Zirui Pang et al.

/ Physics Procedia 50 (2013) 103 – 10

112
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Physics Procedia 50 (2013) 103 – 112

International Federation for Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering 20 th Congress

Beijing,China,23-25 October 2012

Study of effect of quenching deformation influenced by

17CrNiMo6 gear shaft of carburization
Zirui Panga,b,c , Shenjun Yua , Jinwu Xub*
a
CITIC Heavy Machinery Limited by Share Ltd, Luoyang Henan , 473000,China
b
Beijing Science University Beijing, 100086, China
c
Henan Institute of Science and Technolagy XinXiang Henan , 453000, China

Abstract

The 17CrNiMo6 steel is mainly used for the gear shaft of large modulus in many fields of heavy industry such as mining, transit,
hoist, forging and so on[1]. The size of addendum circle and common normal line is changed a lot beyond the tolerance because of
the long time of carburizing process and the out-of-step structural stress and thermal stress during the quenching process. And
thus the posterior grinding efficiency and quality are influenced. In the paper comparison and analysis of the deformation
affected by solid and hollow gear shafts were done and the methods of simulation and practice were both used. The results are as
follows: the deformation of gear shaft was small before and after carburizing while that of gear shaft was large before and after
quenching because of different cooling velocity, structure and hardness of each position. And the deformation of hollow was
much smaller than that of solid. Therefore, if the hollow gear shaft is used, the waste of material will be decreased, and finishing
cost will be reduced, and thus the technology of heat treatment will be optimized.

1. Background of study

Heavy haul gear is the gear used to transfer force and endure the larger load, and is mainly used in many fields of
heavy industry such as mining, transmit, hoist, forging and so on. Heavy haul gear usually needs to endure working
stress which is almost the allowed stress of the material. And thus it is supposed to have abilities of high impact
resistance and anti-overloading besides good wear resistance, high contact fatigue strength and bending fatigue
strength. Therefore, the material of heavy haul gear is structure steel of low carbon alloy steel. And enough strength and
toughness can be kept at the heart position after carburizing, quenching, and tempering at the low temperature. And
thus there is quite high hardness on the surface and then composite is formed so that it can endure very large impact
load,contact stress and wear. There are relatively systematic standard limits on choices of steel because of differences
of natural resources and traditional use of steel. And certainly the choices of steel for carburizing of heavy haul
gears. However, the choices of Cr-Ni, Cr-Mo, Cr-(Men)-Ni-Mo are still used for large part of carburizing steel. With the
proceeding of energy-saving tide all over the world and continuously using of new technologies, the potential of
materials is excavated gradually. 17CrNiMo6 of Cr-Ni-Mo steel introduced by German (and that is17Cr2Ni2Mo
in our country ) is being widely used because of its good comprehensive properties. As the hardenability of
17CrNiMo6 steel is high, there will be large deformation during carburizing and quenching processes on condition
that the gear shaft is made of the material. The posterior grinding depth will be increased, and the production cost will
thus be improved because of large deformation. And it will also influence manufacturing accuracy of gears and
decrease enduring ability and the service life of the gear shaft will be reduced largely. Therefore, the decreasing of
deformation of gears during carburizing and quenching processes has already become an important subject. The
deformation of gear shaft of carburizing is related to many aspects, such as structure, materials, technologies of
heat treatment, cold processing technology and so on. The effect of deformation influenced by the structure of
gear shaft was taken as an example in the paper, and the method of simulation combined with producing was used,
and the study of factors leading to the deformation of carburizing and quenching gear shaft. And therefore the law of the
deformation is expected to be found. And the bearing capacity and can be improved by reducing deformation using
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control measures. 112

2. Main research contents

The law of quenching deformation of gear shaft

The conclusion is that the deformation of large gear shaft is closely related to external diameter, width of gears,
helix angle and so on. And that it is closely related with each other among deformations was obtained by
measurement and analysis of carburizing and quenching deformation of large gear shaft during practical production.
The two kinds of deformation as follows usually happened after carburizing and quenching of gear shaft by
analyzing and study:

Addendum circle before

deformation

Addendum circle after

deformation

1) One kind of deformations was that the diameter of addendum circle was tend to become smaller, and it was
lager or smaller at different position on the same ax. The external diameter on the two ends of gear was a little larger,
but it was smaller at the middle of gear and the width of gear was larger and the deformation is more obvious.
2) The other kind of deformations was deformation in the direction of gears. Helix angle was larger and modulus
was larger, and the depth of carburizing layer was tend to increase the deformation in the direction of gears. And the
two kinds of deformations were showed as follows in Fig. 1.
Formerly tooth profile

ȕ ȕ'
Deformation tooth profile

A The deformation of B The deformation of helical angle

diameters decrease increase

Fig. 1 schematic diagram of addendum circle and helix angle of large gears after quenching

(Solid line is before quenching and dashed line is after quenching)

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The statistical and analysis of deformations of solid gear shaft

The chemical composition of 17CrNiMo6 (Standard of German) was showed in Table.1 as follows.

