HEAT TREATMENT OF TRANSMISSION GEARS

For transmission gears, the core of the tooth is to be soft and ductile for impact absorption without breakage during actual running whereas the surface of the tooth should be hard enough to resist wear. Surface hardening process includes: a) Carburising to enrich the work surface to desired depth with carbon b) Quenching to induce hardness and, c) Tempering to achieve improved toughness.
Carburising: The parts are heated in the furnace in an atmosphere containing one of the

carbonaceous gases that are either supplied directly or produced by vaporisation of liquid hydrocarbon. Gas carburising is the preferred option with its many advantages. Carburising time to attain desired effective case depth may be any more reduced by increasing temperature. Firstly, any more temperature rise may cause problems related to maintenance of the furnace. Secondly, there will be the possibility of undesirable grain growth with higher temperature. A high degree of purity of the carburising gases is necessary to ensure against formation of oily soot. Variation in chemical composition of different gases is also undesirable for maintaining control for uniform quality. The carbon level in the furnace is measured and controlled to achieve the desired carburisation quality. Sophisticated measuring and controlling devices have been developed to automatically account for the influence of temperature and other relevant factors with the help of built-in programmable microprocessor.
Quenching: Carburising is followed with quenching to achieve the required hardness. For

maintaining the high case hardness and low core hardness, the parts are allowed to be cooled to about 765o C, which is high enough to harden case but not the core and are quenched.
Tempering: Tempering must be carried out immediately after quenching that induces

martensitic structure. Even an overnight time gap may induce cracks in hardened parts. In tempering, the quenched parts are heated again to a temperature below its lower critical temperature (about 710o C). The process relieves the structure of high residual stresses first by precipitation of iron carbides from the unstable super-saturated solid solution - and then by diffusion of the carbides. Tempering must ensure exposure of all the gear surfaces for the required time at specified temperature. After tempering, the parts are brought to ambient temperature by air cooling.

Facilities in a typical heat treatment plant for transmission gears comprises of 1. Carburising and hardening furnaces. 2. Tempering furnaces. 3. Washing facilities. 4. Post heat treatment facilities e.g. a) Shot blasting machines. b) Shot peening machines. c) Phosphating unit. 5. Other special facilities a) Induction hardening/annealing equipment. b) Flame hardening/softening unit. c) Plug or press quenching machines. 6. Quality Control equipment. Depending on the volume of production, a decision is made to use either batch or continuous furnaces. In batch type furnace, the work is charged and discharged as a single unit or batch. In continuous furnace, workpieces enter and leave the furnace as units in a continuous stream. Batch type furnaces

Heat treatment of gears is predominantly an operation or to put it precisely a combination of operations. In this process there is involvement of a controlled heating process and subsequent cooling of a metal used for gear in its solid state. This heat treatment is done for obtaining desired properties. Today there are a lot of very advanced types of heat treating processes are made available that fulfill the requirements of hardness and mechanical properties. Heat treating plays a crucial role in the production process of a gear. It imparts qualities like strength, hardness, and toughness. The Heat treatment though consists of a variety of steps. But essentially the parts are heated and then quenched in an atmosphere of controlled carbon. Care is taken with regard to heating the part to a particular temperature and then holding for a fixed time. This temperature changes induce the desired physical and mechanical properties in a gear. However, attention should be given to the temperature is the cause of thermal change leading to warpage and a change of teeth surface.

Checking

the

hardness

of

Gears

The best way to know whether the gears that have been given heat treatment have been done to the desired specification or not is through resting. Such testing can be done in the form of inspecting the hardness of a given gear part that has been hardened to predefined targets set before the heat treating. Hardness are typically rated on different scales. In the U.S.A, Brinnell and Rockwell scales are popular. Gears are generally hardened anywhere between Rockwell C 30- 65, but this depends upon the material, type, size, application and lastly the hardening method. Heat Treating Methods of gears Fundamentally the heat treating process consists of changing the micro structure. There are following methods of Heat Treating available for gears.

Carburzing of Gears Induction Hardening of Gears Carbonitriding Of Gears Ferritic Nitrocarburizing of Gears Through-Hardening Gears Quenching of Gears Flame Hardening of Gears

Carbonitriding of Gears Carbonitriding is essentially a modified version of gas carburizing. The modification consists of bringing in ammonia into the gas carburizing atmosphere. This adds nitrogen to the carburized case. Nascent form of nitrogen is produced at the work surface by the disintegration of ammonia in the heat of furnace atmosphere. The nitrogen gets diffused simultaneously into the steel along with carbon. Generally a carbonitriding process is done at a lower temperature and for a quicker span of time than that of gas carburizing. Carbonitriding is one of most common type of case hardening processes for gears. Case depths are generally restricted to 0. 03 inches. Carbonitriding is designed for only specific types of steels. Carbonitriding is preferred choice for

plaincarbon and mild steels.

Benefits of Carbonitriding Carbonitriding case-hardening treatment provides a way to enhance the wear and strength of relatively inexpensive and easily worked parts. Typically it is applied to near-finished components. Along with providing a substantial sufficient depth it also improves fatigue strength. Ferritic Nitrocarburizing Ferritic nitrocarburizing is now gaining prominence as a preferred choice of heat treatment process for many a gear manufacturer. The primary reasons being for this are:

Ferritic Nitrocarburizing process is done at very low temperatures, which is less than critical temperatures. Ferritic nitrocarburizing can replace methods of carburizing, carbonitriding, Can establish a proper gradient base hardnesses, i.e. eliminating egg shell effect.

