2008-28-0055

STRATEGIES FOR AUTOMOBILE GEAR MATERIAL SELECTION

Dilip Shastri BE;DCM,DFM;MBA, , S. Ramamurthy BE, Pratap Parab BE
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
ABSTRACT
Material selection is based on Process such as forging,
die-casting, machining, welding and injection moulding
and application as type of load for Knife Edges and
Pivots, to minimize Thermal Distortion, for Safe Pressure
Vessels, Stiff, High Damping Materials, etc.

In order for gears to achieve their intended performance,
durability and reliability, the selection of a suitable gear
material is very important. High load capacity requires a
tough, hard material that is difficult to machine; whereas
high precision favors materials that are easy to machine
and therefore have lower strength and hardness ratings.
Gears are made of variety of materials depending on the
requirement of the machine. They are made of plastic,
steel, wood, cast iron, aluminum, brass, powdered
metal, magnetic alloys and many others. The gear
designer and user face a myriad of choices. The final
selection should be based upon an understanding of
material properties and application requirements.

This paper commences with a general overview of the
methodologies of proper gear material selection to
improve performance with optimize cost (including of
design & process), weight and noise. We have materials
such as SAE8620, 20MnCr5, 16MnCr5, Nylon,
Aluminium, etc. used on Automobile gears. We have
process such as Hot & cold forging, rolling, etc. This
paper will also focus on uses of Nylon gears on
Automobile as Speedo-gears and now moving towards
the transmission gear by controlling the backlash. It also
has strategy of gear material cost control.

INTRODUCTION
Modern gear design is generally based on standard
tools. This makes gear design quite simple (almost like
selecting fasteners), economical, and available for
everyone, reducing tooling expenses and inventory. At
the same time, it is well known that universal standard
tools provide gears with less than optimum performance
and in some casesdo not allow for finding
acceptable gear solutions. Application specifics,
including low noise and vibration, high density of power
transmission (lighter weight, smaller size) and others,
require gears with nonstandard parameters. Thats why,
for example, aviation gear transmissions use tool profiles
with custom proportions, such as pressure angle,
addendum, and whole depth. The following
considerations make application of nonstandard gears
suitable and cost-efficient: Metal and plastic gear
molding cost largely does not depend on tooth shape.

Gear material and treatments are continuing to advance
the capabilities of gear hardness retention at elevated
temperature, in higher strength, in scoring resistance
and in durability. Plastic gear and other alternative
materials are being studied and their performances
quantified to establish the boundaries on their
usefulness. This endeavor is mandated by reasons of
economy and the storage of critical raw material.
Molybdenum disulphide filled cast nylon gears are
finding use today in a wide range of industries. If
allowances for special problem of thermal expansion on
creep are made, these gears were found to fail
eventually by a fatigue after many millions of stress
cycle. Studies on the temperature rise in plastic gears
during operation have also been conducted [1].

For large gears and power applications, the ferrous
materials are used. The greater the load and durability
requirements, the more essential are the high-alloy
steels. Plain carbon steels are in common use for low-
quality commercial gears. An exception in the ferrous
group is the stainless steels. These are predominantly
used in the small-gear, fine-pitch instrument fields
because of their corrosion resistance. For fine-pitch
precision applications, stainless steels are excellent.
Although the 400 series is easier to machine and can
have superior properties as a result of heat treatment,
the 303 type of stainless steel has reasonable mach
inability and offers superior corrosion resistance. In
addition, when used in conjunction with aluminum
housings, its coefficient of thermal expansion matches
that of aluminum much better than the 400 series.

The aluminum alloys, particularly 2024-T4, are excellent
instrument gear materials when used within their
strength ratings. Aluminums have no value as a power
gear material and should not be used beyond low-load
instrument-type applications.
Bronze is excellent for worm gears through the full range
from light loads to power applications. It is also
appropriate far use in spur and helical meshes that have
high velocity and/or significant loading.

382
Copyright 2008 SAE International
Table 1: Summary of Material Features and Application
Material Features Application
Ferrous
Cast Irons
Low cost, good
machining, high internal
damping
large size moderate
power rating
commercial gears
Cast Steels Low cost, high strength
power gears medium
rating
Plain Carbon
Steel
good machining, heat
treatable
power gears medium
rating
Alloy steel
heat treatable, highest
strength and durability
severest power
requirements
Stainless steel
300 series
high corrosion resistance,
non-magnetic, non-
hardenable
extreme corrosion,
low power rating
Stainless steel
400 series
hardenable, magnetic,
moderate stainless steel
properties
moderate corrosion,
low to medium
power rating
Non-Ferrous
Aluminium
Alloys excellent machinability
extremely light duty
instrument gears
Brass Alloy
low cost bon-corrosive,
excellent machinability
low cost commercial
vehicle
Bronze Alloys
Excellent machinability,
low friction, and good
compatibility with steel
mates
mates for steel
power gears
Magnesium
alloy
extremely light wt. poor
corrosion resistance
special light weight,
low load uses
Nickel alloys
low coefficient of thermal
expansion, poor
machinability
special thermal
cases
Titanium alloy
high strength for
moderate wt, corrosion
resistance
sp. Lightweight
strength applicable
Die-cast alloy
low cost, no precision,
low strength
high performance,
low quality,
commercial
sintered
powdered
alloys
low cost, low quality,
moderate strength
High production, low
quality commercial.
Non-metallic
Delrin
wear resistance, long life,
low water absorption
long life, low noise,
low load
Phenolic
Laminates
quiet operation, high
strength plastic
medium load , low
noise
Nylons
low friction, no lubrication,
high water absorption
long life, low noise,
low load
Teflon
(fluorocarbon) low friction, no lubrication, Spl. Low friction