Table.1 the chemical composition of 17CrNiMo6

C Si Mn P” S” Cr Ni Mo others

Al”0.05
0.14~0.19 0.17~0.37 0.40~0.60 0.035 0.035 1.50-1.80 1.40-1.70 0.25-0.35
Cu”0.30

17CrNiMo6 concludes elements to form carbides which can reinforce the stability of austenite and elements
which can reinforce ferrite, and both are influenced by each other, and thus the kind of steel has better hardenability,
so that the hardness at heart position of large modulus-gear is guaranteed. The temperature at the critical point was
showed in Table.2 as follows.

Table.2 the critical point of the phase transition˄ć˅of 17CrNiMo6

Ac1 Ac3 Ar3 Ar1 Ms

730 820 735 310

The representative law was analyzed by actual measurement and tracking intended for the change of size of
addendum circle and common normal line of large modulus gear shaft during carburizing and quenching process in
practical production.
The change of size of addendum circle and common normal line intended for solid gear shaft before and after
quenching is showed in Table.3 and Table.4 as follows.

Table.3 The change of size of common normal line intended for Solid gear shaft before and after quenching (mm)
The measurem ent position
deformationdeformation before and afterbefore and after carburizin
The kinds of forged piece Before carburizingBefore quenchingAfter quenching

up 324.15 324.02 323.78 -0.13 -0.34

A middle 324.10 324.00 323.51 -0.10 -0.49

down 324.15 324.06 323.84 -0.09 -0.12

up 421.35 421.40 421.11 +0.05 -0.29

B middle 421.35 421.30 420.40 -0.05 -0.90

down 421.40 421.50 421.50 +0.10 0

up 232.55 232.45 232.90 -0.10 +0.35

C
middle 232.65 232.50 232.64 -0.15 +0.14
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down 232.55 232.60 232.88 +0.05 +0.28

Table.4 The change of size of addendum circle intended for Solid gear shaft before and after quenching (mm)

The measureme nt position deformationdeformation before and afterbefore and after carburizi
The kinds of forged piece Before carburizingBefore quenchingAfter quenching

up 651.51 651.45 650.97 -0.06 -0.48

A middle 651.49 651.25 650.03 -0.24 -1.22

down 651.48 651.70 650.45 +0.22 -1.25

up 848.07 847.62 847.28 -0.45 -0.34

B middle 848.16 847.61 845.77 -0.55 -1.84

down 848.03 847.81 847.26 -0.22 -0.55

up 750.15 750.12 749.22 -0.03 -0.90

C middle 750.17 750.35 748.54 +0.18 -1.81

down 750.25 750.42 749.97 +0.17 -0.45

The size of common normal line was larger or smaller, but deformation was not large before and after carburizing
by Table.3 and Table.4. It is almost smaller before and after quenching, and reduction at the two ends of common
normal line was much larger than that at the middle of common normal line.
The difference of cooling velocity at three positions above could be discovered by comparison and analysis of
cooling velocity at each position, structure and hardness of gear shaft during cooling process. And the difference of
cooling velocity at each position, that of surface, transition area, and the heart position and asynchronism of
structure transition are main reasons for deformations of gears. The asynchronism of structure transition is the main
reason leading to deformations of gears.

Simulation of quenching deformation of solid and hollow gear shaft

Firstly simulation was done intended for deformation situation of hollow and solid gear shaft, and schematic
diagram of hollow and solid gear shaft were showed in Fig.2 and Fig. 3 as follows.
 Zirui Pang et al. / Physics Procedia 50 (2013) 103 – 10
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ij
ij

ij
400 680 514 70

1664

Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of hollow gear shaft

ij

ij
ij

635 705 900 705 635

3580
Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of solid gear shaft

The quenching simulation procedure of solid and hollow gear shaft was showed in Fig.4 as follows:

820±10ć
650±10ć

350±10ć
60

time/h

Fig.4 Quenching procedure

The simulation of quenching deformation of hollow and solid gear shaft at different medium temperatures was
showed in Fig.5, Fig.6 and Table.5.
Table.5 The relationship between quenching oil temperature and the largest deformation
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The largest deformation of hollow shaft The larges deformation of

Temperature of medium ˄mm˅
solid shaft˄mm˅

Oil temperature 40ć 0.79 2.9

Oil temperature 60ć 1.31 3.9

Oil temperature 80ć 1.86 4.8

a b c

(a) hollow cooled in 40ć oil (b) hollow cooled in 60ć oil (c) hollow cooled in 80ć oil

Fig. 5 Simulation of quenching deformation of hollow gear shaft

at different temperatures of medium˄100X˅

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a b c

˄a˅solid cooled in 40ć oil (b) solid cooled in 60ć oil (c) solid cooled in 80ć oil

Fig.6 Simulation of quenching deformation of hollow gear shaft

at different temperatures of medium˄100X˅

The largest quenching deformation of hollow and solid gear shaft was both larger with the larger medium
temperature at 40ć, 60ć, 80ć by the simulation results in Fig.5, Fig.6 and Table.5. The deformation of hollow
gear shaft was obviously smaller than that of solid gear Shaft.

