Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 33 (12) (2019) 5817~5827

www.springerlink.com/content/1738-494x(Print)/1976-3824(Online)
DOI 10.1007/s12206-019-1128-x

A case study of gear wheel material and heat treatment effect on

gearbox strength calculation†
Silvia Maláková1, Anna Guzanová1, Dagmar Draganovská1, Gabriel Fedorko2,* and Vieroslav Molnár3
1
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 042 00, Košice, Slovakia
2
Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnologies, Technical University of Košice, Letná 9, 042 00, Košice, Slovakia
3
Faculty of Manufacturing Technologies with a seat in Prešov, Technical University of Košice, Bayerova 1, 080 01, Prešov, Slovakia

(Manuscript Received June 7, 2019; Revised September 18, 2019; Accepted September 28, 2019)

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Abstract

The paper is focused on the influence of gearing material and thermal or chemical-thermal processing of wheels on the results of the
strength calculation carried out in accordance to the standard, in particular on the safety factor. This effect is examined on a gearbox that
was part of the steel coil production line in the integrated steel plant. Due to changes in production, the load on the gears increased. Thus,
the result of this work is the selection of new materials for the two-speed gearbox and their heat treatment to meet the safety conditions of
the gearing mechanism without changing the geometrical parameters of the gearbox.

Keywords: Gear materials; Thermal treatment; Strength calculation of gears

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life of the toothed wheels [5].

