How To Analyze Gear Failures
How To Analyze Gear Failures
How To Analyze Gear Failures
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50Y--50K
POWER TRANSMISSION DESIGN ■ MARCH 1994 35
PRODUCT FOCUS: GEARING
Request a skilled technician aged. Examine closely the
to disassemble the equipment functional surfaces of gear
under your direction. But, make teeth and bearings and record
sure that no work is done on their condition. Before clean-
the gearbox until you arrive. ing the parts, look for signs of
This means no disassembly or corrosion, contamination, and
cleaning. Otherwise, a well- overheating.
meaning technician could inad- After the initial inspection,
vertently destroy evidence. wash the components with sol-
Verify that the gearbox draw- vents and re-examine them.
ings, disassembly tools, and ad- This examination should be as
equate inspection facilities are thorough as possible because
available. it is often the most important
Ask for as much background phase of the investigation and
information as possible, includ- may yield valuable clues. A low
ing manufacturer’s part num- power magnifying glass and
bers, gear and bearing runtime pocket microscope are helpful
(hr), service history, and lubricant type. Figure 3 — Fatigue crack in a gear tooth tools for this examination.
Now, it’s time to assemble your inspec- root fillet. It is important to inspect the bearings
tion equipment, including items such as a because they often provide clues as to the
magnifying glass, measuring tools, felt tip cause of gear failure. For example:
markers, lubricant sampling equipment, wise be lost once disassembly begins. For • Bearing wear can cause excessive
and photographic equipment. A well-de- example, the condition of seals and key- radial clearance or end play that mis-
signed set of inspection forms for the ways must be recorded before disassem- aligns the gears.
gearbox, gears, and bearings should be at bly. Otherwise, it will be impossible to de- • Bearing damage may indicate corro-
the top of your priority list. termine when any damage may have sion, contamination, electrical dis-
occurred to these parts. Gear tooth con- charge, or lack of lubrication.
tact patterns should be taken before • Plastic deformation between rollers
Failure inspection completely disassembling the gearbox and raceways may indicate overloads.
Before starting the inspection, review (see next section). • Gear failure often follows bearing
the background information and service After the external examination, disas- failure.
history with the contact person. Then in- semble the gearbox and inspect all inter- Gear tooth contact patterns. (Com-
terview those involved in the design, in- nal components, both failed and undam- plete this step before disassembling gear-
stallation, operation, box components for in-
maintenance, and failure spection). The way in
of the gearbox. Encourage which mating gear teeth
them to tell everything contact indicates how
they know about the gear- well they are aligned, Fig-
box even if they feel it is ure 1. If practical, record
not important. tooth contact patterns
After completing the in- under either loaded or
terviews, explain your ob- unloaded conditions. For
jectives to the technician no-load tests, paint the
who will be working with teeth of one gear with
you. Review the gearbox marking compound.
assembly drawings with Then, roll the teeth
the technician, checking through mesh so the com-
for potential disassembly pound transfers the con-
problems. tact pattern to the un-
Visual examination. painted gear. Lift the
Before disassembling the gearbox, thor- Figure 4 — Fatigue failure (pitting) in the pattern from the gear with scotch tape
oughly inspect its exterior. Use an inspec- contact surface of a gear tooth. and mount it on paper to form a perma-
tion form as a guide to ensure that you Beach marks are visible in some of nent record.
record important data that would other- the larger pits. For loaded tests, paint several teeth on
nation of grain size. • Gear design calculations. cinctly, preferably in tables or figures.
• Determination of nonmetallic inclu- • Laboratory data for materials and lu- Good photos are especially helpful for
sions. bricant. portraying failure characteristics.
• SEM microscopy to study fracture Results of this evaluation may make it The report usually contains recom-
surfaces. necessary to modify or abandon the ini- mendations for repairing the equipment,
tial hypotheses. Or, pursue new lines of or making changes in equipment design
investigation. or operation to prevent future failures. ■
Form and test conclusions Finally, after thoroughly testing the
When all calculations and tests are hypotheses against the evidence, you
completed, you need to form one or more reach a conclusion about the most proba-
hypotheses for the probable cause of fail- ble cause of failure. In addition, you may
ure, then determine if the evidence sup- identify secondary factors that con-
ports or disproves the hypotheses. Here, tributed to the failure.
you need to evaluate all of the evidence
that was gathered including:
Reporting results
• Documentary evidence and service
history. A failure analysis report should de-
• Statements from witnesses. scribe all relevant facts found during the
• Written descriptions, sketches, and analysis, the inspections and tests,
photos. weighing of evidence, conclusions, and
• Gear geometry and contact patterns. recommendations. Present the data suc-