Table 2: Comparison of material with and w/o Mo
commonly used for gears
Material C Si Mn Pd Sd Cr. Mo Ni
SAE8620 0.18~0.23

0.15
~0.35
0.7
~0.9
0.035 0.040 0.40
~0.60
0.15
~0.2
5

0.4~
0.7
16MnCr5

0.14~0.19

0.15~
0.40
1.0~
1.3
0.035 0.035 0.8~1
.1

20MnCr5 0.17~0.22 0.15~
0.40
1.10
~1.4
0.035 0.035 1~1.3

Material till 30mmdia 63mm dia.
YP TS E YP TS E
20MnCr5

70 100/130 8 55 80/110 10
16MnCr5 60 80/110 10 45 65/95 11

SAE 8620 62 85/105 6

Percentages of carbon, Molybdenum and Nickel reduces
that may affect hardening but Chromium increases,
increasing depth hardenability and refine the grain
structure and increase in Manganese shows increase in
strength and hardness. Phosphorous being the same so
no affect of its on Hardening and strength . Little silicon
increases show that better tensile strength and abrasion
resistance possible. Sulphur reduces may increase
cutting tool wear and its consumption.

The concern of surface finish of 20MnCr5 ring gear was
analyzed by R&D Materials Technology Lab and found
out the reason for this as banded structure in 20MnCr5.
For getting surface finish to the expected level 20MnCr5
used should have Jominy Hardenability of J3mm =
43/46HRc, J5mm = 42/45 HRC, J7mm = 39/43HRc. This
hardenability will avoid banding and give higher side
hardness in Normalizing to get the required surface
finish. Silicon and Molybdenum provides resistance to
heat distortion (refer Table 4) and on one of the Vehicle
the axle hypoid ring and pinion gear were changed to
20MnCr5 from SAE 8620 improving its hardness having
its gear oil temperature 140 ~ 180deg C, so due to heat
distortion, it was having tooth scuffing as percentage of
silicon were same but molybdenum nil [12].
Fig. 1. Gear teeth scuffing due to heat distortion:
This happens due to abrasive wear on tooth distorted
making oil contemplated with wear material. Surface
treatment inadequate to resist the heat distortion.
On 4T tipper, reverse gear in 20 MnCr5 had more tooth
breakage concerns due to impact loading when
compared to reverse gear with SAE-8620.This was due
to reduction in toughness rather than basic strength and
wear properties.

Gear Material Selection by Application:
Materials for knife-edges and pivots
Speedo gear or clock gear often contain moving parts
located by knife-edges or pivots. The accuracy of
location is limited by the deformation of the knife-edge or
pivot and the mating surface. Elastic deformation is
minimized by choosing materials with high Youngs
modulus; plastic deformation is limited by choosing
materials with high hardness.
383
Material choice. The requirements
Youngs modulus: as large as possible.
Hardness: as large as possible.
The best way to tackle this using the Level 1 database is
to make a graph stage of Young modulus and Hardness
and pick the materials with high values of both. The very
best are all ceramics: boron carbide, silicon carbide and
tungsten carbide. If the selection box is relaxed so that
the first metals appear, the selection picks up medium
carbon steel, high carbon steel and low alloy steel. All
are sensible choices: the ceramics when the ultimate
precision is required, the steels when robust design able
to deal with shock loading is needed.

Stainless steel resists corrosion and holds an edge
better than high carbon steel. As the chrome increases
and the carbon decreases, the steel becomes more
"stainless" but it also becomes more and more difficult to
sharpen and, some authorities claim, the edge-holding
potential is seriously impaired. We find that most
stainless steel blades are as sharp as other material
blades and hold an edge just as well as high carbon
blades.

Table 4: Material to minimize thermal distortion:
Strategies Gear Material Application selection:
Gear is generic term for a mechanical contrivance, the
function of which may be indicated by a qualifying
adjective, e.g. steering gear, haulage gear, etc. It may
also connote some type of toothed-wheel combination
i.e. reduction gear, differential gear, changed-speed
gear, planetary gear, etc..

