by point loading at the
tooth tip. The surface near the initiation site should be carefully studied
for bruising and physical damage to help verify this possible root cause.
AFA STMG 008 - 171 -
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167

• Broken tooth found in This tooth was found in the sump. The surface appears to be normal, but
sump some small corrosive pits appear to be present.
AFA STMG 008 - 172 -
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168

• Tooth faces look The other side also shows normal wear, except that there are several
normal cracks present below the pitch line and a large piece has broken loose.
The analyst should inspect the fracture faces next.
AFA STMG 008 - 173 -
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169

• Fracture face is quite The fracture is mostly ductile with some areas that are crystalline, a result
rough, indicating the of heavy, fast overloading. It probably started at a fillet radius where
fracture occurred in a
stresses concentrate. The analyst now needs to investigate possible root
short time
causes of overloading, such as hostile operation, application,
misalignment, etc.
AFA STMG 008 - 174 -
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170

• Two teeth with woody, During component installation gear teeth can be butted against mating
ductile fractures gear teeth and, as mounting bolts are tightened, weaker teeth can be
sheared off. Resulting fractures show shearing caused by direct overload.
AFA STMG 008 - 175 -
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171

• Misaligned tooth Tooth damage may be caused by mistiming and tip to tip interference
contact contact of mating gears during operation.
AFA STMG 008 - 176 -
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172

• Gears have run tip on Close inspection shows that the teeth have suffered impact smearing and
tip, causing heavy shearing when gear teeth got out of position and ran tip on tip, crooked.
impact damage
The analyst should determine why the gears were out of position.
AFA STMG 008 - 177 -
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173

• All teeth are broken Most broken gear teeth will have brittle or ductile fractures which result
off from prior damage in the gear compartment. At times all the teeth will
have been broken or damaged by large, self-generated debris that has
• Look at one tooth at a
time and classify each gone through gear mesh. Though time consuming, the analyst should
fracture look at each fractured tooth and classify the fracture. Fatigue fractures
take longer and therefore are closer to the root cause on the time line. If
• Fatigue fracture may no fatigue fractures are found, the analyst should go to other gears and
indicate a gear
inspect fractures there. At this stage of failure, it is more difficult to find
problem
the road signs because of secondary damage.
• Brittle and ductile
fractures usually
indicate operational or
loading problems
AFA STMG 008 - 178 -
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174

• These are brittle If close inspection of broken teeth shows bright, crystalline brittle
fractures fractures and impact shearing compression humps, these are clearly
results of shock loading being applied to the teeth. If all gear teeth are
• Look for ways shock
loads could have been results, the analyst should look for ways shock loads could have come
encountered through input or output shafts, look for ways bolts could have come loose
and gone through gear mesh, etc.
AFA STMG 008 - 179 -
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175

• Fracture features tell Being able to identify fracture characteristics will help classify fractures
the analyst what load and identify the loads that cause them. Fatigue fractures are smooth to the
has been present
touch and often have beachmarks or ratchet marks. Brittle fractures are
bright and crystalline, while ductile fractures are dark and woody. By
finding the location of initiation site (where the crack started) the analyst
is guided in his search for stress risers, inclusions, overloading,
misalignment, etc.
AFA STMG 008 - 180 -
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176

GEAR PROBLEMS

• Gear problems can Caterpillar gears rarely have problems that cause failures because of
come from many careful design, manufacture and quality control. However, mistakes can
areas be made and possible gear problems include inclusions, forging laps, heat
treatment problems, physical damage during manufacturing or assembly,
or design errors.
AFA STMG 008 - 181 -
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177

• This gear has a void This gear tooth has what appears at first to be a hole, or void, in the
present surface. There is no evidence of heavy polishing or cracking around the
void to suggest abnormal loading.
AFA STMG 008 - 182 -
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178

• The void was a stress The tooth fracture face has a void (dark hole at the lower center) through
riser which started a the gear tooth that caused stress concentration. A fatigue fracture grew
fatigue crack in an
outward from this dark void, with brittle final fracture all around the tooth
internal high stress
area surfaces. This void was likely a result of a lead inclusion which melted
away during nitriding heat treatment. (Leaded steel is sometimes used to
increase machinability of gears which are to be nitrided).
AFA STMG 008 - 183 -
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179

