This document summarizes a study on the effect of surface hardening technique and case depth on the rolling contact fatigue (RCF) behavior of alloy steels. Vacuum carburized AISI 8620 and 9310 steels exhibited the longest RCF lives, over 2 orders of magnitude longer than induction hardened AISI 4140. Higher surface hardness and hardness deeper in the material correlated with longer RCF life. Vacuum carburizing produced greater depth of high hardness (>56 HRC) than other techniques, resulting in smaller plastic deformation zones and longer RCF life. Elasto-plastic modeling predicted stress distributions that matched experimental metallographic observations of plastic deformation zones.
Effect of Surface Hardening Technique and Case Depth on Rolling Contact Fatigue Behavior of Alloy Steels
1. Effect of Surface Hardening
Technique and Case Depth on
Rolling Contact Fatigue
Behavior of Alloy Steels
1 BRP US, Inc. – Marine Propulsion Systems Division, Sturtevant, Wisconsin, USA
2 Center for Surface Engineering and Tribology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
3 State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
4 Midwest Thermal-Vac, Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
5 State Key Laboratory of Mechanical Transmission, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
David Palmer1, Lechun Xie 2,3, Frederick Otto4, Zhanjiang Wang5,
Q. Jane Wang2
2. Introduction
Two-stroke outboard engine components
used in rolling contact fatigue (RCF)
2
Crankshafts
Connecting rods
Driveshafts
Propeller shafts
Gears
Bearings
etc.
5. 5
Introduction
Carburizing vs. induction hardening
Jones et al (2010):
Spiral bevel gears
Induction hardened AISI 4340 had lower distortion
Atmosphere carburized AISI 9310 had higher strength
Townshend et al (1995):
Straight spur gears
Induction hardened AISI 1552 had longer RCF life than
atmosphere carburized AISI 9310
Carburized gears were ground after heat treatment; induction
hardened gears were not
6. 6
Introduction
Atmosphere vs. vacuum carburizing
Lindell et al (2002):
Helical spur gears
Atmosphere carburizing (with oil quench) vs. vacuum
carburizing (with gas quench) for AISI 8620
Vacuum carburized AISI 8620 had:
Higher surface hardness
Higher surface compressive residual stress
Greater depth of high hardness (>58 HRC) at same case
depth
7. 7
Introduction
Case depth
Traditionally measured as depth to 50 HRC (513 HV)
May vary due to non-uniform heating, non-uniform carbon
pickup, and/or non-uniform stock removal during grinding
8. Introduction
Problems
How do different surface hardening methods affect RCF life?
Atmosphere carburizing with oil quenching
Vacuum carburizing with oil quenching
Vacuum carburizing with gas quenching
Induction hardening
What is the effect of case depth on RCF life?
Can elasto-plastic modeling shed light on this problem?
8
21. 21
Elasto-plastic modelling
Elasto-plastic modelling for plastically-graded materials (Wang
et al, 2013)
Assumptions:
• Yield strength gradient based on experimentally-determined
hardness gradient
• Tabor approximation: H = 3σY0
• Isotropic strain hardening: σY = σY0(1+εp)n
• Strain hardening exponent:
n = 0.140 for AISI 8620
n = 0.035 for AISI 4140
n = 0.113 for AISI 9310
Values from AISI Bar
Steel Fatigue database
40. Conclusions
(1.) Longest RCF lives: vacuum carburized 8620 and
9310
Shortest RCF lives: induction hardened 4140
More than 2 orders of magnitude!
(2.) Higher surface hardness → longer RCF life
(except for atmosphere carburized 8620)
(3.) More important than surface hardness:
hardness at depth of maximum von Mises stress
(in this case, approximately 0.13 mm)
40
41. 41
Conclusions
(4.) RCF life correlates more closely with depth of
high hardness (>56 HRC) than with case depth
as traditionally defined (>50 HRC)
(5.) Vacuum carburizing → greater depth of high
hardness → smaller plastic deformation zone →
longer RCF life
(6.) Metallographically light- and dark-etching areas
correspond with plastic deformation zones as
predicted by elasto-plastic simulation
42. 42
Dissemination activities
STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
May 22, 2014
Design News
“Understanding Case Hardening of Steel”
September 4, 2014
Tribology Transactions
Volume 58, Issue 1
2015 (forthcoming)
43. Acknowledgements
• BRP US, Inc. – Marine Propulsion Systems Division, Sturtevant,
Wisconsin, USA
• Center for Surface Engineering and Tribology, Northwestern
University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
• Midwest Thermal Vac., Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
• China Scholarship Council (No. 2011623074), Beijing, China
• Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
• Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
43
44. References
Jones, K.T., et al. (2010), "Gas Carburizing vs. Contour
Induction Hardening in Bevel Gears," Gear Solutions 8 (82),
pp. 38-44, 51, 54.
Lindell, G.D, et al. (2002), "Selecting the Best Carburizing
Method for the Heat Treatment of Gears (AGMA Technical
Paper 02FTM7)," American Gear Manufacturers
Association, Alexandria, VA, ISBN 1 55589 807 6.
Townsend, D.P., et al. (1995), "The Surface Fatigue Life of
Induction Hardened AISI 1552 Gears (AGMA Technical Paper
95FTM5)," American Gear Manufacturers Association,
Arlington, VA, ISBN 1 55589 654 5.
44
45. 45
References
Wang, Z.J., et al. (2013), “An Efficient Numerical Method
With a Parallel Computation Strategy for Solving Arbitrarily
Shaped Inclusions in Elasto-Plastic Contact Problems,"
ASME Journal of Tribology 135 (3), pp. 031401.