Material parameters supporting dimensional design
parameters are discussed here. Automobile gears are
designed with single Center distance. The selection of
gear ratio for particular vehicle application is decided by
matching the transmission system with power unit i.e.
engine, required to achieve desired vehicle performance
in terms if better fuel consumption, required gradability,
high reserved horse power for better acceleration. The
center distance for transmission system is decided from
torque carrying capacity and space limitation. Once the
ratio and Center distance are fixed the question of
designing gear arise to transmit this torque on each gear
pair. To work with same center distance and required
torque transmission, standard gear tooth proportions can
no longer be employed for all trains in the gear box. In
order not to alter required ratio, required center distance,
and achieve the required strength, it is either possible to
vary the module or shift the profile of the gear to operate
at the required center distance. Further the automobile
transmission gear in 3
rd
, 4
th
and 5
th
require quite, smooth
running without noise. First gear is special gear required
for vehicle gradability; second gear is a transition
between first and third gear. The third, fourth and fifth
gears are normally designed with high contact ratio, with
smaller number of module and lower pressure angle.
The first gear is designed with higher module from
strength consideration. Thus it is evident that different
modules and contact ratio in single gear box to perform
different functions.

Gear tooth forms used in automobile gear box: It is
desirable to have maximum possible length of contact
and hence highest contact ratio gears are used in third,
fourth and fifth gear application. Gears are made
accurately with closer tolerances, closed to DIN 7 or
lower numerical number to assure smooth rolling action
between adjacent mating teeth without impacts. In order
to provide the maximum length of contact between the
mating gears the length of tooth addendum is increased
as also of dedendum. This make the gear look tall with a
small land on the top. These gears are carbo-nitrided
rather than case carburized with reduced case depth.
With this construction of the gear tooth, the pair perform
without noise. Coming to strength aspects because the
more teeth are in contact the load are shared and hence
it is possible to design the gear with material like
16MnCr5 for smaller module and 20MnCr5 with slightly
higher module of 2.5mm.The tooth strength of long
addendum and dedendum matters a lot. Initially number
of calculation iterations are performed to maximize the
strength and validated later in actual tests.
In the case of first gear the philosophy adopted is close
to standard gear tooth or a slightly increased addendum
gear. In the case of truck application mostly it is spur
tooth and in case of SUV the entire automobile
manufacturers use helical gear. In the case of truck
transmission gears the pressure angle is increased to 24
deg. The material used for first gear( Light truck) is
mostly having superior alloying element than third, fourth
and fifth gear. The reason is due to the clutch
application, the snap or sudden jerk come on to the gear
tooth. In order to overcome to effect of impact, the
material is chosen with the alloying element like
molybdenum, chromium and nickel. The first gear also is
used mostly in four wheels application in conjunction
with low gear which has numerical ratio close to 2 or
above. So the impact on the gear is high. The tooth form
of on reverse gear because it operates on 2 centre
distances is slightly stub tooth at least on one gear ,
standard on another gear and third gear could be in
between the sub tooth and the standard tooth. Normally
the idler gear is designed with Maximum tooth depth.
Because these are done to match the already given or
dictated center distance of the transmission .The
stresses are evolved from the calculation and the
material chosen is having high alloying elements of
384
molybdenum, chromium and nickel. In an Indian
operation in medium truck and heavy truck application
we find gear tooth failure of breakage All the other gears
perform without any performance or reliability concerns.
In an application involving quarry the reverse gear was
used frequently and it was observed to have tooth
uprooting. This concern was resolved by choosing
superior grade material. In case of first gear we are able
to optimize the gear tooth root profile for reduced
alloying material such as 20Mncr5 in many applications.
From the forgoing it can be concluded that the material,
the gear tooth dimensions, proportions and Heat
treatments are very much interlinked. With the modern
gear software, it is possible to choose any single center
distance and use addendum modification coefficients to
design and complete the dimensional parameters
required. These dimensional parameters are the tested
on the transmission test rig and evaluated in general
highway durability and impact test. In all the gear design
described above i.e. long addendum, dedendum gear,
standard tooth gear and stub tooth gear as in reverse
gear, it is necessary to perform the interference analysis
at that trochoid tooth root profile at the design level
before manufacture the same to prototype or validation
trials.
Since the addendum modification coefficient and the
effect of same is very much understood in modern gear
design it is possible to handle any module having
different numerical decimal place numbers.
On the hypoid gear set also we are able to optimize the
material with dimensions. The dimensional parameters
of the mountings were controlled and this facilitate to
smooth running without impact load. It was possible to
use 20MnCr5 material as against SAE 8620 of the
previous regime into the hypoid set. Same were
satisfactorily tested and implemented in production. In
case of hypoid crown and pinion, lubrication oil play very
critical role and if inferior oil is used, the tooth thinning
take place, backlash increases and tooth breakage takes
place consequently.
Different type of Gears and its uses:
Angular bevel gears: Used in rotor craft drive system to
redirect the shaft from horizontal gas turbine engine to
the vertical rotor.

