Abstract
Gears are the most commonly used parts in automotive and industrial applications. One of most common modes of gear failures is tooth breakage, which is usually produced by the bending fatigue failure. It is important to manufacture the gears which can withstand the applied stresses in view of safety and economic requirement. This paper deals with bending fatigue strength for cold forged bevel gear. Especially, to compare fatigue characteristics for manufacturing processes difference, bending fatigue tests of bevel gears made by three different processes respectively. Results indicate that the fatigue strength of bevel gear is improved by cold forging process. Intergranular fracture is found on fatigue fracture surface, and dimples are observed on final fracture surface. The fatigue failure cannot be considered as a deterministic quantity, but must be characterized statistically. This study proposes a method to estimate bending fatigue lift of the bevel gear using the probability-load-life and Weibull analysis.
