RELIABILITY OF AEROCRAFT GEAR FATIGUE STRENGTH

With the method of group test, fourty pairs of carburization-quenching gears made from 16NCD13 steel for aerocraft were tested to research the contacting fatigue strength on tooth flank. As a result, the samples of fatigue life at the moments when the pitting appears and reaches failure criterion were obtained at four stressing levels respectively. The distribution rule of fatigue life were distinguished, and the distribution parameters were estimated by statistical analysis. Based on that, the R-S-N curves with confidence 95% of contacting fatigue on gear tooth flank were evaluated. Therefore, the basic data were provided for the reliability design of the gears and prediction of their life.

Ultra-high cycle fatigue behavior of high strength steel with carbide-free bainite/martensite complex microstructure

The ultra-high cycle fatigue behavior of a novel high strength steel with carbide-free bainite/martensite （CFB/M） complex microstructure was studied. The ultra-high cycle fatigue properties were measured by ultrasonic fatigue testing equipment at a frequency of 20 kHz. It is found that there is no horizontal part in the S-N curve and fatigue fracture occurs when the life of specimens exceeds 10^7 cycles. In addition, the origination of fatigue cracks tends to transfer from the surface to interior of specimens as the fatigue cycle exceeds 10^7, and the fatigue crack originations of many specimens are not induced by inclusions, but by some kind of ＂soft structure＂. It is shown that the studied high strength steel performs good ultra-high cycle fatigue properties. The ultra-high fatigue mechanism was discussed and it is suggested that specific CFB/M complex microstructure of the studied steel contributes to its superior properties.

Effect of microstructure on corrosion behavior of high strength martensite steel-A literature review

The high strength martensite steels are widely used in aerospace,ocean engineering,etc.,due to their high strength,good ductility and acceptable corrosion resistance.This paper provides a review for the influence of microstructure on corrosion behavior of high strength martensite steels.Pitting is the most common corrosion type of high strength stainless steels,which always occurs at weak area of passive film such as inclusions,carbide/intermetallic interfaces.Meanwhile,the chromium carbide precipitations in the martensitic lath/prior austenite boundaries always result in intergranular corrosion.The precipitation,dislocation and grain/lath boundary are also used as crack nucleation and hydrogen traps,leading to hydrogen embrittlement and stress corrosion cracking for high strength martensite steels.Yet,the retained/reversed austenite has beneficial effects on the corrosion resistance and could reduce the sensitivity of stress corrosion cracking for high strength martensite steels.Finally,the corrosion mechanisms of additive manufacturing high strength steels and the ideas for designing new high strength martensite steel are explored.

Effects of Prestressing of the Ring Gear in Interference Fit on Flexural Fatigue Strength of Tooth Root

When the gearbox body interference is connected to the ring gear, prestressing occurs in the ring gear, which has a significant impact on the strength and life of the gear. Research on the prestressing of the inner ring gear is in the preliminary stage, and the distribution rule of the prestressing and the influence of each parameter on the interference prestressing have not been derived. In this paper, based on the method of calculating the prestressing of the thick cylinder in interference fit, the ring gear is found to be equivalent to a thick cylinder, and the distribution rule of prestressing of the ring gear in the interference fit is inferred. Then, by modeling and analyzing the gearbox body and ring gear in the interference fit using ABAQUS, the distribution rule of prestressing the ring gear in the interference fit is obtained through a numerical simulation. Finally, the prestressing of the ring gear in the interference fit is measured using X-ray di raction, and the distribution rule of prestressing of the ring gear in the interference fit is obtained through analysis. Compared with the distribution rule of prestressing in theory, numerical simulation, and experiment, the theoretical distribution rule of prestressing is amended through a statistical method, and a more accurate formula of prestressing is obtained. Through the calculation of the stress and bending moment in the dangerous section of the ring gear through prestressing, the formula for checking the tooth root flexural fatigue strength in the interference fit prestressing is inferred. This research proposes a tooth root bending strength conditional formula for the inner ring gear of the interference fit, which serves as a guide for the design and production of the actual interference joint inner ring gear.