Bevel gears: Important components on all rotorcraft
drive system. Bevel Gears connect intersecting axes and
come in several types. The pitch surface of bevel gears
is a cone. They are useful when the direction of a shaft's
rotation needs to be changed. Using gears of differing
numbers of teeth can change the speed of rotation. They
are usually mounted on shafts that are 90 degrees apart,
but can be designed to work at other angles as well. The
teeth on bevel gears can be straight, spiral or bevel. In
straight bevel gears teeth have no helix angles. They
either have equal size gears with 90 degrees shaft angle
or a shaft angle other than 90 degrees. Straight bevel
angle can also be with one gear flat with a pitch angle of
90 degrees. In straight when each tooth engages it
impacts the corresponding tooth and simply curving the
gear teeth can solve the problem. Spiral bevel gears
have spiral angles, which gives performance
improvements. The contact between the teeth starts at
one end of the gear and then spreads across the whole
tooth. In both the bevel types of gears the shaft must be
perpendicular to each other and must be in the same
plane. The hypoid bevel gears can engage with the axes
in different planes. This is used in many car differentials.
The ring gear of the differential and the input pinion gear
are both hypoid. They also have sliding action along the
teeth, potentially reducing efficiency.

Spur gear: connect parallel shafts, have involute teeth
that are parallel to the shaft and can have internal or
external teeth. They cause no external thrust between
gears. They are inexpensive to manufacture. They give
lower but satisfactory performance. They are used when
shaft rotates in the same plane. The main features of
spur gears are dedendum, addendum, flank, and fillet.
Dedendum cylinder is a root from where teeth extend, it
extends to the tip called the addendum circle. Flank or
the face contacts the meshing gear, the most useful
feature if the spur gears. The fillet in the root region is
kinetically irrelevant.

Differential gear: Helps two wheels of the car to rotate
differentially with respect to each other.

Fine pitch gear: It is an anti-backlash gear used to
minimize errors introduced by backlash.

Helical gears: In helical gear the teeth are cut an angle,
allowing for more gradual and smoother meshing
between gear wheels.

Internal gears: Used in rollers and as tools for creating
solid models of drive systems.

Master gear: Used to determine the accuracy of work
gears.
Ring gears and pinion: Used in heavy truck
differentials. Also used to convert the driving force.

Idler Gears: A gear wheel placed between two other
gears to transmit motion from one to the other. It does
not alter the speed of the output, but it does alter the
direction it turns. It is used to ensure that the rotation of
two gears is the same. An idler gear is placed between
two gears. The idler gear rotates in the opposite
direction as the driver gear, and the follower gear rotates
in the opposite direction of the idler, the same direction
of the driver. It is also used to change the spacing
between the input and output axles. It does not change
the gear ratio between the input and output gears.
Variable loading S-N Curve:
The

stress-life (S-N) method along with the Palmgren-
Miner cumulative damage theory

is the simplest and the
most commonly used fatigue life

prediction technique. Its
main advantage is that the material properties

needed
are easy to collect and life calculation is simple.

However
385
under many variable amplitude loading conditions, life
predictions have

been found to be unreliable. Various
modifications have been proposed

to the Palmgren-
Miner theory, but they have not lead to

more reliable life
predictions. After S/N-curve, a damage accumulation
according to Palmgren-Miner-rule is carried out. This
leads to a damage D. If the damage is greater 1 the
gearing is liable to fail within the claimed life-span, if it is
lesser 1 the gearing has reserves against fatigue failure.
The stress reserve factor SRFF is varied until the
damage equals 1 so that the gearing lasts until the end
of the claimed life-span.
Stress amplitude (MPa) = sigma f*((2*cycle count)^(b1))
for 42CrMo4, sigma f' =1154 MPa & b1 = -.061



Torsional mesh stiffness: combined is the ratio
between the torsional load and the total angular rotation
of the input gear (hub or the shaft). With a constant input
load M, the combined torsional mesh stiffness km varies
as the driven rotates and it has significant variability in a
small region between the single tooth pair contact and
double tooth pair contact. The development of a
torsional mesh stiffness model of gears in mesh can be
used to determine the transmission error throughout the
mesh cycle.

Pitting of Gear tooth: is a Fatigue under contact stress.
Pitting occurs when fatigue cracks are initiated on the
tooth surface or just below the surface. Usually pits are
the result of surface cracks caused by metal-to-metal
contact of asperities or defect due to low lubricant film
thickness. High-speed gears with smooth surface and
good film thickness may experience pitting due to sub-
surface cracks. These cracks may start at inclusions in
the gear material, which act as stress concentrators and
propagate below and parallel to the tooth surface. Pits
are formed when these cracks break through the tooth
surface and cause material separation[9].