• One side of the tooth This tooth appears to have two major cracks. Some scoring is present
has two cracks below the pitch line, which can be expected with the serious tooth fracture
that is present. The analyst needs to look carefully at all surfaces of the
tooth to try to understand why the cracks have developed.
AFA STMG 008 - 184 -
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180

• The other side has Much of the tooth is missing on the other side. There are beachmarks
beachmarks coming radiating away from inside the tooth, showing that a fatigue fracture
from inside the tooth
began inside the tooth.
AFA STMG 008 - 185 -
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181

• Closer inspection Closer inspection with good lighting shows that the beachmarks are
shows a large non- coming from a white patch of material within the tooth. The analyst
metallic inclusion is
should inspect the initiation with magnification and good lighting to get
present
more facts.
AFA STMG 008 - 186 -
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182

• After cleaning, the After cleaning off dark, oily residues, using good lighting, and using
inclusion is even magnification, it is clear that there was a problem in the metal structure.
more obvious
Beachmarks are radiating outward from a large non-metallic inclusion.
• This is a metal
cleanliness problem
AFA STMG 008 - 187 -
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183

• This gear tooth has a Inclusions are usually not large, and beachmarks are not present on all
fatigue fracture and a fatigue fractures. This fracture is fairly smooth except for some rough
"bullseye"
final fracture around the top edges, but there are no beachmarks. By
• It is hard to see the changing lighting and using magnification, fracture details may become
bullseye because more distinct.
lighting is not good
AFA STMG 008 - 188 -
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184

• Direct bright lighting Bright lighting directly over the fracture shows a small circular high cycle
reveals "bullseye" fatigue fracture, or "bullseye" in the lower center. The surrounding
fatigue fracture is rougher, indicating that it was progressing faster.
AFA STMG 008 - 189 -
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185

• With less overhead Room lighting reveals the "bullseye" a little more clearly because the
light, details are bright downward lighting destroyed shadows that help show high and low
easier to see
areas.
AFA STMG 008 - 190 -
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186

• Side lighting can Side lighting will give even more shadows and often reveals most surface
reveal details more detail. Now the "bullseye" is even more distinct. At the very center is an
clearly
inclusion in the steel that concentrated stresses enough to start an internal
high cycle fatigue crack. When the circular crack reached the tooth
surface at the bottom of this picture, the crack "opened up" and stress
increased dramatically. Low cycle (rapidly progressing) fatigue fracture
then continued across the tooth to final fracture.
AFA STMG 008 - 191 -
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187

• This fatigue crack This is a bending fatigue fracture that started at the upper left corner of
started near the tip of the gear tooth.
the tooth, normally a
low stress area
AFA STMG 008 - 192 -
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188

• Cracks starting in low This is not a normal location for a fatigue fracture. Fatigue fractures most
stress areas indicate often start at a tooth root radius, not midtooth. There appears to be a
the presence of a
small precrack at the top left of this fracture face. The analyst should next
severe stress riser
determine what caused the precrack.
AFA STMG 008 - 193 -
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189

• Forging laps act as a Forging laps or quench cracks are other possible gear problems. Most of
crack stress riser this fracture face is ductile fracture caused by an overload condition, but
at the upper right the fracture face has different texture. There is a
• Ratchet marks and
fatigue crack start semicircular fatigue fracture with ratchet marks, and above the fatigue
below the surface fracture there is a dark forging lap or quench crack which caused the
fatigue fracture. There is a similar precrack present on the next tooth.
Forging laps are introduced when gear blanks are forged, while quench
cracks are introduced during heat treatment.
AFA STMG 008 - 194 -
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190

• Tip flaking caused by Improper heat treatment can cause tooth tips to fracture. Excessive
excessively hard case carburizing and too much case depth caused this gear to have tip flaking.
Excessive case depth can result in high subsurface tensile stresses, and
when added to operational loads the yield strength of the material is
exceeded and a subsurface crack begins at the case/core interface.
Depending on the loading, the tip will immediately "pop" off, or the crack
can progress by fatigue and the tip will eventually flake off.
AFA STMG 008 - 195 -
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191

