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Bill Hankes, A-C Equipment Services, USA,

explains why it is essential to minimise
wear to girth gearing in order to achieve
proper operation and maximise service life,
and discusses the importance of an
assessment and monitoring program.

Introduction
The operators of large gear driven equipment including
kilns, coolers, and grinding mills are frequently addressing
wear issues. Some of the components in these machines
are designed to function properly as they wear. Examples
of this include the support rings and carrying rollers on a
kiln or the liners in a grinding mill. Most components are
not designed to wear and therefore their performance
deteriorates over time. Examples of this include seals
(which leak as they wear), the shell (which can catastrophically fail), and the girth gearing (the topic of this
article). The question for all of these components ultimately becomes how much wear is too much? Answering
this question with certainty is difficult, but an assessment
and monitoring program will prevent unscheduled downtime and costly interruptions of production.
Kilns, coolers, and grinding mills are critical pieces of
equipment in any processing plant. One of the most
important components of these machines is the main
girth gear and mating pinion(s). This gearing is typically
custom made for each application and therefore the
lead time for replacement is measured in months, not
weeks. The cost of a girth gear set ranges from US$75
000 to over a US$1 million. With such a long lead time
and high cost, girth gearing is designed to last many
decades with proper maintenance.
Under ideal conditions, the gear and pinion teeth
should not wear. Ideal conditions include adequate lubrication of the correct type, perfect alignment, constant

Figure 1. Tooth features.

Figure 2. Pinion with original cutting tool marks. Polishing on

right side is caused by misalignment.

Figure 3. Severe gear profile wear.

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Figure 4. Mild pinion wear and edge plastic flow.

land, tooth profile, operating pitch diameter, and the

tooth root. Knowing these tooth features will assist the
reader to monitor the tooth condition.
The tooth profile is the working surface of the tooth.
Hence, the tooth profile is the area of the tooth that
wears. Mating gear teeth slide while in contact up and
down the tooth profile except at the operating pitch
diameter. The operating pitch diameter is the only location on the tooth profile at which rolling occurs. The tooth
profile at the operating pitch diameter will wear at a different rate than the rest of the tooth. One of the first visual clues to the presence of tooth wear is a distinct line at
the operating pitch diameter (Figures 5, 11 and 12) and a
wear step developing in the tooth root.

Effects of wear
The effects of wear range from minor to catastrophic. In
general, some wear is expected in girth gearing applications such as kilns, coolers, and grinding mills. This is
because the ideal conditions mentioned above never exist
in these applications. Girth gearing always has a combination of misalignment, varying load and contamination
resulting in at least mild wear. In addition, the material
being processed at most sites is abrasive, chemically active,
or both.
The effects of wear include:
Figure 5. Rippling and wear step. Note operating pitch diameter
is clearly visible.

Figure 6. Mild gear profile wear and corrosion.

loads, infrequent starts, and no contamination. However,

instead of using the term ideal conditions it would be
more accurate to say conditions impossible to achieve in
the real world. Despite this, it is possible to assess, monitor and minimise tooth wear.
Since wear generally occurs slowly, the exact moment
when tooth failure will occur cannot be predicted.
Severely worn teeth may operate for years until a slight
increase in load or small change in alignment ultimately
causes tooth failure. This means methods of assessing and
monitoring wear are needed to avoid tooth failure.
To aid in the understanding of tooth wear, it is helpful
to know the major tooth features: Figure 1 shows the top

Increased vibration.
Increased noise.
Loss of efficiency: increased power draw (amps).
Reduced load carrying capacity.
High localised stresses.
Cracking.
Catastrophic tooth failure.

Typically, the effects of wear take years to develop into

a condition of major concern. Occasionally, wear occurs
very quickly as in the case of the gear and pinion shown in
Figures 11 and 12, respectively. This gearing has only been
in operation for four months and has already experienced
significant tooth profile wear.
Unfortunately, once wear has occurred there is very little that can be done to correct it. The best that can be
done is to detect wear early and prevent it from progressing. Ultimately, the only solution to severe wear is to
reverse the gearing (use an unworn tooth flank) or to
replace the gearing.
It should be noted that while it is typical to mesh an
unworn pinion with a worn gear, it is strongly discouraged
to operate a new gear with a worn pinion. The reason for
this is that the pinion wears faster than the gear (due to
the difference in rotating speed between the pinion and
gear). The pinion and gear wear into each other over time
resulting in tooth profiles that become matched mating
surfaces. A new pinion profile wears to mate adequately
with a worn gear tooth profile. In fact, a new pinion has
been shown to heal or improve the appearance of worn
gear tooth profiles. However, meshing a new gear with a

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worn pinion profile will quickly result in the destruction of
the gear tooth profile.