1. Introduction
According to the surface hardness of the teeth, steel gears
Steel is the most used material for heavily loaded gears. By can be divided into "soft" and "hard". When using conven-
appropriate thermal or chemical-thermal treatment, the me- tional cutting tools, a hardness of 350 HBW (corresponding to
chanical properties of the core as well as the surface hardness ultimate tensile strength of about 1200 MPa) can be consid-
of the gear teeth can be improved [1, 2]. Gears made of cast ered as the boundary between them. When using powerful
iron, non-ferrous metals and plastics are less used. High sur- cutting tools and machines with sufficient stiffness, this limit
face hardness of the teeth is a prerequisite for high contact can be moved higher. Soft gears with a hardness of up to 350
strength value and good resistance to wear, as well as in- HBW are machined only after heat treatment. Hard gears with
creased fatigue tensile strength of the surface layer of the teeth. a hardness above 350 HBW, where the heat treatment takes
While retaining the toughness of the core, the teeth of the steel place only after machining (chip-forming process).
gears are resistant to the brittle fracture that may occur when The required mechanical properties of gear wheels with a
the toothed wheel is struck by impact [3, 4]. hardness of up to 350 HBW are mostly achieved by normalis-
The purpose of the strength calculation is to formulate the ing or quenching and tempering. They are machined after the
conditions that need to be fulfilled to prevent a limit state oc- heat treatment, since volume changes and deformations during
currence in the gearing during the required life of gear mecha- the heat treatment affect gear quality. Normalising improves
nism. Sufficient gear safety is a concept that needs to be un- mechanical properties and improves machinability and can be
derstood in relation to very different requirements placed on applied to low-carbon gears (up to 0.6 % C). Structural steels
gears working in different fields of use. In strength conditions, W.Nr. 1.0050, W.Nr. 1.0060, W.Nr. 1.0070 and high grade
the geometric parameters of the gearwheels, external force, steels W.Nr. 1.1191 and W.Nr. 1.1203 are commonly used [6].
operational influences and requirements as well as the charac- Quenching and tempering [7] allows increasing the strength
teristics of the materials used play the role. By properly se- and hardness of the teeth. It is applied to non-alloy high grade
lected material of gearwheels and also by the appropriate heat steel (W.Nr. 1.1191, W.Nr. 1.1203) and low-alloy steels
treatment, we can greatly influence the safety factor of the (W.Nr. 1.5122, W.Nr. 1.5024 and others). When choosing the
gears during the required conditions and the required service material and the heat treatment, it is necessary to take into
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +421 556023143, Fax.: +421 556023144 account good hardenability and machinability [8-10]. Soft
E-mail address: gabriel.fedorko@tuke.sk machined gears are widely used to transfer a relatively still
†
Recommended by Associate Editor Zhuhua Tan
© KSME & Springer 2019
small and medium load, where there are no special demands
5818 S. Maláková et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 33 (12) (2019) 5817~5827
on driving gears. The teeth are used to be resistant to brittle
fracture and, as a precaution against the potential jamming
(seizure), it is recommended that the pinion hardness should
be higher (by 20 to 50 HB) compared to the hardness of the
wheel.
"Hard" machined gears with a hardness exceeding 350
HBW are designed to transmit medium to very large torques
(torques larger than 100000 Nm). They are designed for a
wide range of complex transmissions with a wide variety of
operating and construction requirements. High load capacity is
achieved by selecting the appropriate steel in combination
with a suitable type of heat treatment, especially hardening,
carburizing and nitriding [11-14]. The practically achieved
surface hardness varies between 350-650 HBW at strength of
wheel core from 700 to 1500 MPa. Hard tooth surfaces are
causing complications during the running-in process and train
of gears containing these gears place extremely demands to
manufacture accuracy and stiffness of gear support. Achieve-
ment the required accuracy is complicated by fact that because
of technological reasons the heat treatment is carried out after
machining (chip-forming process) of the gear, which causes
deformation of gear rim. For precision dimensions and tooth
shapes restoration, some hard finishing operations, such as
grinding, lapping and shaving, should be included.
By surface hardening can be achieved a hard and wear resis-
tant surface of the tooth while maintaining the relatively soft
and tough core (Fig. 1). For surface hardened gears are often
used steels with carbon content of 0.3 to 0.5 %. The heating is
inductive or flame-induced and quenching (cooling) is per-
formed in one when quenching gears of small dimensions,
tooth-by-tooth or spacing hardening in case of large module
(module greater than 6 mm). Spacing hardening is considera-
bly more advantageous in terms of bending strength than
tooth-by-tooth hardening. The achieved tooth hardness varies
from 45 to 55 HRC.
Carburized and hardened gears exhibit the best indicators in
bending and contact stress [16] and are used for highly loaded
small and medium sized (up to diameter of 1 m [17]) gears.
Alloy steels containing 0.1 to 0.25 % C, alloyed with Cr, Mn,
Ni, Mo, or trace elements Ti or Br are used for carburizing.
The core toughness increases by the addition of Mn and Ni,
the presence of Cr and Mo increases seizing resistance. The
surface of the tooth is saturated to a concentration of 0.8 to
1.0 % C. Gears are most commonly carburized in gas at tem-
peratures of about 900 to 950 °C for several hours, quenched
from temperature of 780 to 830 °C and tempered at 180 to
240 °C. The optimal depth of the carburized layer δ is chosen
depending on the gearing module m:
d = (0.2 to 0.25) ´ m for m ≤ 4 mm
d = 0.5 ´ m for m > 4 mm
The thickness of this layer should be less than 2 mm.
The nitrided gear wheels have hardness from 60 to 65 HRC.
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
(e)
Fig. 1. Flow The hardened surface layer of the tooth: (a) Deep quench-
ing; (b) tooth-by-tooth induction hardening; (c) spacing hardening; (d)
contour hardening of the carburized layer; (e) macrostructure appear-
ance of spacing hardening [15].
The load bearing capacity of the surface layer is lower due to
its relative small depth. Nitriding does not cause deformation
of gear rim, so finishing operations are not required. Such
nitrided gears are suitable for transmission of medium and
large loads. Prior to nitriding, toothed wheels are hardened by
quenching, suitable steels contains Al, Cr and V.
In carbonitriding, the surface is saturated with nitrogen and
carbon. Low and medium carbon steels and also low-alloy
steels are used.
The most dynamic development of production in the last
seven years has been recorded in the manufacture of transport
vehicles [18, 19]. The automotive industry has become the
driving force behind the rapid development of the Slovak
economy [20]. Automotive industry is closely associated with
steel sheet metal production, which is represented in East Slo-
vakia by an integrated steel company whose production pro-
gram consists of a wide range of hot and cold-rolled products.
This steel plant must respond flexibly to customer require-
ments. In this integrated steel company on the production line
for the production of steel coils, it was necessary to propose
changes that would allow the rolls of sheet metal to be sup-
plied with a greater thickness. It represents an increase in the
(1) power output of gearbox from 600 kW to 800 kW. The paper
presents the results of proposed changes in the gear mecha-
(2)
nism, which would be able to transfer an increased load on the
gears during operation. The influence of material and heat
treatment on strength calculation of helical gears in two-stage
gearbox is investigated.
 S. Maláková et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 33 (12) (2019) 5817~5827 5819