Resistance to pitting and wear due to excessive contact
pressure is provided if the equations for Sw for the
smaller gear (gear 1) yields a value equal to or greater
than 1. In the case of gear pairs where z1 , 20, select sw
.= 1.2 1.5 due to greater contact pressure at the
inside engagement point.

Sw = life factor x contact pressure for the small gear /
contact pressure for teeth > = 1 [2].

The research into the elastic behaviour of gears in mesh
has also highlighted the use of the gear strain variation
as a new method of measuring gear transmission error
and the effect of modified tooth profiles.

Backlash in Gear:
Backlash may be describe as the
shortest(perpendicular) distance between the surface of
the trailing flanks when the driving flanks are in contact.
The nominal backlash ordinarily provided is ample to
cover the effect of errors which may act to reduce it.
*With perfect pitch and profile tooth thicknesses at the
upper limits corresponding to the designed backlash
allowances, and no other errors, the measured backlash
will be equal to the chosen value of znom. ( backlash
nominal).

*An error of centre distance ec will change the backlash
by ec/M, where M is the magnification factor. If ec
represents an increase in centre distance, the backlash
is increased for external, and reduced for internal, gears.

*If the axis of tooth-cutting of one gear of the pair is
eccentric to its axis of mounting, with a radial runout er
measured as total indicator reading, the backlash will
vary cyclically, by er/M

*If both gears have radial runout, the manner in which
their respective cyclic variation combine will depend
upon their relative angular position.
*Lateral runout, or wobble, of either gear makes it, in a
sense, elliptical, and causes a cyclic variation of
backlash twice per revolution.

*Pitch and profile errors in combination act to produce
tooth-kick or tooth to tooth composite error with the
passage of each pair of teeth through engagement
during a roll test. The corresponding variation in
backlash at fixed centers is less than variation in centre
distance in the ratio 1 :M.

* Tooth alignment errors are virtually produced by lateral
runout, but may exist independently, with erratic effect.

In order to achieve consistent minimum backlash,
therefore all the errors described above must be held to
a minimum. This can only happen if we select material
properly as per application considering heat distortion,
hardening, residual stress, stress strain curve to avoid
elastic deformation, and accuracy while machining as
per quality din 8 or 9 i.e. AGMA 10 & 9.
Fig. 2. S-N Curve for 42CrMo4
1
10
100
1000
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
5
0
0
0
0
2
E
+
0
5
3
E
+
0
5
8
E
+
0
5
8
E
+
0
6
8
E
+
0
7
1
E
+
0
8
2
E
+
0
8
2
E
+
0
9
Number of Cycle
S
t
r
e
s
s

s
c
a
l
e

(
M
P
a
)
386
Table 5: Four basic quality levels of gear racks[10].
Rack
Type:
Tooth
Quality:
Tooth
Hardness:
Tooth
Pitches:
Segment
Lengths:
Typical
Appl.
Soft Rack
~AGMA
9
(DIN 9)
~28 Rc
Module
1.0 to
10.0
Up to
3.0 Meters
Light
Loads
Medium
Accuracy
Quenched
&
Tempered
Rack
~AGMA
10
(DIN 8)
~28 Rc
Module
2.0 to
5.0
Up to
2.0 Meter
Medium
Loads
Medium
Accuracy
Induction
Hardened
Rack
~AGMA
8
(DIN 10)
50 - 55 Rc
Module
2.0 to
10.0
Up to
2.0 Meters
Heavy
Loads
Low
Accuracy
Hardened
&
Ground
Rack
~AGMA
12
(DIN 6)
60 Rc
Module
2.0 to
10.0
Up to
2.0 Meters
Heavy
Loads
High
Accuracy
Table 6: Gear error data after pressing, sintering and
rolling compared with quality of finished
conventional wrought gear[10].
Gear
Error

Dim. Max
. dev.
for
DIN Q8
As
pressed

DIN
Qua
lity

As
sintered

DIN
Qu
ality

As
rolled

DIN
Qua
lity

wrought
gear*

DIN
Qu
alit
y*

total
profile
error
Fa

m 16 25 10 10 6 14 8 21 9
profile
angle
error
fHa

m 10 24 10 -4 6 -11 8 -14 9
profile
form
error
ffa

m 12 6 10 9 6 5 8 17 9
total
alignm
ent
error
Fb

m 18 17 8 28 10 16 8 26 9
tooth
alignm
ent
error
fHb

m 16 -25 8 -41 10 -21 8 34 9
long.
alignm
ent
error
ffb

m 9 6 8 9 10 10 8 11 9
radial
run-out
Fr

m 32 16 6 17 7 12 5 25 8
cum.
pitch
error
Fp

m 50 15 5 19 6 13 4 41 8
* wrought gears are phosphatised

Gear oil supports material selection:
Gear Oil selection as per its specification supports
material selection as per the application to prevent
corrosion and wear. If we select oil with EP additive, we
can reduce tooth wear or stick/slip.
E.g. one of the vehicles had Crown-pinion gear failure as
used GL-4 oil without EP additive.