Types of tooth wear

The American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA)
Standard 1010-E95, Appearance of Gear Teeth
Terminology of Wear and Failure1, provides standard definitions for types of gear tooth wear. The following is
excerpted from AGMA 1010-E95.
Wear is a term describing change to a gear tooth surface involving the removal or displacement of material,
due to mechanical, chemical, or electrical action.
Wear can be categorised as mild, moderate or severe.
Mild wear is considered normal in many applications.
Moderate and even severe wear may be acceptable in
some applications.
Girth gear applications are those where mild tooth
wear is considered normal. There are many different types
of wear. From AGMA 1010-E95, Table 1, the types of wear
include:

Adhesion.
Abrasion.
Scaling.
Polishing.
Corrosion.
Rippling.
Cavitation.
Erosion.
Electrical discharge.
Fretting corrosion.

Figure 8. Severe plastic flow results in top land material separation. This material should be removed immediately to prevent
debris going through mesh.

The first five types listed are typically observed on girth

gear and pinion teeth. Actual examples of these are presented in Figures 2 through to 12.
There are many other types of tooth distress that also
occur. These include plastic flow, debris denting, contact
fatigue (pitting), scoring, cracking, fracture and bending
fatigue. It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss in
detail all of these surface distress issues. However, it is
important to note that pitting is a contact fatigue issue
and is not considered a wear phenomenon.
In service, gear teeth almost always experience several
types of tooth distress simultaneously. It is not unusual to
observe abrasion, polishing, pitting and plastic flow on
the same tooth as the photographs in this article demonstrate.

Causes of excessive wear

There are many causes of the wear types listed above.
Below is a summary of the most common causes of girth
gearing wear. In most cases, there will be multiple causes of wear occurring simultaneously.

Figure 7. Moderate wear and top land plastic flow.

Inadequate lubrication quantity/delivery.

Incorrect grade of lubricant (viscosity too low).
Incorrect lubricant additives.
Contamination (debris, water).
Misalignment.

Figure 9. Very severe gear profile wear meshing with newer

pinion. This gear should be replaced as soon as possible.

Frequent starts.
Variable speed operation.
Gear design (tooth geometry, rating).
Gear manufacturing (hardness, quality).
Overload.

Experience has shown that the gear design or manufacture is rarely the root cause of a tooth wear problem.
The maintenance practices of the site have much more
influence on the wear rate and therefore the operating
life of the gearing.

Solutions to wear
Each of the causes listed above can be investigated rela-

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Figure 10. Polishing, debris denting, moderate wear.

Figure 12. Pinion active tooth distress.

course, the best solution is to avoid the causes of wear at the

design stage of the equipment. This option is not available to
a site already in operation. Therefore, identifying the causes of
wear as soon as possible will minimise the impact on uptime
and maximise the service life of the gearing.

Monitoring wear

Figure 11. Gear active tooth distress.

tively easily as to its role in causing wear. The corrective

action needed ranges from simple adjustments of the
lubrication system, changing the lubricant used or the
complete replacement of the gearing, guarding and lubrication system.
Solutions to the causes of wear include:

Visual inspection of lubricant spray patterns and/or level.

Work with a reputable lubricant supplier to ensure the
proper lubricant additive package is used.

Realign the gearing to the manufacturers specifications.

Reduce load and/or speed variations.

Perform an Elastrohydrodynamic (EHD) Analysis to determine the correct grade of lubricant needed.

Prevent the ingress of contaminants by sealing the guard.

Review the gearing design and rating.

Review manufacturing records.
In cases of extreme pinion wear and when other solutions
have not been effective, a pinion can be replaced in kind with
one that has been case hardened. An induction hardened or
carburised pinion is significantly harder than a typical through
hardened pinion. The increased hardness and carbon content
in the surface of a case hardened pinion dramatically increases
the wear resistance. The reader is advised that case hardening
a pinion can more than double its cost. The increased cost may
be offset by reduced replacement costs and the associated
downtime that is avoided.
The solutions listed may range in cost and complexity from
being essentially free (lube system adjustments) to being quite
expensive (a new gear guard with improved sealing). Of

Properly installed and maintained girth gearing teeth will

have a smooth, dull, aluminum or brushed nickel appearance. There should be no signs of surface distress and the
original tool marks from the tooth cutting (left side of
Figure 2) should remain visible for many years.
Tooth wear can be monitored by numerous methods.
Tooth wear monitoring methods include:

Visual inspection.

Digital photographs.

Infrared temperature measurements and thermal photographs.

Straight edge test.

