eb) Sr. 2259 4.0 TITLE = 20 24 22 23 3.0 34 40 44 42 424 Government of India Ministry of Railways Research, Designs & Standard Organization ‘Manak Nagar, Lucknow-226011 INSTRUCTION BULLETIN NO.MP-IB.EM.10.74.09, dated 30-10-2009. Analysis of the f premature failures. BACKGROUND ‘Some Railways have been complaining about premature failure of 18 teeth pinions. A study was Undertaken to find out the global status of pinion performance on IR. The failure data collected by RDSO from various sheds has shown that the failure rate of 18 teeth pinions on WOM2_ & WDG3A locomotives is not very high. It has, however, been seen that after upgradation of 2600 hp locomotives to 3100 & 3300 hp WDM3A & WOM3D , the performance of traction gears and pinions, both through hardened as well as case hardened, has not been up to desired levels. The original design of gears and pinions of ALCO locomotives was of ‘through hardened’ design. These gears were giving satisfactory performance with lower TE/ power WDM2 locomotives. The increase in TE/ power of locomotives has resulted in higher stresses on gear and pinion which has lead to premature failures of pinions. To improve the life and reliability of these traction gear sets, it was decided to switch over to case hardened design in place of through hardened design The inherent advantage of case hardened a gear is its high torque transmitting capacity that is achieved through increased tensile strength, toughness, high wear resistance & hardness etc. The two designs are similar with respect of general tooth geometry etc, hence their intermixing will cause no problem as far is fitment and operation is concerned. Biased wear on through hardened gears/ pinions shall however take place when the two designs are intermixed, RDSO has issued an IB no. MP.EM. 10.31.08 dated 24.10.2008 to lay down guidelines on this issue of intermixing, OBJECT : The object of this instruction bulletin is to analyze the failures and lay down guidelines to prevent premature failures of 18 teeth pinions DETAILS OF STUDY & EXPERIMENTS DONE: RDSO has conducted a fresh study on the failures of traction motors pinion and found that the failure of pinions is contributed mainly due to cracking/ tooth breakage, wear pitting marks and slipping of pinions PINION SLIPPAGE: Pinion slippage generally occurs due to damage of pinion bore or pinion seating area on armature shaft or adoption of incorrect / wrong pinion mounting process & non use of RC compound during the fitment of pinion on shaft. As stipulated in the maintenance manual, excessive lapping is to be avoided as ridge formation on taper portion of the shaft and also in the pinion corresponding to oil groove may take place. This may cause improper sitting of pinion on shaft. As the need of surface improvement is inevitable, it has to be done very lightly and any ridges formed on ends of taper portion have to be smoothened by oilstone. Induction heating process should be adopted for mounting the pinion on shaft. To avoid pinion slippage, pinion fitment procedure becomes exceedingly important. Fitment should be made only after examining the surface condition of shaft and pinion bore. The blue contact impression on shaft should be checked meticulously and should never be less than422 43 44 444 442 95% in cold condition.( Blue transfer was taken by RDSO on some pinions fitted by BHEL and only 70% to 80% contact area was recorded. Further , the blue transfer was taken with some old GE pinions also , which recorded almost 100% bedding, This indicates that the problem with the pinions of BHEL make is either that the bedding given at BHEL itself is not adequate or the pinion suffers from barreling on extraction due to poor hardness gradient) Use of RC compound on pinion bore & shaft fills gaps and also increases the contact area by making the surface of pinion bore and shaft more even. Parameters given in ‘Annexure A’ should be followed while fitting the pinion. RDSO has verified the effectiveness of RC compound by correlating the pinion slippage failure data PINION TEETH BROKEN/CRACKED:- Most of the cases of tooth breakage involve partial breakage . The most common reasons of teeth failure is fatique ( tooth bending , pitting or spalling ) impact (tooth bending tooth sheer, tooth chipping) and wear (abrasive wear, adhesive wear). Misalignment is a common cause of teeth breakage in gear and pinion and arises from the misalignment or angular meshing between the teeth of pinion and its mating gear wheel. Misalignment in a gear mesh are generally observed due to axial run out, inaccurate gear meshing, eccentricity between bearing bore and outer diameter and incorrect teeth profile and non uniform taper or crowning on pinion teeth with. Pitting , scuffing and even tooth fracture can occur if the load is carried by only a portion of the designed gear face width. Both pitting and tooth fracture are caused by excessive load and scuffing results from a breakdown of the lubrication film between the teeth. The torque capacity of an involute gear is proportional to the active face width. Therefore , if some part of the tooth surface is inactive because of misalignment , tooth loading on the other portions will be higher than the design load leading to premature wear. Proper crowning/ taper relief on the flank also plays an important part in avoiding load bearing by only a portion of the tooth, ‘Some times pitting and wear marks occur on teeth profile due old age of pinion or due to incorrect or non-standard heat treatment process by gear manufacturer. RDSO has instructed all gear manufacturers to strictly follow proper heat treatment standards as per RDSO spetifivation ne, MP.0.2800.17 during the manufacture. Lack or hardening of cardium compound or contamination of cardium compound with foreign material in gear case is also one reason of wear pitting marks on teeth profile. It can be avoided by proper maintaining the cardium compound level and proper tightened the oil filing cap of gear case. In some sheds, pinions were found rejected without detailed checks. A pinion should be rejected only after proper inspection. It is advised to check pinion teeth profile / parameters according to RDSO MP.MI.129/86. MISCELLANEOUS REASONS OF FAILURE : Backlash: the measurement of backlash and teeth profile are sometimes ignored in the sheds. It is reiterated that backlash should be maintained after the final assembly of the pinion and gear as per the instruction in MP.MI-05 and teeth profile should be checked as per MP.MI 129/86 Some pinion were rejected as the profile deviation (wear limit) was found to be more than 0.2mm. However, upon re-measurement with a profile deviation gauge on the same rejected pinions, the values were found within permissible limits. This happened as the initial measurements were taken at the TM end of pinion where taper is provided: this is not correct. The tooth profile deviation should be checked on the side of pinion towards the wheel end. 24.4.3 Incorrect manufacturing : Poor geometry of finish at the roots of the teeth during machining results in high concentration of stresses The material composition and hardness pattem of the Pinion is of utmost importance to ensure that the strength of the teeth at root bore as well as rim is adequate to withstand the stresses. 4.4.4 It is seen that rejection of pinions due to internal cracks in bore & root area by Zyglo or MPI 45 test is a satisfactory process, prompting many failures. All sheds were, however, not found following this practice. Such types of crack may happen due to old age of pinions and annealing of pinion during service. METALLURGICAL INVESTIGATION :- RDSO have carried out physical and metallurgical examination of a large number of failed pinions in recent past. Details of all these cases can not be brought out in this |.B, however, some ot the typical observations made in the last one year after this investigative study was taken up, have been listed in this report. Prion | Shed | MEC ‘Analys of falare Cause of Fale Po report | Daw | JHS ~~ MGMT This pinion was given about 9 yr senioe We. The hardness | 1) Non Conformance OC, 97 | shed | 817264 | pattern was not satisfactory as the tip hardness Is only 26/29 | of microstructure at Bas 2007 dated | RC against specified 50 to 54 RC & Micro examination on | the top of teeth and top of the teeth revealed fine pearlte with dispersed ferrite | root area of