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Gears and transmissions: manufacturing performances and efficiency

Technical Sponsors:
 Double peening and re-peening; techniques to
increase fatigue behaviour of new and used gears
Dr.Ing. F. Chichi
2Effelab srl
f.chichi@2effelab.it

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 SHOT PEENING
Following actual trend, shot peening is one of most useful technique to increase gear serviceability

Generally speaking, Shot peening is a technique based on impact of spherical media accelerated toward surface
of component , with a speed range from 30 m/s up to 140 m/s .

Scope of process is to generate a plastic deformation on component surface, to produce compressive residual
stress under surface

Shot peening is a well known technique, so it’s useless to spend time to explain it: it’s enough to remember
shot peening effect on component surface

• hardening
•Metallurgical change
•Compressive residual stress down to 20 – 800 mm
•Surface finishing

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 Those effect can be tuned by

•Media material
•Media dimension
•Impact speed
•Impact degree
•Coverage

Introducing shot peening, it was defined as a technique able to increase gear serviceability , not only
fatigue strength, because of

•Compressive residual stress increase stress corrosion strength

•Surface texture increase lubricant effectiveness
• surface hardening increase fretting

But of course fatigue strength enhancement usually is the first goal

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 SHOT PEENING AND FATIGUE BEHAVIOUR
Fatigue failure happens on component subjected to cyclic loading, each load being much less than the yeld
stress limit of the material under static condition

Fatigue failure develops in three distinct steps:

•Plastic slip of material within grain , by plane shear

•Crack enucleation, quite often by an intergranular mechanism
•Macroscopic final failure

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These steps happen at different depth from surface

First second
stage stage

Third
stage

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 As well known , fatigue strength enhancement by shot peening is related to 2 different mechanism

• structural modification of surface layer due to plasticization

• decreasing of dynamic stress due to superimposition of dynamic load and compressive residual stress
within sub – surface layer , following Godmann equation

A typical residual stress vs

depth profile

Generally speaking, for an high strength steel subject to a low duty - high number of cycles mission
profile (as usual for gears) fatigue strength improvement is within 30% - 50%

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 If shot peening is a well know process, its improvement by double - step application is matter of
research.

If second step peening is done after the component was subject to use , the technique is called RE-
PEENING

If second step peening is done immediately after the first one, the technique is called DOUBLE PEENING

First step On field Second step On field

RE - PEENING
peening use peening use

First step Second step DOUBLE PEENING

On field use
peening peening

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 RE-PEENING

By our experiences, Re-Peening is a useful technique to recover fatigue damage on gears, but only
in case of specific condition of

•Load spectrum
•Percentage of residual life still expected

If component has low duty - high number of cycles mission profile, without peak stress greater than
130% of fatigue limits, to perform a re-peening of component after a service life smaller than 75%
of expected service life can increase residual service life up to 80% of “as new” shot peened
component

It means that if a shot peened component have an expected service life equal to 100 , performing a
re-peenign after it spent 70% of its service life, new residual service life will be increased up to 80%
of expected service life for “as new” component, achieving a total service life equal to

70 + 80 = 150%

of original expected service life

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 REMARKS

• residual life enhancement is obtained by shot peening parameter different from those adopted
for shot peening on new component : for carburized gear media dimension roughly equal to 25%
and Almen intensity about half of those adopted for first peening seems to be the more adequate.

•No residual life enhancement is observed when mission profile includes stress greater than 75% of
yeld strength.

•Re-peening of component after a service life shorter than 40% of whole expected service life
seems to have no any effect on residual service life.

•Re-peening of components after a service life greater than 80% of whole expected service life
seems to have a detrimental effect on residual service life

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 peened Re-peened after Re-peened after Re-peened
50% of 70% of after 80% of
expected expected expected
service life service life service life

From a theoretical point of view, it should be that , because of crack enucleation happens within
deepth of 5 – 10 mm where shot peening act by plasticization, re-peening is able to “close” any micro -
crack already present within this layer

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 DOUBLE PEENING

Double Peening is a technique much more “young” than re-peening : start point for us was a paper
recently published :“High Strength and Compactness of Gears by WHSP (Double Hard Shot Peening)
Technology” by S. Matsumura -N. Hamasaka [1].

According to conclusion of Matsumura et Hamasaka , double peening by 0,8 mm media followed by

0,1mm media is able to perform a compressive residual stress distribution better than one
obtainable by each peening performed alone

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MPa

mm

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Following compressive residual stress improvement, also fatigue strength is reported as improved

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Our tests were performed on a steel 0,20% Carbon , peened after carburizing , and aim of our
analysis was to investigate if

• it is possible to combine effect of peening with different media to obtain a residual stress profile
combination of residual stress profile of each peening alone
• if so, investigate if order of peening is significant
• if so, investigate if fatigue strength enhancement is obtained

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As first screening, only 2 different media were adopted , F 0,8mm e F 0,1mm as in paper [1]

Given that it was not possible for us to have a “flat” residual stress profile as reported in paper [1],
our test confirm that residual stress profile obtained by a sequence of shot peening process, having
each one process alone residual stress profile clearly different in terms of shape versus depth, can
have a final residual stress shape combination of single shape

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MIXING OF MEDIA
Given that process parameter for peening with F 0,8mm and F 0,1mm media are different, 3
different tests were performed adopting respectively

•Process parameter tuned for F 0,8mm media

•Process parameter tuned for F 0,1mm media
•Process parameter as suggested by our skill in shot peening

All test had negative result

ORDER OF PEENING
Significative result can be obtained only if first peening is performed with media characterized by
“deeper “ profile

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 FATIGUE STRENGHT

Also in the “best case” , fatigue strength enhancement is not very significative in respect of performance
obtained by components subject to shot peening process having highest residual stress value
160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
No
componente pallinatura 0,8
F 0,8mm
pallinatura 0,1
F 0,1mm F 0,1 + F 0,8
combinazione F 0,8 first
sequenza 0,8 + F 0,1 first
+ 0,1 sequenza 0,1 ++0,8
originale
peening peening peening mm mixed F 0,1 before F 0,8 before

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 REMARKS
About re-peening of gear, our experiences confirm that this techniques, in presence of low duty –
high number of cycles mission profile , can improve total service life up to 50% when performed on
components having spent from 40% up to 70 % of whole expected service life

No any improvement is obtained when mission profile includes high stress or when second peening
is performed on components having spent less than 40% of expected service life

Worsening is obtained when second peening is performed on components having spent more than
80% of whole expected service life

About double peening of gear, our experiences confirm that is possible to “combine” residual stress
profile obtained by different peening process when distribution versus depth is clearly different ,
but in any case fatigue strength increase is not so significant in respect of “best case” of single shot
peening , but of course in this case our experience is still quite limited

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