Experimental identification of the process inffluences on gear distortion during heat treatment

Abstract

Heat treatment is widely used in automotive industry to improve mechanical properties of workpieces. It also generates side effects such as geometrical distortions. Scientific literature and experience show that the manufacturing process chain has an influence on heat treatment distortion. The purpose of the presented work is to experimentally determine the influence of each pre-heat treatment step on gear distortion. Residual stress is being neutralized and by comparison, connections between gear teeth geometry and manufacturing step are obtained. As a consequence, non-conformities roots can be determined more easily thanks to this diagnosis tool.