• Close view showing Closer inspection shows a "flat plateau" at the case/core interface that is
low cycle fatigue typical with tip flaking. The thick hardface is darker in color while the
beachmarks coming
core is a lighter color. Ratchet marks and faint beachmarks are present at
away from inside
the case/core interface, and a fatigue fracture has grown outward through
the case.
AFA STMG 008 - 196 -
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192

• General pitting Uniform pitting on all teeth can result from insufficient surface hardness.
caused by soft metal The carbon content of the surface may be too low, the surface may have
and surface
decarburized and softened during heat treatment, or heat treatment may
movement
have been incomplete. Surface pits do not have the "V" shape such as
was seen when pitting occurred on properly hardened gear surfaces, and
the pitting is fairly evenly distributed over the full face of the gear tooth
rather than just in highest stress areas.
AFA STMG 008 - 197 -
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193

• Soft teeth sheared On rare occasions a gear will have worn all teeth completely away if the
away like butter gear received improper heat treatment and the teeth were too soft. A
general idea of gear hardness can be determined with a metal file. If a
tooth surface can be cut with gentle filing, it may be too soft.
AFA STMG 008 - 198 -
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194

• Thin surface layers If surface cracks and spalling are generally present parallel to the pitch
breaking away - case line, it is possible that case crushing has occurred. This is an indication
crushing caused by
that the tooth is not strong enough to carry the load applied. Although
thin hardcase
the analyst may suspect a gear problem, he should check if it is a
competitive gear or if applied loads have been too high.
AFA STMG 008 - 199 -
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195

• Broken tooth with a Sometimes physical damage causes stress risers which lead to tooth
dent fracture. There is no abnormal wear present on this tooth face, but
fracture has occurred. There is a small round dent present on the end of
the gear tooth. The analyst now needs to look at the fracture face and
classify the fracture.
AFA STMG 008 - 200 -
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196

• Beachmarks coming Beachmarks and a smooth surface show that a fatigue fracture has
from top left corner occurred. Final fracture is at the lower right, and the crack initiation site
is at the upper left.
AFA STMG 008 - 201 -
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197

• Closer view showing Inspection of the initiation site with magnification shows the small round
ratchet marks coming dent has caused small cracks in the hardened surface, and that one of
from crack which
these cracks has acted as a stress concentrator, causing the fatigue
comes from the dent
fracture. The analyst now should investigate how and when the dent was
made, whether the gear was marked during service work with a punch or
an improper hardness test was done on the gear.
AFA STMG 008 - 202 -
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198

ETCHING SPECIMENS

• Preparing a tooth If the analyst does not know whether a gear was hardened properly, there
specimen for nital are some quick tests to determine hardness and approximate case depth.
etch to reveal hard
case depth (1) Trying to scratch the gear surface with a hard file can check hardness.
Most carburized gears are harder than a hard file and will not be cut when
light pressure is used during filing.

(2) Depth of hardened surface (case depth) can be visually seen by cutting
a piece of a tooth from the gear, etching the cut face with a nitric acid
solution, and rinsing it with water.
AFA STMG 008 - 203 -
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199

• 10% nitric acid and Nital etch solutions are often made with 10% nitric acid and 90%
90% denatured denatured alcohol. Nital etch should be applied using a cotton swab to
alcohol
prevent contact with skin and clothes. Since acids will damage fracture
faces, the analyst should be careful not to destroy any fractures he may
wish to analyze.
AFA STMG 008 - 204 -
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200

• Rub the etch on the Before the nital etch is applied there is no indication of whether or not
specimen with a Q tip there is proper case depth on this section of a case hardened tooth. Etch
to keep acid off
should be applied for a minute or two, and then rinsed with clean water.
fingers
AFA STMG 008 - 205 -
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201

• Dark area is hard case After etching the hardened case can be seen showing that the gear was
heat treated. The case depth appears normal, and the pitting is occurring
within the hardfacing. The analyst should next look for maintenance,
operation and application facts which could explain the pitting.
AFA STMG 008 - 206 -
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202

CONCLUSION

• Beware of The analyst needs to continually beware of preconceived ideas which lead
preconceived ideas to mistakes.
AFA STMG 008 - 207 -
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203