2. Materials and methods

2.3 Safety factor of gearing - strength calculation of gear-
2.1 Characteristics of the original gearbox ings

The problem is solved for two speed helical gearbox with a There are several methods for strength calculation of gear-
total gear ratio i = 9.48 and the basic geometric parameters ing both national (DIN, AGMA, JIS etc) and international
listed in Table 1. The gearbox was rated for a load of 600 kW. (ISO 6336) standards. Their purpose is to formulate the condi-
tions [23-26] which must be fulfilled so that the limit state
does not occur in the gearing during the required service life.
2.2 Materials tested after change of input power
The oldest calculation methods include the calculation ac-
The following materials treated by the appropriate thermal cording to Bach [27], which has become the basis of the
or chemical-thermal procedure were tested to achieve a satis- strength calculation according to STN 01 4686. According to
factory safety factor based on strength calculation according to this standard calculation is based on the control of bending
national standard [17]: W.Nr. 1.0070 - untreated, W.Nr. strength and contact stress.
1.1191 normalized and hardened to a lower strength, W.Nr. In bending strength calculation, the fatigue fracture of the
1.0601 - normalized and hardened to a lower strength, carbu- teeth, starting from the root transition area on the active side of
rised and hardened, W.Nr. 1.1206 - normalized and hardened, the teeth, is monitored as a limit state. According to this stan-
W.Nr. 1.7034 - hardened to a lower strength, carburised and dard, the bending capacity can be proved by calculation the
hardened, W.Nr. 1.7707 - hardened, W.Nr. 1.6582 - hardened, safety factor for bending failure in the root, for which [17]
carburised and hardened, W.Nr. 1.595 - carburised and hard- applies:
ened. Chemical composition of tested materials is given in
Table 2 and microstructure and achievable hardness can be s Flimb × YN × Yd × YX
SF = ³ S Fmin (3)
found in Table 3. sF
Resulting hardness of carbon non-alloy steels strictly de-
pends on the carbon content. If the carbon content is below the where SF - safety factor for bending failure in the root, σFlimb -
hardenable level (Cmin = 0.3 %), carburizing and subsequent bending fatique life for the intended way of load (MPa), YN -
quenching are followed. For alloyed materials, lower carbon coefficient of durability, Yδ - coefficient of nick sensitivity, YX
content is sufficient because the alloying elements also con- - coefficient of dimension, σF - bending stress in the critical
tribute to the hardenability of the steels. cross section of root (MPa), SFmin - the minimum value of the
factor: SFmin = 1.4.
In contact stress calculation, the progressive surfaces fatigue
damage (pitting) of the teeth is monitored as a limit state. Ac-
Table 1. Basic geometric parameters of gearing (initial state).
cording to this standard, the contact capacity can be proved by
First stage Output stage calculation the, for which applies:
Parameter
Pinion Gear Pinion Gear
Gear ratio 2.6363 3.5888 s Hlim × Z N
SH = × ( Z L × Z R × ZV ) ³ S Hmin , (4)
Number of teeth 22 58 17 61
sH
Normal module (mm) 10 16
Pressure angle (˚) 20 20
where SH - safety factor against fatigue damage of tooth side,
σHlim - fatigue limit in contact (MPa), ZN - coefficient of dura-
Helix angle (˚) 27.26604 28.49326
bility, ZL - coefficient of lubricants, ZR - roughness coefficient
Face width (mm) 220 200 350 320
of tooth side before meshing, ZV - coefficient of peripheral
Centre distance (mm) 450 710 speed, σH - Hertz stress in pitch point (MPa), SHmin - the mini-

Table 2. Chemical composition of tested materials in wt. %.

Material C P S Mn Si Cr Ni Cu V Mo
W.Nr. 1.0070 Max. 0.65 Max. 0.045 Max. 0.045 - - - - - - -
W.Nr. 1.1191 0.42-0.50 Max. 0.035 Max. 0.030 0.5-0.8 0.17-0.37 Max. 0.25 Max. 0.30 Max. 0.30 - -
W.Nr. 1.1206 0.47-0.55 Max. 0.035 Max. 0.030 0.5-0.8 0.15-0.40 Max. 0.25 Max. 0.30 Max. 0.30 - -
W.Nr. 1.0601 0.52-0.60 Max. 0.040 Max. 0.040 0.5-0.8 0.15-0.40 Max. 0.25 Max. 0.30 Max. 0.30 - -
W.Nr. 1.7034 0.34-0.41 Max. 0.035 Max. 0.030 0.60-0.90 Max. 0.040 0.90-1.20 - - - -
W.Nr. 1.7707 0.35-0.43 Max. 0.035 Max. 0.035 0.6-0.8 0.17-0.37 1.70-2.00 Max. 0.60 - 0.10-0.20 -
W.Nr. 1.6582 0.32-0.40 Max. 0.035 Max. 0.030 0.50-0.80 0.15-0.40 1.30-1.70 1.30-1.70 - - 0.20-0.30
W.Nr. 1.595 0.12-0.19 Max. 0.035 Max. 0.035 0.30-0.60 0.17-0.37 1.20-1.75 3.25-4.00 - - -
5820 S. Maláková et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 33 (12) (2019) 5817~5827

Table 3. Microstructure, thermal treatment and achievable hardness of tested materials [21, 22].

