EFFECT OF SURSULF TREATMENT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF LOW CARBON STEEL GEARS.

Gears used in industrial applications such as in textile looms, machine tools and automobiles, where the loads are small, require a hard wear resistant surface, the core strength being not critical. The choice of the designer in such cases is the low cost low carbon steels. Sursulf treated low carbon steel gears were tested in a back-to-back gear test rig. The failure of the gears is by pitting and the contact stress-pitting life curve has been established. Wear particle analysis of the lubricating oil was carried out to analyse the nature of failure. The study reveals the sursulf treatment on low carbon steel gears considerably improves their performance. Cumulative wear particle concentration at pitting limit has been suggested as a basis for predicting the onset of the failure in the gears.