Benefit of Ferritic Nitrocarburizing on Gears It has been found that after Ferritic Nitrocarburizing of Gears there has been considerable improvement in useful life for many of the gears. Advantages for gears include temper resistance. Heightened lubricity during cold start. Better strength of the base metal in terms of tensile, yield and fatigue. An increase in throughput. Also elimination of problems like quench cracking. In recent years, gear manufacturers have gained additional knowledge about how technology can be used to produce quality parts. The application of this knowledge has resulted ingears that are quieter, lighter, and lower cost, and have an increased load-carrying capacity to handle higher speeds and torques while generating a minimum amount of heat. Gear performance characteristics (including load condition and operating environment) dictate the required surface hardness, core hardness, hardness profile, residual stress distribution, grade of steel, and the prior microstructure of the steel 1.

In contrast to carburizing and nitriding, induction hardening does not require heating the whole gear (Figure 5). With induction, heating can be localized to only those areas in which metallurgical changes are required. For example, the flanks, roots, and tips of gear teeth can be selectively hardened. A major goal of induction gear hardening is to provide a fine-grain martensitic layer on specific areas of the part. The remainder of the part is unaffected by the induction process. Hardness, wear resistance, and contact fatigue strength increase. Another goal of induction gear hardening is to produce significant compressive residual stresses at the surface and in a subsurface region1. Compressive stresses help inhibit crack development and resist tensile bending fatigue. Depending upon the required hardness pattern andtooth geometry, gears are induction hardened by encircling the part with a coil (so-called spinhardening) or, for larger gears, heating them tooth-by-tooth (tip-by-tip or gap-bygap). CRANKSHAFTS Most production crankshafts use induction hardened bearing surfaces since that method gives good results with low costs. It also allows the crankshaft to be reground without having to redo the hardening. But high performance crankshafts, billet crankshafts in particular, tend to use nitridization instead. Nitridization is slower and thereby more costly, and in addition it puts certain demands on the alloying metals in the steel, in order to be able to create stable nitrides. The advantage with nitridization is that it can be done at low temperatures, it produces a very hard surface and the process will leave some compressive residual stress in the surface which is good for the fatigue properties of the crankshaft. The low temperature during treatment is advantageous in that it doesnt have any negative effects on the steel, such as annealing. With crankshafts that operate on roller bearings, the use of carburization tends to be favored due to the high Hertzian contact stresses in such an application. Like nitriding, carburization also leaves some compressive residual stresses in the surface.

Induction hardening for gears ,camshafts and crankshafts-

Induction hardening is a method for hardening the surfaces of components, usually in selected areas, by the short-time application of high-intensity heating followed by quenching. The heating and hardening effects are localised and the depth of hardening is controllable. Unlike thermochemical case-hardening treatments (carburising / carbonitriding) applied to low-carbon steels, induction hardening does not promote chemical enrichment of the surface with carbon, but rely on the presence of an adequate carbon content already in the material to achieve the hardness level required. The properties of the core remain unaffected and depend upon material composition and prior heat treatment. Induction hardening is typically used to treat components such a gears, shafts, rolls, slideways, cams, crankshafts and camshafts. Induction hardening involves passing a high-frequency alternating current through a suitablyshaped coil to induce rapid heating of the component surface situated appropriately within its electro-magnetic field. Depth of hardening is controlled by the parameters of the induction heating equipment, time of application and the hardenability of the material. A variety of manipulation procedures can be employed to suit the geometry of the component including single-shot hardening in which the entire area to be hardened is heated in one operation then quenched, and progressive hardening which involves relative movement between the heating coil, quench head and the workpiece. Selective area hardening can thus be achieved by the combination of suitable coil design and manipulation. Induction hardening imparts a hard, wear-resistant surface to the component whilst improving its fatigue strength through the development of residual surface compressive stresses in suitably deep cases. Because only the surface is heated and quenched, heat treatment distortion can be minimised. Faster localised cooling rates permit higher surface hardness values than might be achieved by through hardening. Deeper hardening can be obtained than with thermochemical treatments. Depending upon process parameters, hardened depths can be in the range 0.5-10mm.

 Localised hardening can be used to strengthen components at critical points while leaving other areas soft, without the need for the stopping-off procedures required in thermochemical casehardening. Induction hardening offers options for the treatment of exceptionally large components, where conventional furnace heating and cooling would be impractical and where only localised surface hardening is necessary. The technique can be automated for reproducible results once the processing parameters have been set. Induction hardening can be applied to a wide range of steels and cast irons. Normally, mediumcarbon steels (0.35-0.5% carbon), with or without alloying additions, are used to ensure a satisfactory hardening response, final choice depending on required surface hardness and core properties. With higher carbon contents there is an increased risk of cracking and careful control is necessary for successful treatment. The heat treatment process is used in certain circumstances for hardening previously-carburised surfaces on low-carbon steels. Applications such as gears and shafts, which have readily-accessible and geometricallyuniform surfaces, are easily treated. Components with irregular shapes and surfaces requiring treatment can be difficult to induction harden in view of the restrictions imposed by coil design or limited accessibility. The treatment can be applied to materials in the hardened and tempered, normalised or annealed condition. Because of its metallurgical structure, material in the hardened and tempered condition promotes optimum response to these short-time processes. The size and shape of a component that can be induction hardened depends on the type of equipment operated by the heat treater. For large components, check the availability of suitablysized facilities at an early stage. WHAT PROBLEMS COULD ARISE?

 Decarburised surfaces will not respond properly to induction hardening and must be avoided (e.g. parts made from cold-drawn bright bar which has not been machined on the diameter). There is a danger of overheating thin sections and edges (e.g. keyways, oil holes, section changes, etc). Where possible, account should be taken of this factor at the design stage (by use of chamfers on edges, for example).