Thermal / chemical-thermal Type of microstructure,

Material Micrograph
treatment achievable hardness

STN 412050
W.Nr. 1.1191 Normalized and hardened Martensitic structure 55 ±3 HRC
C45E

STN 412051 ca. 20 % ferrite; 20 % pearlite; 60 %

W.Nr. 1.1206 Normalized and hardened sorbite reticular ferrite precipitation,
C50E normalised 56 ±3 HRC

STN 414140 Fine-grained heat treated structure with

Hardened, carburised and
W.Nr. 1.7034 local existing particular ferrite grains
hardened
37Cr4 53 ±2 HRC

STN 415241
Sulphides in the segregation streaks
W.Nr. 1.7707 Normalized and hardened
53 ±2 HRC
30CrMoV9

STN 416343
Ferrite free heat treated structure
W.Nr. 1.6582 Hardened
50-58 HRC
34CrNiMo6

STN 416523
Plate martensite and retained austenite
W.Nr. 1.595 Carburised and hardened
62 HRC
14NiCr18

mum value of the factor: SHmin = 1.1. load-bearing capacity is taken into account in the strength
Fatigue limit values for gearing materials in accordance calculation by the roughness coefficient of tooth side before
with this standard are given for grinding teeth sides. The influ- meshing. The load-bearing capacity of the teeth in the bend
ence of roughness of untreated and hardened teeth on their reduces manufacturing deficiencies, such as the decarburized
 S. Maláková et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 33 (12) (2019) 5817~5827 5821