pinion, ‘against tempered martensite and landing of teeth has Normalised ferrite pearite against Tempared Martansite | i) Improper haat ‘This is essentially the reason for initation of fracture. | treatment resulting Moreover the fracture of teeth of pinion is attibuted to | in lower hardness Improper microstructure and lower hardness. The chemical | and weakened ‘composition of the material conforms to the specication | material ae __| no.M0.2800.11. (Through hardened material) - SHEL | Raipur | WAGRIT? | The hardness pattern was satisfactory. Micro examination |) Improper forging TC2116 | shed BT/21671 revealed carburized layer throughout the teeth profile . | ratio resulting in zoe ZanBAtes | Nicrosxaminaton further reveals presence of hgovem _ | weaker core of Presence of ingotism shows either proper forging ratio was | pinion or improper ot maintained or the pinion was not properly normalized | normalization rior to carburizing treatment (i) Micro examination | followed prior to Tevealed presence of cementite network with oneesaived | carborization of the earlte as against tempered martensite , which is ebtained | pinion. In hardening & tempering . This indicates that pinion was ‘not properly hardened and tempered. Hardening & | ii) Improper tempering results in formation of tempered martensite | hardening and structured (ji) Micro examination also revealed presence of | tempering of pinion ‘cementite network. Cementte network resuits in britieness | resulting in lower in the case of pinion, which in tum causes lower impact | impact strength of strength of the teeth. During service, service impact caused | teeth. breakage of teeth due to lower impact strength, The chemical composition of the material conforms. to_the specification no. MP 0.280017 (case hardened material) This pinion was given about 2% yr service Ife SHEL | nks | mecaatta[ Hardness values obtained on both the sanples and aio | Reason” cou 19637 shed &1/2186/20 | confirm to the relevant specification. Micro examination | be established woe (8 , dated | result aid net reveal any abnormality and confirm to the ca ‘ekevant spectiaton. The chemical compostoon of bo amples also conformed to relevant specicaton, Betore fature of these pions have gen 7. and S years sence lite respectively, The reason’ of falure could not” Be [ estabisnee SHEL | KZ] /HRGIT? [The haraness patie wat rol salsfacioy as the tp [Over omparna T6000 shed 12/1171 | hardness is only 31 to 33 RC against specified 50 to 4 Rc. | of pinion have been Wa 8932 2008 Lower hardness had resulting in lowering of strength of | analysed which Sroe 4) ated | material causing fatigue ination in sample no 47708 | eesutted. in ower | wa Sharp steps present st oot) and wearing ef tet n both the | hardness of ion 345 5.0 6.0 64 ° 62 ‘on sainples. Misc examination results show than sample no. | Teading to reduction ented 117/08)", tendency of over tempering is noticed leading to | in. material strength softening of material causina reduction in hardness. In| cn sample no sample no. 117106/2, med structure of tempered | 117/081 martensite and fine pearite Is noticed inaicating improper heat treatment. Failures of pinion are atributed to lawer | i) Improper heat hardness of pinion due io improper heat treatment | treatment resulting Chemical composition of both the samples conforms tothe | in lower hardnoss specification no. MIPO.2800.11. Before failure of these | on pinion sample no | Biions they have given about 1Oyears and 2% years | 177/082 service ite, CONCLUSION :- In almost all the cases, it is observed that the main cause of failures has been low hardness and / or improper microstructure. Both of these are attributable to incorrect heat treatment procedure adopted by manufacturers. Although in all the cases the chemical composition has been found to be satisfactory. APPLICATION TO CLASS OF LOCOMOTIVES : WDP1, WOM2, WDM3A, WDM3D, & WDG3A Locomotives. INSTRUCTION CONTENT: The following should be ensured before fitment of pinion on shaft Pinion teeth, root, bore and armature shaft should be properly cleaned. Carefully visual inspection is required to be done. Mating area to be free from any oil, grease, foreign material etc. Remove any nicks, burrs