Gear Lubrication:
It is found that lubrication of the oil plays the vital role in
maintaining the operation of hypoid gear pair
successfully. The tooth of hypoid gear get thined after
2000 ~ 3000kms if an inferior oil is used. The GL 4 oil is
not able to provide required layer of boundary lubrication
as well as the secondary reaction film maintaining hydro
dynamic lubrication in running condition.
This lubrication does 90 % of heat removal from action
from Crown wheel and pinion friction running surfaces.
Therefore it is essential for the user to use the correct oil
for successful running of transmission and hypoid gear
in the field.
Few Gear oil Specifications:
SAE 85W-140 or SAE 90EP: Multi-grade hypoid gear oil
with EP additives for hypoid gearing transmissions and
axle drives with extreme loads.
Specifications: API GL 5; MIL-L-2105 C. EP additives or
extreme pressure additives, are additives for HlubricantsH
with role to decrease wear of the parts of the HgearsH
exposed to very high pressures. It prevents stick/slip and
sideway scoring.

SAE 75W-90: Synthetic gear oil for shift transmissions
with the heaviest loads (API GL 5/4) and other gears
where EP characteristics are required and purely mineral
oil based EP oils may present problems.
Specifications: API GL 4; MIL-L-2105

SAE 80: High-performance multi-purpose gear oil for
manual transmissions, axle drives with high loads
(hypoid gears) as well as for transaxle gears..
Specifications: API GL 4; MAN 341; MB 235.1; ZF TE-
ML 02.

Strategies Gear Material Process optimization:
The steel manufacturing process added value to gear
material as
x Reduced/elimination of impurities
x Good reduction ratios
x Good control on hardenbility steel
x More control on inclusions & casting defects
x Micro alloying to add strength with very low addition
of alloy element
Helped designers & material engineers to go for low
alloy/plain carbon steel as to handle the inflation rate of
alloy like Mo, Ni. Standardization of material is looked by
designers across more emphasis are given to
standardize for steel grade to have benefit of quantity
and quality with knowledge of the grade.
Consistency in steel manufacturing help in
standardization of process for gear manufacturing
resulted in low cost process with better consistent
output.
Raw material (steel) is shaped with hot metal working
(forging) process where high energy cost and material
waste is concern. To address this there are new method
are used like
x Manufacturing simple shaped gears and combining
them through joining process tike plasma welding,
caulking, etc.
x To reduce the weight of gears/shafts hollow core are
thought off
x Shapes manufacturing through process to eliminate
machining operation core given thought.
x Warm forging process where better dimensional
control are tried.
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x Cold forge process through press route or orbital
route is tried to eliminate or reduce machining
operation.
x Other manufacturing process like casting or sintering
(powder metallurgy) is considered. Now mostly Hub
is manufactured through Powder metallurgy route.
Densification followed with sintering is possible to
have high quality gears.

Heat treatment after metal working:
x To achieve mechanical strength
x Improvement for response to further operation.
To reduce energy loss control cooled process is followed
to use heat available in forge material. With control
cooling process reheating cost is eliminated or reduced
substantially. Also it helping in reducing inventory and
controlling distortion (reheating and quenching is
eliminated).

Final Gear heat treatment:
The process is final which decides the metallurgical
quality of gears. Due to heating & cooling (faster), micro
structural changes & holding at high temperature results
in gear distortion.
Heat treaters role to minimize distortion and consistent
predicable distortion every time. Involvements of tool
engineer with good checking for consistency in gear
parameters are achieved. In this are following activities
are being done:
1. Heat treatment equipment and process are
developed for better control on
temperature/carbon potential, and quench.
2. To reduce the distortion marquenched salt or
oils are used.
3. Carbonitriding process with higher surface
hardness, lower case depth having low
austenising temperature than carburizing
temperature results in better gear quality.
4. Austenitic nitrocarburising process also helping
for reduction
5. Induction hardening of gear tooth terminology
making the process more sturdy and prediztise.
6. Vacuum heat treatment has change.
7.
Machinable steel
Use of Calcium treatment and controlled addition of
Sulfur 0.02 to 0.04 to SAE 8620 and 20 MnCr5 . This will
give us improved machinability and enhance tool life. In
this case we can eliminate Normalizing operation of
these forgings and can save cost per Kgs of forging
weight. 20 Mn Cr5 is a carburizing type material . If we
intend to do carburizing on this component, there will be
bend & distortions problems during carburizing-
hardening.

