Investigations on the Micro-Pitting and Wear Behavior of Nitrided Internal Gears

Nitriding processes can significantly increase the load carrying capacity of gears, compared e.g. to through hardened gears. Nitrided gears are generally characterized by a thin and hard compound layer on the surface and an adjacent diffusion layer that extends deeper into the material. Structure and properties of the compound layer significantly determine especially the tribologically dominated load carrying capacity characteristics of the tooth flank surface such as micro-pitting and wear. Previous investigations on nitrided gears were mainly focused on fatigue limits for the surface durability against pitting and tooth root bending strength. Furthermore, mostly external nitrided gears were investigated. Results of systematic investigations on the wear and micro-pitting behavior of nitrided internal gears are scarcely available. Based on the investigations in the research project FVA 482 IV, experimental test results confirm that nitrided internal gears in the material pairing "case hardened/nitrided" provide a significantly better performance regarding wear compared to through hardened or case hardened internal gears. Furthermore, it was shown that nitriding can have a positive influence on the micro-pitting behavior. A detailed analysis of the microstructure shows that the properties of the compound layer are primarily responsible for both, the micro-pitting and wear behavior.