Table 4. Some parameters of strength calculations for change of per- from a wider group of materials, showed a significant impact
formance. on the safety factors of gearing, calculated according to STN
First stage Output stage standard.
Parameter The following types of heat treatment were used for each
Pinion Gear Pinion Gear
type of material, according to use: untreated (W.Nr. 1.0070),
W.Nr. W.Nr. W.Nr. W.Nr.
Material of the gear normalization (W.Nr. 1.0601, W.Nr. 1.0070, W.Nr. 1.1191),
1.1191 1.0601 1.1191 1.0070
surface hardening (W.Nr. 1.7034, W.Nr. 1.7707), case harden-
Surface Surface
Thermal treatment Normalised Untreated ing and quenching (W.Nr. 1.6582, W.Nr. 1.595) and quench-
hardened hardened
Quality class of gearing 8 8
ing and tempering (W.Nr. 1.1191, W.Nr. 1.0601).
-1 When assessing the effect of the thickness of carburized
Rotation speed (min ) 330 125.316 125.316 34.81
layer on the safety factors, the variable parameter is the thick-
Torque (Nm) 23149.81 60961.67 60961.67 219460.2
ness of carburized layer for a particular gear material (W.Nr.
Tangential load (N) 189816.8 400236.8 1.7034).
Bending safety factor SF 0.95 1.051 0.898 1.024
Contact safety factor SH 1.030 0.564 1.071 0.574
3. Results and discussion
3.1 Safety factor of gear wheels of the original gearbox at
surface and cracks in the area of the tooth's root that may oc- power change
cur during quenching. These effects should be avoided in the
manufacture of gears, since the calculation according to stan- The first step in the problem solution is to assess the safety
dard does not take into account such deficiencies. factor of original gearbox for new increased power output.
This standard specifies the values of the durability of mate- The rotation speed of the steel coil changes depending on the
rials covered for 5.107 load cycles. For other load cycle values, amount of wound metal. A smooth change of speed is pro-
the standard sets the reduction factor. vided by the electric motor.
Bending and contact strength control of teeth was carried
out for the original material and heat treatment of the gears
2.4 Summary of research methodology
used as well as for the original geometrical parameters of the
The main aim of the paper is to assess the effect of material two speed helical gearbox but for the new increased power
and heat treatment change of gears on the safety factors of output value P = 800 kW and the required gearing life of
gearing determined according to the standard [17]. 25000 hours, according to STN 01 4686 [17], Table 4. The
It is a two-speed gearbox with helical gears. This gearbox is ordering party determined that 16 % of service life the gear-
part of a steel coil production line in an integrated steel com- box is working with a minimum input speed of nmin = 330 min-1.
pany. According to STN 01 4686 the safety factor for bending fail-
Safety factor for bending strength (safety against tooth ure SF should be greater than the value 1.4 and the safety fac-
breakage) - SF is calculated according to Eq. (3) and safety tor against fatigue damage SH should be greater than the value
factor for surface durability (against pitting) - SH is calculated 1.1.
according to Eq. (4). The calculation procedure followed in-
structions given in standard [17]. 3.2 The influence of material change and heat treatment for
The basic input parameters are the basic geometric parame- the first gear stage
ters of the gearing shown in Table 1. These parameters do not
change; they remain the same for each strength calculation as From Table 4 is clear that the values of both safety factors
well as the quality class of gearing, the value given in Table 4. of the original gearbox are lower than critical values of factors
Other input parameters that do not change are the gear load specified in STN 01469. Therefore, it has to be assessed
parameters, i.e. rotation speed, torque, tangential load, listed in whether the required safety factor of the gears can be achieved
Table 4. These parameters are based on the required power only by changing the material and by suitable the heat treat-
value P = 800 kW. The teeth safety factors are determined for ment of the gears. Table 5 shows the results of the strength
the required service life of 25000 hours. calculation for the first gear according to Ref. [17] for differ-
Variable parameters are: material of the pinion and wheel ent materials and their heat treatment.
for both gear stages, as well as the heat treatment of the gear- Data from Table 5 are graphically visualised in Figs. 2 and 3.
ing. The dependence of the safety factor for bending failure deter-
The following materials were tested to investigate the effect mined by the calculation according to the standard for the first
of the material on the gear safety factors according to standard gear for the changed load but with the original geometric di-
[17]: W.Nr. 1.0070, W.Nr. 1.1191, W.Nr. 1.0601, W.Nr. mensions of the gearing is shown in Fig. 2. Similarly, the de-
1.7034, W.Nr. 1.7707, W.Nr. 1.6582 and W.Nr. 1595. pendence of the contact safety factor is shown in Fig. 3. In
This group of materials is a representative sample, chosen these cases, the same materials were selected and the same
5822 S. Maláková et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 33 (12) (2019) 5817~5827

Table 5. The influence of material selection on the strength calculation Table 6. The effect of the material selection on the strength calculation
on the first gear of the assessed gearbox. on the second gear.

Pinion Material Material

Alternative SF SH Alternative Pinion or gear SF SH
or gear Thermal treatment Thermal treatment
W.Nr. 1.0601 W.Nr. 1.0070
Pinion 1.292 0.532 Pinion 1.129 0.500
Normalised Normalised
1 1
W.Nr. 1.0601 W.Nr. 1.0070
Gear 1.377 0.602 Gear 1.379 0.566
Normalised Normalised
W.Nr. 1.7034 W.Nr. 1.0601
Pinion 0.985 0.878
Surface hardened Pinion Quenched and 1.402 0.600
2
W.Nr. 1.7034 2 tempered
Gear 1.119 0.934
Surface hardened W.Nr. 1.0070
Gear 1.423 0.755
W.Nr. 1.7707 Normalised
Pinion 1.432 0.975
Surface hardened W.Nr. 1.1191
3 Pinion 1.089 0.599
W.Nr. 1.7707 Surface hardened
Gear 1.468 1.041 3
Surface hardened W.Nr. 1.0070
Gear 1.024 0.740
W.Nr. 1.6582 Normalised
Pinion Case hardened, 1.621 0.992 W.Nr. 1.1191
quenched Pinion Quenched and 1.347 0.544
4
W.Nr. 1.6582 4 tempered
Gear Case hardened, 1.67 1.059 W.Nr. 1.1191
Gear 1.250 0.510
quenched Normalised
W.Nr. 1.595 W.Nr. 1.1191
Pinion 1.235 0.462
Pinion Case hardened, 1.644 1.118 Normalised
5
quenched W.Nr. 1.1191
5 Gear 1.318 0.523
W.Nr. 1.595 Normalised
Gear Case hardened, 1.695 1.124
W.Nr. 1.595
quenched Pinion 1.515 1.146
Case hardened,
6 quenched
W.Nr. 1.6582
Gear 1.438 1.139
Surface hardened

heat treatment for the pair of gears in first gear.