The use of an alkali earth metal additive (such as
calcium) as a deoxidizer, desulphurizer and inclusion
modifier in a wide range of steels has been stimulated in
recent years by the need to produce improvements in
ductility, toughness, fatigue properties and machinability.
Such additives have previously been used for certain
specialized steel-making applications, principally to
modify oxide inclusions in carbon and alloy steels in
order to improve fatigue properties and to modify
inclusions in order to improve machinability. More
recently, calcium has been used as a desulphurizer in
the manufacture of steels where ductility requirements
dictate final sulphur levels less than 0.008 wt %.

In certain medium carbon and alloy steels some hot
forged components are subjected to machining
operations such as turning, milling and drilling. In these
steels machinability can be improved substantially by the
addition of sulphur. However, the sulphide particles
responsible for improved machinability may, if not
properly controlled, produce adverse changes in
toughness or fatigue properties of the finished
component [5].

Anodize: An excellent finish for aluminum gears is
anodize. This is an artificially induced thin, but even
and hard coating of oxide. The thickness of the coating
can be varied by process control, and can
be troublesome in the maintenance of close tolerances.
Consequently, anodizing of precision aluminum gears is
usually limited to the gear blank prior to tooth cutting.

Plastic Gears:
There are two types of response to heat possible,
leading to classification of plastics for gear as
thermoplastic or thermosets. Most of plastic used for
gear applications are thermoplastics. The two most
commonly used thermoplastic formulation are
polyamides(nylon) and the acetals. Eg. w/s wiper,
window lifts, speedometer, rotary pump, seat control,
clock, etc. Other thermoplastics used for gear are
Polycarbonates, Polyesters, Polyurethanes,
Polyphenyline sulphides, Liquid crystal polymer [7].

The plastic unlike metals has no true proportional limit
and that it stress-strain curve is not linear. Further more
the shape of the plastic stress-strain curve is greatly
affected by the rate at which stress is applied, and
stress-strain behaviour is greatly affected by
temperature. Clearly, the mechanical response of plastic
is more complex than that of metal. Because a plastic
behaves in a manner that seems to combine elastic-solid
and highly viscous liquid behaviours, it is said to be
viscoelastic.

There are two types of response possible, leading to
classification of plastics as thermoplastic or thermosets.

Acetol CH3COCH2OH boiling point 145.5deg C &
freezing point & Nylon 66. Plastic materials are best
suited for small gears of the instrument and light
commercial product variety. Their poorer machining
characteristics and greater instability make them
undesirable for precision applications. Their quiet
operation and minimal lubrication requirements render
them particularly attractive for consumer products
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Plastic gears have many excellent characteristics which
are locking in metallic gears, such as corrosion
resistance, self-lubrication, quiet running, and so forth.
The meshing behavior of plastic gears is very different
from that of metallic gears. Therefore, the life estimation
is very difficult for plastic gears. Generating and growing
mechanisms of abnormal wear which appears fatally
near the root of plastic tooth, and then it is clarified that
tooth fractures which take place frequently near pitch
point are caused by abnormal wear. Additionally, some
methods for extending the life of plastic gears are used.
It was confirmed that the endurance limit of power
transmission nylon gear can be correlated with
Tc(T/b)[Tc: contact period of tooth of nylon gear, T:
torque acting on nylon gear, b: face width], and an
equation for predicting the endurance limit was offered.
And the damage forms of nylon gears for power
transmission were classified and each damage state
was clarified.

Further, computer-aided-design (CAD) tools have had a
positive impact on plastic gears, whose designs can now
be optimized to meet specifications such as elevated
temperatures and humidity. "Design engineers are using
CAD tools and state-of-the-art testing methods to predict
the performance of plastic gears with greater accuracy,
thus advancing their development and demand,"
explains the analyst. In addition, high-performance
plastics have been successful in improving the quality
and working life of parts in numerous industrial
applications that were once served by metal
components. These applications comprise of feed, spur,
and worm gears, as well as those in engines such as
bearings, pistons, retaining rings, and valves. Plastic
gears were, until recently, restricted to low-transmission
applications, but improvements have brought them into
high performance functions including race cars and
household appliances. Since plastic gear manufacturing
is cheaper than that of metal gears, even incremental
improvements in the performance of the former are
expected to expand their use[8].

Application on automobile such as Plastic Metric Gears
Metal Reinforced Plastic Gear; Plastic Miter Gear,
Plastic Spur Gear, New Series Of Molded Acetal Spur
Gears, etc are going on.