or dent and scoring marks on either pinion bore or shaft. If present, these have to be smoothened by the emery paper/ cloth or cil stone, but the shaft and pinion should not be filed. Pinion’s teeth profile and span size should be checked as per MP.MI. 129/86 whenever the motor is removed from the locomotive. It is also required to confirm permissible limits of ‘profile deviation’ with ‘profile deviation gauge’ towards the wheel end side (Thicker portion of teeth) before condemning the pinion. Verification of internal crack in bore & root area should be carried out preferably on old pinions by Zyglo or MPI test subject to confirmation of all other critical parameters of the pinion as mentioned above. After doing the above exercise it is necessary to ensure that more than 95% bedding (blue matching) should be achieved between the pinion & shaft in cold condition. After getting a good colour matching, thoroughly clean the pinion bore & shaft bearing area to remove all blue. Before heating the pinion bore (by induction heating) apply RC compound with brush on the shaft & pinion bore. Wipe clean the shaft & pinion bore with a dry lint less clothe (or blotting paper) after the compound dries of its own to leave only a thin film on the surface. Heat the pinion upto the heating temperature and maintain pinion advance, (as the limits of both are mentioned in “Annexure A) at the time of fitment of the pinion. After mounting of the pinion on the Traction motor, following should be ensured on gear wheel axle assembly. Verification of measurement of backlash should be maintained as per MP.MI.5 or as per enclosed “Annexure A”.63 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 Cardium compound level should be properly maintained and cil filing cap of gear case should be kept tight. The oil cap shaniid confirm to drawing no SKDP-4071 INSTRUCTION AT MANUFACTURER END OF GEAR AND PINION : It must be ensured that heat treatment process has been followed properly as per RDSO specification no MP0 2800.17 during the manufacturing of the gears and pinions and material composition and hardness Pattern specially at root as well as rim area, must be determined through a sample check It Should also be ensured that the root and taper relief ( crowning ) should confirm to ROSO drg no. SKDP- 3624 & 3443. Both BHEL & DMW have been advised suitably in the matter, MATERIAL REQUIRED & SOURCE OF SUPPLY : RC (Rall conditioner compound) ‘NALCO SoS, shall be procured from M/s NALCO India ltd, 20A ,Park street . Kolkata 700016, Any ether source/ product developed for this application by Zonal Railways should be intimated 1 RDSO for further evaluation, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION :- Nil AGENCY AND SCHEDULE OF IMPLEMENTATION : 1) All POH Shops; at the time of major schedule of locomotives. ii) "All sheds : during maintenance / Traction motor overhaul ii) DMW Patiala. DISTRIBUTION: As per enclosed list (Viyek Khare) for Director General / MPFollowing parameters should be checked Pinions of Diese! Electric locomotives Annexure “A” on through hardened and case hardened traction gears and BESCRIPTION ___ | wome, wonsa, womad woe3a ~ Gear Ratio — 18:65 18:74 — | Pinion Dra. No, 18 teeth, SKDP3624 18 teeth, SKDP3443. Pinion Bedding In Cold | Not less than 95 % Not less than 95 % Conaition | Pinion Advance 2.25 TO 2.45MM 2.30 TO 2, 45MM Heating Temperature 190°C + AMB TEP. 185°C + AMB TEP. Of Span Size Of Pinion Span Size On New Pinion Over 3 teeth 88.595 | Over 3 teeth 81.976 /82.093MM 188.722MM Sogdmning Limit On Basis | Over ateeth 96 995MM Over 3 teeth 80.366MM. Gear Drg. No. 85 teeth SKDP3623 with roller susp. & SKDP3775 without roller susp brg. 7éteeth, SKDP3444without roller ‘susp SKDP3546 with roller susp brg. ‘Span Size On New Gear Over 7 223.989/223.798MM. teeth Over 8 teeth 231.36/231.177 ‘Condmning Limit On Of Span Size OF Gear Basis Over 7 teeth 220.800MM Over 8 teeth 228.140 Permissible Backish With New Set 0.266 - 0.664mm 0.243 - o.60amm Condemning LimitOn Basis Of Backlash 1.04MM 1.00MM, Teeth profile wear limit of gear & pinion Capacity of compound cardium Should be checked as per MP.MI 129/86 July 1986 9kg Should be checked as per MP.MI 129/86 July 1986