When assessing the effect of the material and the heat treat-
ment of the first gear, it was concluded that material W.Nr.
1.595, cemented and hardened for both co-operating wheels is
suitable and met all conditions.

Fig. 2. Change of bending safety factor SF depending on material. 3.3 The influence of material change and heat treatment for
the output stage

Table 6 shows the strength calculation for the second gear

according to Ref. [17]. Pinion and wheel material is selected
in various combinations. They are the same materials treated
by the same heat treatment for the pinion and wheel, or differ-
ent materials with different heat treatments, or the same mate-
rial but with different heat treatment for the pinion and wheel.
In the first three cases shown in Table 6 it can be seen that if
the thermally untreated teeth of wheel are in contact with ther-
mally treated (quenched and tempered) teeth of the pinion, the
safety factors of the untreated gear will be increased.
Fig. 3. Change of fatigue safety factor SH depending on material. At the same time, the influence of different materials, or the
 S. Maláková et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 33 (12) (2019) 5817~5827
Fig. 4. Effect of material and heat treatment on the bending safety
factor.
Fig. 5. Effect of material and heat treatment on the contact safety factor.
effect of different heat treatments of the pair of wheels (pinion
and wheel), is evident from the results of the bending and
contact safety factors (Table 6, rows 4 and 5).
The influence of material selection and subsequent thermal
or chemical-thermal treatment on the bending (Fig. 4) and
contact (Fig. 5) safety factor are considered for the second
gear pinion as the factors achieve more critical values for the
pinion than for the gear. These data are the result of process-
ing a second gear strength calculation. It was based on the
assumption that the material of both wheels (pinion and gear)
is the same. The material of the gear is untreated, while the
heat treatment of the pinion varies. Figs. 4 and 5 show that the
choice of heat treatment more affects the required safety factor
for surface durability than safety factor for bending strength,
thus the safety factor for surface durability is more sensitive to
5823
Fig. 6. Influence of the thickness of the carburized layer on the contact
safety factor.
the change in heat treatment.
3.4 Influence of the thickness of the carburized layer on the
contact safety factor
Fig. 6 illustrates the effect of the thickness of the carburized
layer on the safety factor in contact for the second gear and for
one of the examined materials of both the pinion and the
wheel - W.Nr. 1.7034. The teeth of the wheels are case hard-
ened and quenched. By increasing the thickness of the carbur-
ized layer the safety factor increases. The standard for the
strength calculation determines the limit for the maximum
thickness of the carburized layer, which in the case of the
geometric dimensions in the second gear reaches value of
2 mm, but this does not represent an optimal thickness.
The condition for achieving the standard values of the dura-
bility of the case hardened material is to maintain a sufficient
depth of carburized layer. According to the standard [17] for
the module in the second gear mn = 16 mm, the thickness of
the carburized layer after finishing should be between 1.6 and
1.8 mm. Since case hardening is a treatment accompanied by a
deformation, it is necessary to choose the final machining with
respect to the desired quality class of gearing. Once the de-
sired standard thickness of the carburized layer has been
achieved, it is necessary to prevent the occurrence of notches
when grinding or removing carburized layer by grinding in the
area of the tooth root. These effects reduce the bending and
contact capacity of the teeth.
3.5 The resulting choice of material and heat treatment of
the gearing
Based on the results obtained, new materials of all gears, as
well as their thermal and chemical-thermal processing, were
selected to meet the parameters of the bending and the contact
safety factors. Results are shown in Table 7.
Fig. 7 shows the hardenability bands for the resulting se-
lected materials. The hardenability bands represent the range
of achievable hardness of the selected material for the mini-
mum and maximum carbon content guaranteed by the manu-
5824 S. Maláková et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 33 (12) (2019) 5817~5827

Table 7. The resulting choice of material and heat treatment.