• Use the failure There are many things that can cause gears to fail. Using the 8 steps of
analysis principles applied failure analysis will make identifying the root cause of failure and
taking corrective action easier and more accurate. The analyst must
gather the facts from application, operation, maintenance, and from the
failed parts themselves. Then he must think with the facts until he
understands how the failure occurred and identifies the most probable root
cause. Then it is easier to communicate with the responsible party, take
the right corrective action, and prevent repeat failures.
AFA STMG 008 - 208 -
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204

• Keep customers This should increase customer satisfaction with both Cat products and Cat
happy product support.
AFA STMG 008 - 209 -
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205

• Get Sales! Increased customer satisfaction should help improve sales of product,
parts and service.
AFA STMG 008 - 210 -
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206

• The dealer is leader The dealer has the leadership role and should insure that the root cause is
identified and that he gets the payoff with satisfied customers.
AFA STMG 008 - 211 -
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SLIDE LIST
1. Gears title slide 42. Gear during immersion with flames
2. In This Presentation 43. Gear after immersion with smoke
3. Eight Steps of Applied Failure Analysis 44. Two tubs of gears ready for heat treat
4. Follow the Roadsigns 45. Hot ring gear coming out of furnace
5. General Root Cause Areas 46. Die with adjustable segments
6. Analyzing Gear Failures booklet 47. Hot gear on die
7. Gear Functions 48. Hot gear and die moved into quench area
8. Driving and driven gears 49. Ring gear on die after quench
9. High speed, low torque 50. Man checking gear flatness
10. Idler gear between gears 51. Steel shot peening chamber
11. Structure 52. Black gear after heat treatment
12. Gear cutaway showing grain flow 53. Gear and grinding machine
13. Gear Tooth Design 54. Gear after bearing bore grinding
14. Spur Gears 55. Gear teeth showing honing marks
15. Spur Gear Application 56. Close-up of honing marks on teeth
16. Straight Bevel Gears 57. Ring gears in nitriding vat
17. Straight Bevel Gear Application 58. One dark, one light colored gear
18. Other Bevel Gear Designs 59. Worker holding a gear
19. Helical Gears 60. Operation
20. Herringbone (Double-Helical) Gears 61. Beginning of Tooth Contact
21. Worm Gears 62. Full Tooth Contact
22. Internal Gears 63. End of Tooth Contact
23. Rack Gears 64. High Stress Areas
24. Nomenclature, tooth tip and root 65. Sweeping Contact Line
25. Nomenclature, tooth crown and lead 66. Tooth Angle - End Thrust
26. Lengthwise Position 67. Tooth Deflection
27. Backlash 68. Surface Movement
28. Manufacture 69. Tooth Backlash (Clearance)
29. 5 gears from machining steps 70. Lubrication Oils
30. Gear blank 71. Hostile Environments
31. Machining gear blank 72. Lubrication Factors
32. Gear after rough machining 73. Boundary Layer
33. Hob and two gears during tooth cutting 74. Hydrodynamic Layer
34. Spur gear after rough tooth machining 75. Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication
35. Close-up of spur gear rough machining 76. Equilibrium Temperature
36. Gear mounted in shaving machine 77. Ambient Factors
37. Spur gear after shaving and deburring 78. Viscosity/temperature chart
38. Spur gear after shaving and deburring #2 79. High Lubricant Temperature Results
39. Close-up of shaved tooth surface 80. Extreme Pressure Lubricants
40. Heat treat furnace 81. Normal Used Conditions
41. Orange/hot gear ready for quench 82. Normal, polished gear teeth
AFA STMG 008 - 212 -
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SLIDE LIST
83. Close-up view showing small pits 124. Plastic Yielding
84. Gear tooth with wear in center area 125. Gear tooth with lipping on the end
85. Gear tooth with lengthwise cuts 126. Gear tooth with rippling
86. Gear teeth with white flaked areas 127. Gear tooth with ledging at tip
87. 400x lab picture of white surface layer 128. Contact Stress Fatigue Results
88. Gear teeth with white areas on one side 129. Gear tooth with light reflecting
89. Abnormal Conditions 130. Gear tooth showing "V" shaped pit