Tooth caliper measurements.

CAD plots of the original tooth form.

Tooth moulds.

Oil sample analysis (element and particulate count).
Physical measurements of the teeth using a tooth
caliper are the most precise method of monitoring wear.
A tooth caliper is a special type of micrometer used to very
accurately measure tooth thickness. It is difficult and costly (increased downtime) to perform repeatable tooth
thickness measurements in the field. Sites have actually
reported teeth increasing in size!
Infrared temperature measurements provide a
direct indication of alignment and areas of high
localised stress. Many manufacturers recommend using
infrared temperature data to ensure proper alignment.
Thermal images provide a far more comprehensive indication of alignment and high localised stress. The thermal image plots will pinpoint areas of concern quickly.
It should be noted that temperature monitoring methods are typically more effective on grinding mills than
kilns or coolers. The slow operating speed of most kilns
and coolers reduce the effectiveness of the temperature

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Figure 13. New gear profile with straight edge showing convex
shape. (Photo courtesy of The Falk Corp., Milwaukee, WI.)

gradient across the face width to identify misalignment.

For kilns, the heat radiated from the shell can interfere
with temperature monitoring equipment producing erroneous results.
One of most useful and easiest monitoring methods is
to take digital photographs at regular intervals. A photographic record of the tooth condition every week, month
or quarter, provides detailed evidence of the onset and
progression of wear. Reliance on the memory of site personnel is inconsistent at best and frequently unreliable. It
is not unusual for someone to look at the girth gearing
after a period of weeks and state that it did not look like
that last time. However, it is then impossible to quantify
the scope and magnitude of the change.
New tooth profiles are outwardly curved or convex
(Figure 14). Worn tooth profiles are recessed or concave. A
simple straight edge can be placed against the tooth profile to determine if the profile is convex or concave (Figure
14). Some sites have even taken feeler gauge measurements to more accurately determine the magnitude of
wear.
A more sophisticated method than using a straight
edge is to use a CAD plot of the original tooth form. A
scale CAD drawing can be plotted of the original tooth
profile. This tooth profile is then cut out or copied
onto an overhead and fitted against the tooth (Figure
15). Gaps can be easily identified providing a clear
visual indication of a worn tooth profile.
An even more accurate method is the use of tooth
moulds. Tooth moulds provide the most positive
method of monitoring wear. If a baseline mould is
taken when the gearing is new, it can then be used to
check the tooth condition throughout the life of the
gearing. Moulds can be taken at any time to provide a
very accurate representation of the tooth condition.
Of course, taking tooth moulds involves significantly
more time than taking digital photographs.
Oil sample analysis is a very valuable tool for all
types of machinery. While it can be helpful for applications with sumps (e.g. systems with oiling pinions),
many open gearing applications apply lubricant with
an intermittent spray system. Oil sample analysis is
therefore not possible with these systems.
Now to answer the ultimate question posed, how

Figure 14. Worn tooth profile with straight edge showing concave shape. (Photo courtesy of The Falk Corp., Milwaukee, WI.)

Figure 15. CAD plot comparison. (Photo courtesy of The Falk

Corp., Milwaukee, WI.)

Figure 16. Worn tooth.

much tooth wear is too much? It has been previously

stated that the exact moment cannot be predicted
when tooth failure will occur. While this is true, it has
been the authors experience that teeth that have
worn through one-half the original top land thickness
(Figure 16) should be replaced as soon as possible.
When teeth are worn half-way through the top
land thickness, the profiles will have become severely

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worn (Figures 3 and 9). These profiles no longer have
the original involute form. This creates mesh incompatibilities resulting in vibration, noise and very high
localised stresses.
Teeth worn half-way through the top land are also
subject to catastrophic tooth breakage. If one-half of
a tooth has been worn away, this means that one-half
of the tooth support is also gone. Any misalignment,
impact loads, or high starting loads could tear the
teeth completely off. Because of this, wear beyond
one-half of the top land thickness jeopardises the ability to reverse the gearing to use the unworn tooth
flank. The reduced support increases the stress and
deflection of the tooth, increasing the probability of

catastrophic failure. This effectively halves the service

life of a very valuable pinion or gear.

Conclusion
There are many types and causes of girth gearing tooth
wear. It is critical to prevent or at least minimise tooth wear
to ensure a long, trouble free service life. Once wear is
detected, little can be done to correct it. The effects of
wear can be minimised with a proactive assessment and
monitoring program._____________________

References
1.

ANSI/AGMA 1010-E95, "Appearance of Gear Teeth - Terminology

of Wear and Failure", published by the American Gear
Manufacturers Association, Virginia, USA

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