First stage Output stage

Parameter
Pinion Gear Pinion Gear
Material of the gear W.Nr. 1.595 W.Nr. 1.595 W.Nr. 1.595 W.Nr. 1.6582
Thermal treatment Case hardening, quenching Case hardening, quenching Case hardening, quenching Surface hardened
Bending safety factor SF 1.644 1.695 1.515 1.438
Contact safety factor SH 1.118 1.124 1.146 1.139

to these variables, other parameters also affect the lifespan of

gears, e.g.:
- Surface roughness of the tooth flank,
- The way of gear lubrication,
- Type of gear oil,
- Manufacturing technology of gear,
- Surface mechanical treatment,
- Distribution of the load over the tooth width,
- Curvature of the tooth flanks at the points of contact,
- Dimensions of toothing,
Fig. 7. Hardenability bands of selected materials. - Conditions in the area of the root fillet, etc.

facturer. 4. Calculation of load capacity of gears according

High hardness of the tooth is a prerequisite for high contact
strength and good resistance of the tooth against wear and tear.
Fig. 7 corresponds to the results of the contact strength calcu-
lation according to the mentioned standard, thus, the higher
surface hardness, the higher contact safety factor. On the other
hand, it is important for gears to keep the tough core, only
then the teeth of the steel gears are resistant to brittle fracture,
which occurs when the toothed wheel is impacted by shocks,
that is, when the requirement of the bending strength calcula-
tion is not met. Thus, the harder the tooth, the lower the bend-
ing safety factor [17], which indicating the match between the
data given in Table 7 and Fig. 7.
Gears are case hardened to produce residual compressive
stresses at the surface, which improves wear resistance, bend-
ing, and contact fatigue strength. These compressive stresses
are balanced by tensile stresses in the core. This poses an in-
creased risk of fatigue crack initiation in the material below
the surface. The failure mode where a subsurface fatigue crack
initiates close to case-core boundary, approximately mid-
height of the tooth, is called tooth interior fatigue fracture
(TIFF) [28].
The crack-producing stresses of TIFF are twofold: alternat-
ing stresses due to the idler usage of the gear wheel, and con-
stant residual tensile stresses in the interior of the tooth due to
case hardening. Investigation the effect of hardening on tooth
interior fatigue fracture needs a more detailed study focused
on contact fatigue.
ISO 6336
ISO 6336 consists of the following parts, under the general
title Calculation of load capacity of spur and helical gears:
- Part 1: Basic principles, introduction and general influence
factors;
- Part 2: Calculation of surface durability (pitting);
- Part 3: Calculation of tooth bending strength;
- Part 5: Strength and quality of materials [29].
The part of ISO 6336 and parts 2, 3 and 5 provide the prin-
ciples for a coherent system of procedures for the calculation
of the load capacity of cylindrical involute gears with external
or internal teeth. The formulae in ISO 6336 are intended to
establish a uniformly acceptable method for calculating the
pitting resistance and bending strength capacity of cylindrical
gears with straight or helical teeth.
It is necessary to distinguish between the safety factor rela-
tive to pitting, SH, and the safety factor relative to tooth break-
age, SF.
For a given application, adequate gear load capacity is dem-
onstrated by the computed values of SH and SF being equal to
or greater than the values SH min and SF min, respectively.
Calculate SF separately for pinion and wheel:
s FG
SF = £ S Fmin (5)
sF

