Thermal Processing Magazine

Heat treatment plays an important — some would say critical — role in gear manufacturing. Therefore, there is a need to better understand, from the perspective of the heat treater, the contribution of heat treatment to gear failures. Aspects such as design, material, heat treatment, and service application all provide examples that serve as an […]

This paper focuses on recent inventions and innovations (from the past four-six years) in induction hardening of gears and gear-like components, including, but not limited to: “Know-how” in controlling distortion of induction-hardened gears Simultaneous dual-frequency induction hardening Advanced induction-hardening process recipes when hardening small and medium size gears Novel inductor designs to minimize distortion when […]

Heat treatment is a critical and complex element in the manufacturing of gears that greatly impacts how each will perform in transmitting power or carrying motion to other components in an assembly. Heat treatments optimize the performance and extend the life of gears in service by altering their chemical, metallurgical, and physical properties. These properties […]

Steel gears are heat treated to obtain enhanced properties and improved service performance. Quench hardening is one of the most important heat treatment processes used to increase the strength and hardness of steel parts. Defects seen in quenched parts are often due to high thermal and phase transformation stresses. Typical defects include excessive distortion, surface […]

Temperature uniformity is the temperature variation (usually expressed as ± degrees) within the qualified furnace work zone (Figure 1) with respect to a set point temperature.  A TUS (temperature uniformity survey) is a test or series of tests where calibrated field test instrumentation and sensors are used to measure temperature variation within the qualified furnace […]

Introduction Hardenability is the ability of steel to partially or completely transform from austenite to some fraction of martensite at a given depth below the surface when cooled under a certain condition. The “gold standard” test for all hardenability results has always been the Jominy End Quench Test. The information gained from this test is […]

What is deep cryogenic treatment? Deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) of steels and other materials is a distinct process that uses the application of extreme cold applied with distinct time/temperature profiles to modify the performance of materials. This process is also referred to as cryogenic processing, cryogenic tempering, deep cryogenic treatment, deep cryogenic tempering, and deep […]