The effect of manufacturing method and running-in load on the surface integrity of efficiency tested ground, honed and superfinished gears

Journal article, 2019

This study compares gear surface characteristics generated by grinding, honing and superfinishing of case-hardened steel, including the evolution during efficiency testing with two different prior running-in loads (0.9 GPa and 1.7 GPa). The most influential factor was surface roughness. Micro-pitting was associated with surface asperities and hence only seen in ground and honed gears, while being absent for super-finished gears. The micro-pitting was enhanced by running-in load, but only for rough surfaces. Deformation-induced localized microstructure impact was associated with cracks. Residual stresses reached similar levels after efficiency testing. Phosphorous content in the gear surface was connected to surface roughness and running-in load.