where SF - safety factor for bending failure in the root, σFG -

3.6 Factors influencing the life of gears
tooth-root stress limit (MPa), σF - tooth-root stress (MPa),
The paper is devoted to the effect of gear material and heat SFmin - the minimum value of the factor: SFmin = 1.2.
treatment on the calculation of gears load capacity. In addition Calculate SH separately for pinion and wheel:
 S. Maláková et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 33 (12) (2019) 5817~5827
s HG
SH = £ S Hmin
sH
where SH - safety factor against fatigue damage of tooth side,
σHG - modified allowable stress number (MPa), σH - contact
stress (MPa), SHmin - the minimum value of the factor: SHmin = 1.
Where gears are produced under a specification or a request
for proposal (quotation), in which the gear supplier is to pro-
vide gears or assembled gear drives having specified calcu-
lated capacities (ratings) in accordance with ISO 6336, the
value of the safety factor for each mode of failure (pitting,
tooth breakage) is to be agreed upon between the parties [29].
5. Conclusions
Lifetime calculations of gear pairs for a given safety factor
are standard requests when they are being designed or checked.
Strength calculation of gears according to the standard
means calculation the comparative values of load based on the
external load parameters and gear dimensions, as well as
comparation of these values with corresponding properties of
materials.
The result of the work shows that the choice of suitable ma-
terial of the gear wheels, as well as its thermal or chemical-
thermal treatment, can increase the safety factor of gearing in
case of increased gear load requirements.
When assessing the influence of material and heat treatment
on toothed gears, it is necessary to assess a pair of wheels, not
each wheel separately.
Changing of the material or heat treatment on one of the
gear wheels will affect the change of the safety factors of both
meshing gear wheels.
When designing the material of gear wheels applies, the
greater is the bending fatique life and fatigue limit in contact
of the designed material, the greater is the safety factor for
bending failure in the root and safety factor against fatigue
damage of tooth side.
If the untreated wheels are in contact with hardened wheels,
the value of the safety factor in contact will increase also for
untreated wheel.
Safety factor against fatigue damage of tooth side is more
intense influenced by thermal treatment of the gear compared
to material selection.
In case hardened/quenched teeth, the thickness of the car-
burized layer after finishing is the decisive factor affecting the
safety factor in contact.
As the thickness of the carburized layer increases, so does
the value of the Safety factor against fatigue damage of tooth
side.
Up to the minimum thickness of the carburized layer set by
the standard, this growth is more intense, then growth slows.
It can be concluded that in the case of this practical example,
where the load was increased approximately by 33 %, it is
possible to achieve the required safety during the lifetime of
the gearbox only by suitable choice of gear material and heat
5825
treatment while maintaining the geometrical parameters of the
(6)
gears.
Acknowledgments
This work is a part of these projects APVV-16-0259, VEGA
1/0600/20, VEGA 1/0154/19, VEGA 1/0403/18, VEGA
1/0290/18, KEGA 012TUKE-4/2019, KEGA 013 TUKE-
4/2019 and SK-SRB-18-0053.
Nomenclature------------------------------------------------------------------------
Al : Aluminium (chemical element)
Br : Bromine (chemical element)
C : Carbon (chemical element)
Cr : Cromium (chemical element)
HBW : The Brinell scale of hardness of materials
HRC : The Rockwell scale of hardness of materials
Mn : Manganese (chemical element)
Mo : Molybdenum (chemical element)
Ni : Nickel (chemical element)
P : Phosphorus (chemical element)
S : Sulfur (chemical element)
SF : Safety factor for bending failure oh gear teeth
SH : Safety factor against fatigue damage of tooth side
Si : Silicon (chemical element)
Ti : Titanium (chemical element)
V : Vanadium (chemical element)
W : Watt is a unit of power
W.Nr. : Number of material
mm : Millimetre is unit of length in the metric system
δ : Optimal depth of the carburized layer
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Silvia Maláková is an Associate Profes-
sor working in Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering, Technical University of
Košice, Slovakia. The area her action is
focused on the problem of research in
the field of gears and gears with a con-
tinuous change of speed ratio, particu-
larly deformation and stiffness of teeth,
strength calculation, kinematic properties and meshing condi-
tion.
Anna Guzanová is an Associate Pro-
fessor working in Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering, Technical University of
Košice, Slovakia. In research work she
focuses on materials research, parti-
cularly thermal spraying, welding,
corrosion testing, organic and inorganic
coatings and testing their properties.
Dagmar Draganovská is an Associate
Professor working in Faculty of Me-
chanical Engineering, Technical Univer-
sity of Košice, Slovakia. Her research
interests include section of materials and
their testing, surface pre-treatment and
surface finishing of materials, assessing
microgeometry of surfaces, evaluation
of corrosion resistance of materials and coatings.
Gabriel Fedorko works at the Technical
University in Košice at the BERG Fac-
ulty. He specializes in special belt con-
veyors, especially the ecologically ori-
ented ones. Over the above-mentioned
period, he has participated, as a principal
investigator, representative of the princi-
pal investigator or member of a investi-
gating team in several projects conducted under various grant
schemes such as VEGA, KEGA, APVV or International
Visegrad Fund. At the same time, he has been the solver of
several practical industrial tasks. The results of his scientific
research activity up to now is his co-authorship of 10 utility
models or patents. There are 444 citations of his publications in
the WOS database not counting self-citation, with the HI of 15.
 S. Maláková et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 33 (12) (2019) 5817~5827 5827

Vieroslav Molnár works at the Depart-

ment of Computer Aided Manufacturing
Technologies, Faculty of Manufacturing
Technologies of the Technical Uni-
versity of Kosice with seat in Prešov as
Full Professor. His scientific research
activity is focused mainly on the study
of the application of modern mathe-
matical and statistical methods in order to create of new eco-
logical conveyance systems. He experimentally verified ser-
vice life of the conveyor belts by observing the wear and dam-
age process in operation and examined the issue of environ-
mentally friendly conveyance systems and transport equip-
ment components. His responsibility in the project will be
designing the measuring system's structure, testing and taking
measurements in the production process.