90. Obtain Wear Facts 131. Another tooth with "V" shaped pits
91. Desired Bearing Under Full Load 132. Closer view of a "V" shaped pit
92. Toe Bearing 133. Tooth with widening upward pitting
93. Heel Bearing 134. Severely pitted and broken tooth
94. Low Bearing 135. Pinion gear with one tooth broken off
95. High Bearing 136 Ring gear with cracks and spalling on teeth
96. General Abnormal Wear Result 137. Closer view of ring gear tooth cracking
97. Load/contact velocity chart 138. Closer view of spalled areas on teeth
98. Abrasive Wear 139. Closer view of wear on one end of tooth
99. Gear with highly polished teeth 140. Close-up view of crack in a gear tooth
100. Close-up of polished teeth 141. Fatigue Fractures
101. Gear teeth with larger abrasive cuts 142. Three teeth with fatigue fractures
102. Gear teeth with advanced abrasive wear 143. Closer view of center tooth fatigue fracture
103. Gear teeth with severe abrasive wear 144. One tooth with beachmarks - fatigue fracture
104. Gear tooth nearly failed 145. Pinion and spur gear
105. Gear side plate with scratches 146. Closer view showing damage on teeth
106. Adhesive Wear (Scoring) 147. Close-up of fatigue fractures on pinion gear
107. Tooth with scoring in the middle 148. Closer view of spur gear tooth damage
108 Gear tooth with mild scoring 149. Pinion and ring gear
109. Gear teeth with advanced scoring 150. Closer picture of gear tooth with fatigue
110. Gear teeth with severe scoring 151. Side shot of same tooth fatigue fracture
111. Gear teeth hot, scored and deformed 152. Closer view of ring gear teeth
112. Gear teeth with scoring on one end 153. Close-up of cracking on tooth tips
113. Corrosive Wear 154. Gear with teeth broken on one side
114. Gear tooth with rusty areas 155. Closer view of fatigue fractures
115. Gear teeth with pitting 156. Brittle/Ductile Fractures
116. Gear with corrosive pitted areas 157. Tooth with ductile fracture
117. End view of gear with corrosion pits 158. Close-up of the ductile fracture
118. Closer view of splines with pits 159. Gear tooth with brittle fracture and hump
119. Very close view of pits on splines 160. End view showing compression hump
120. Close view of corrosion pitting on a tooth 161. Another tooth with smaller hump
121. Cracking of a tooth surface near pitting 162. Another brittle fracture with small hump
122. Advanced tooth surface cracking near pits 163. Close-up view showing chevrons
123. Gear with both corrosion and scoring 164. Fracture Analysis Practice
AFA STMG 008 - 213 -
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SLIDE LIST
165. Tooth with brittle fracture and hump 206. Blank title slide
166. Tooth with chipping and chevrons
167. Broken tooth with normal wear surface
168. Opposite view of same tooth
169. View of fracture on broken tooth
170. Gear with two broken teeth
171. Gear with misaligned damage on all teeth
172. Close-up showing misaligned damage
173. Gear with all teeth broken off
174. Close-up showing compression humps
175. Fracture Summary
176. Gear Problems
177. Broken tooth with hole in tooth face
178. Broken tooth fatigue fracture face
179. Tooth with two lengthwise cracks
180. Other side of tooth showing fracture area
181. Closer view of fatigue fracture
182. Close-up view of inclusion inside tooth
183. Broken tooth with fatigue fracture
184. Closer view of #183 with bright lighting
185. Closer view of #183 with no lighting
186. Closer view of #183 with angled lighting
187. Tooth with top down fracture
188. Closer view of fatigue fracture
189. Tooth with large brittle fracture
190. One tooth broken off in center
191. Closer view of broken area
192. Teeth with general pitting
193. Teeth "sheared" out in the middle
194. Teeth with surface layer flaked off
195. Broken tooth with dent on one end
196. View of fatigue fracture on broken tooth
197. Arrow pointing to fracture initiation site
198. Pitted gear tooth cut by lab
199. Bottle with Q tips
200. Gear tooth specimen and Q tip
201. Gear tooth specimen with dark outer surface
202. Beware of Preconceived Ideas
203. Gear Failure Analysis
204. Unhappy vs happy customer
205. Sales
AFA STMG 008 - 214 - Student Handout
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Applied Failure Analysis Laboratory Worksheet

What do you see? What does it mean? Where do you go next?

10
SESV8008 Printed in U.S.A.
11/2000