Application of short fiber reinforced thermoplastic
materials are limited to functionally less important
components due to heterogeneous characteristics of
material and incomplete understanding of failure
mechanisms involved. Reinforcement not only affects
mechanical and electrical properties but also the failure
mechanisms. Gears used in power/motion transmission
may fail in many ways. There are various types of
failures exhibited by unreinforced and fiber reinforced
Nylon 66 gears. Injection molded unreinforced, glass
reinforced and carbon reinforced Nylon 66 spur gears
were tested in a power absorption type gear test rig.
Failed gears were observed under optical and scanning
electron microscope to understand the damage
mechanism. Different types of failures such as gear
tooth wear, cracking at the tooth surface, tooth root
cracking and severe tooth shape deformation were
observed. Material compositions and applied torque
decides the type of failure mechanism. Low interfacial
strength between fibers and matrix in the reinforced
gears causes fiber pullout. Reinforced gears exhibited
longer life compared with the unreinforced gears due to
superior mechanical strength and thermal resistance.
The tribological behaviour of polymer and polymer
composite gears is reported. Gear tests were conducted
using a power absorption-type gear test rig. Injection-
moulded nylon 6 and glass-filled nylon 6 gears were
tested at different speeds and loads. Gear rotational
speed influences the tooth wear of unfilled and glass-
filled nylon 6 injection-moulded gears due to the change
in contact period of teeth in mesh. When the polymer-
based gear drives a steel gear, the difference in the
elastic moduli of the mating materials causes rotational
lag during gear running. When the polymer gears
transmit a higher torque, a higher amount of rotational
lag causes an excessive wear in the dedendum region of
the polymer gear. In the cases of both unfilled and glass-
filled nylon 6 gears, at higher-torque test conditions, non-
uniform wear on the gear tooth surface was observed.
Glass-filled nylon 6 gears showed a better wear
resistance than the unfilled nylon 6 gears due to the
improved compressive strength, creep resistance, and
elastic modulus. A detailed wear particle analysis was
carried out to understand the gear wear mechanism. The
contact stress and gear material hardness affect the
gear wear mechanism.

Strategy Gear Material Cost Control:
Tools such as ratio and variance analysis help us to
screen the non-value material or process. We can
eliminate through benchmarking with higher torque
transmission gears.

Table 3: Ratio and Variance Analysis of five speed
Transmission Main drive gear of Torque 22kgm and
Torque 20kgm. of same material.
A. Transmission of Torque 22kgm max
Fin
wt.
kg
Input
wt.
kg
Input
cost
Rs
Fin. Cost
Rs.
Input
rate/kg.
Fin.
Rate/kg
1.3 4 160 450 40 346
B. Transmission of Torque 20kgm max
Fin
wt.
Kg
Input
wt.
Kg
Input
cost
Rs.
Fin. Cost
Rs.
Input
rate/kg.
Fin.
Rate/kg
1.5 4.2 200 750 48 433

If we benchmark B with A, we find that inspite of more torque
the cost/kg of higher torque gear is lower. Input matching but
finish weight has differences. So one has to go in the
Process to do variance analysis. Process may be over-
head, productivity, or machining for extra finish control.
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Conclusion:
x Selection of Material is based on Application and
features required.
x Material w/o Molybdenum can be used for gear
with required hardness provided no heat
distortion.
x The steel manufacturing process added value to
gear material and helped designers & material
engineers to go for low alloy/plain carbon steel
as to handle the inflation rate of alloy like Mo, Ni.
x It is possible to choose the cost effective Gear
material at the same time performing the
required function such as quite running, carry
adequate torque without the failures such as
breakage, pitting, scoring and thinning.
x To reduce energy loss control cooled process is
followed to use heat available in forge material.
x Gear material cost optimization by ratio and
variance analysis can be done through
benchmarking.
x A set of major gear design criteria are used to
develop six material performance indices for
material selection purposes.
x Material selection helps to retain designed
backlash.
x Gear Oil selection as per its specification
supports material selection as per the
application to prevent corrosion, wear, pitting &
scuffing.
x Plastic gear has limited uses due to its visco-
elastic properties but research is going on to
increase its uses due to its many excellent
characteristics.
REFERENCES
1. AE-15 Gear Design: Manufacturing and Inspection
manual.
2. Automotive Handbook BOSCH 3
rd
edition.
3. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers, Part J: Journal of Engineering Tribology
4. CiNii Investigation about the strength of plastic
gear.
5. Machinable steel United States Patent 4180397
6. Plastics Gearing Selection and Application by
Clifford E.Adams
7. Gear Materials, Properties, and Manufacture By
Joseph R. Davis
8. Advances in High Temperature Resistant Plastics for
Use in Motors and Gears (Technical Insights). Frost
& Sullivan Research Service. Published: 3 Jun 2005
9. Gear Engineering by H.E.Merritt.
10. EVOLUTION OF GEAR QUALITY IN HELICAL PM
GEARS DURING PROCESSING Lorenz S. Sigl,
Gnter Rau, Pierluigi Zingale,Sven Bengtsson and
Didier Caudebec
11. Divinol oil specification
12. Systematic Analysis Of Gear Failure by Lester
E.Albau
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