data statistical and analysis of deformation of hollow gear Shaft

The detection and analysis were done intended for the sizes of addendum circle and common normal line of
three hollow gear shafts during practical production. And the sizes of addendum circle and common normal line
before and after quenching were showed in Table.6 and Table.7.
Table.6 Size change of addendum circle of hollow gear shaft before and after quenching (mm)

Situation Before quenching After quenching distortion

the measuring position

0° 90° 0° 90° 0° 90°
number of forged piece

D Up 629.30 629.27 629.65 629.47 +0.35 +0.20

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middle629.28 629.10 629.55 629.13 +0.27 +0.03

down 629.35 629.32 629.57 629.53 +0.20 +0.20

Up 629.21 629.23 629.45 629.47 +0.23 +0.24

E middle629.07 629.14 629.20 629.34 +0.13 +0.20

down 629.21 629.25 629.45 629.43 +0.24 +0.18

Up 628.88 628.93 629.26 629.19 +0.38 +0.26

F middle628.80 628.79 628.81 628.79 +0.01 0

down 628.83 629.01 629.17 629.07 +0.34 +0.06

Table.7 Size change of common normal line of hollow gear shaft before and after quenching

(mm) Situation Before quenching After quenching distortion

measurement position
0° 90° 0° 90° 0° 90°
Number of forged
piece

Up 275.90 275.94 276.08 276.08 +0.18 +0.14

D middle 275.81275.70 275.96 275.88 +0.15 +0.18

down 275.92275.88 275.98 276.08 +0.06 +0.20

Up 276.05 176.10 276.08 276.10 +0.03 0

E middle 275.88275.85 275.90 275.90 +0.02 +0.05

down 276.10276.10 276.10 276.12 0 +0.02

Up 275.94 275.90 275.08 276.08 +0.14 +0.18

F middle 275.80275.84 275.88 275.88 +0.08 +0.04

down 275.88275.90 276.28 276.28 +0.40 +0.38

The sizes of addendum circle and common normal line were all larger after quenching. The reduction of sizes at
the middle position was small. Compared to the size of addendum circle and common normal line of solid gear shaft,
the size at the two ends was a little larger and it was much smaller at the middle position, and thus distortion was
obviously better. And the cooling situation of hollow gear shaft was average because internal and external were both
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cooled during the cooling process. And moreover the cooling velocity of hollow gear shaft was faster than that of
solid gear shaft, and thus distortion was smaller and the strength at the heart position was improved.

Hardness detection of hollow and solid gear shaft

Hardness detection of hollow and solid gear shaft was showed in Table. 8 as follows.
Table. 8 Hardness detection of hollow and solid gear shaft (mm)

Hollow structure Solid structure

Number of
Number of products Hardness of
Hardness of shaft products Hardness of gear Hardness of shaft
gear surface
neck surface˄HRC˅ neck˄HRC˅
˄HRC˅
˄HRC˅

D 59 38 111-1337 58 35

E 58 39 111-1336 57 36

F 60 39 111-1026 59 35

It is showed from Table. 8 that hardness of the surface of hollow and solid gear shaft was a little increased after
quenching, and that hardness of hollow gear shaft at the shaft neck position was obviously higher than that of solid
gear shaft after quenching. And therefore the strength at the heart position was increased so that the service life was
improved.
The deformation situation in the direction of gears of hollow gear shaft by gear hobbing machine was showed in
Table.9 as follows.
Table.9 The situation of deformation in the direction of gears (mm)

Number of gear
shaft
detection in the direction of gear˄gear detection in the direction of gear˄gear Type of
surface on the left˅ surface on the right˅ machines

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

D 0.3 0.25 0.25 0.3 0.3 0.25 0.25 0.3 RFW-16S

E 0.35 0.3 0.2 0.35 0.35 0.3 0.2 0.35 RFW-16S

F 0.45 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.35 0.3 0.3 RFW-16S

There was no size beyond tolerance after the procedures of addendum circle grinding and gear grinding intended
for these seven experimental shaft. It is demonstrated that the method is feasible and the theoretical analysis of
reasons for the distortion of heat treatment is proved. Therefore,it is necessary to analyze cooling and
thermal technologies of the structure of products and thus more reasonable technology and processing methods can
be found.
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3. Conclusion

The distortion during carburizing and quenching of 17CrNiMo6 gear shaft mainly happen in the carburizing
process and the quenching distortion is largely influenced by the structure of gear shaft. And thus the distortion of
common normal line of gear shaft was reduced by 0.3 mm on average and the residual of gear grinding reached the
international standard after carburizing and quenching by changing the structure of gear shaft and changing solid
into hollow shaft on condition that the using properties of gear shaft is not influenced. The optimization of the
structure of gear shaft not only reduces the energy waste during the quenching process, but the cost is also lowered
and the overall quality of gear shaft is improved.

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