Influence of rapid heating process on the microstructure and tensile properties of high-strength ferrite–martensite dual-phase steel

Three low-carbon dual-phase （DP） steels with almost constant martensite contents of 20vo1% were produced by intercritical annealing at different heating rates and soaking temperatures. Microstructures prepared at low temperature （1043 K, FH1） with fast-heating （300 K/s） show banded ferrite/martensite structure, whereas those soaked at high temperature （1103 K, FH2） with fast heating reveal blocky martensite uniformly distributed in the fine-grained ferrite matrix. Their mechanical properties were tested under tensile conditions and compared to a slow-heated （5 K/s） reference material （SH0）. The tensile tests indicate that for a given martensite volume fraction, the yield strength and total elongation values are noticeably affected by the refinement of ferrite grains and the martensite morphology. Metallographic observations reveal the formation of microvoids at the ferrite/martensite interface in the SH0 and FH2 samples, whereas microvoids nucleate via the fracture of banded martensite particles in the FH1 specimen. In addition, analyses of the work-hardening behaviors of the DP microstructures using the differential Crussard-Jaoul technique demonstrate two stages of work hardening for all samples.

Interaction of Hydrogen and Retained Austenite in Bainite/Martensite Dual-Phase High Strength Steel

The hydrogen trapping phenomena in two bainite/martensite dual-phase high strength steels(U20Si and U20DSi)were investigated by electrochemical permeation technique.The hydrogen diffusivity was calculated from data of permeation delay time,and the diffusion coefficient in U20 Si is far less than that in U20 DSi.Moreover,the hydrogen diffusivity decreases as the volume percent of retained austenite increases.The experiment results show that there are different hydrogen trappings and different volume percents of retained austenite in U20 Si and U20 DSi.The retained austenite is precipitated as films.The trap binding energy for the retained austenite and hydrogen is calculated to be 40.4kJ·mol-1.

EFFECT OF FRICTIONAL FORCE ON GEARING CONTACT FATIGUE STRENGTH

The model for computing frictional coefficient between two teeth faces at the state of mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication is established. And then more than 80 sets of numerical calculations and six sets of disc fatigue tests are completed. The results show that when the film thickness ratio λ 〈1.6, frictional coefficient μ is drastically decreased as λ. rises; Thereafter it decreases smoothly until λ=4.5. When λ〉4.5, however, it goes up again with λ, which indicates that the excessive film thickness ratio will deteriorate gearing contact fatigue strength. At the end, the formulae for determining the frictional coefficients are formed.

Development of High Strength Steel Designed for Carbonitriding with High Nitrogen Content to Be Used for Automatic Transmission Gears

To downsize and lighten automatic transmission components, the gears installed must be strengthened in terms of pitting endurance and/or wear resistance. The most important metallurgical factor affecting fractures is well known to be resistance to softening when steel is tempered at approximately 573 K. Carbonitriding with a high amount of nitrogen is a very effective production technique because nitrogen increases the resistance during tempering. However, structural anomalies begin to appear in the surface layer when the nitrogen content exceeds 0.6 mass% in the chromium steel generally used. To address this, we have developed new high-strength chromium steel with an optimized chemical composition that effectively inhibits anomalies even when Carbonitriding with a nitrogen content of more than 0.6 mass%. We performed a drivetrain durability test on an automatic transmission component designed to have excellent contact fatigue strength and a tooth root bending impact and fatigue strength. We found that the developed steel that was carbonitrided with a content of about 0.9 mass%, and then shot peened hard, has a pitting life of roughly 4.5 times that of conventionally manufactured steel.

THE VALENCE ELECTRON STRUCTURES OF MARTENSITE IN LOW ALLOY ULTRAHIGH-STRENGTH STEELS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON STRENGTH AND TOUGHNESS

Ⅰ. THE VALENCE ELECTRON STRUCTURES OF MARTENSITE IN LOW ALLOY ULTRAHIGH-STRENGTH STEELS AND THE SEGREGATION OF C-ME IN MARTENSITEThe valence electron structures ofmartensite in 30CrMnSiNi2A and Gc-4 steels can be established based on Refs. [1—3]. To be brief, only σ, nA and ncD are listed in Table 1, which are the values of electron structures of martensite in 30CrMnSi2A and Gc-4 steels.

Effects of Nb Content on Yield Strength of NiTiNb Alloys in Martensite State

Two near single-phase NiTiNb alloys--NisoTi4sNb2 and Ni49.5Ti46.5Nb4-are prepared and studied by means of scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS）, differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） and tensile tests in order to unearth the effects of Nb-atom solid solution in NiTi phase on the yield strength induced by self-accommodation of martensite variants. The results show that the yield strength of near single-phase NiTiNb alloys varies inversely with the amount of Nb-atoms solid-dissolved in NiTi phase. From the results out of the prior and current studies, it can be surmised that the effects of Nb content on the yield strength of NiTiNb alloys in martensite state depend on the coaction. Nb solid solution weakening mechanism and β-Nb phase composite strengthening mechanism. This inference might be a satisfactory explanation to the fact that the yield strength of （NiTi）50-0.5xNbx alloys in martensite state begins with decline and then rises when the Nb content increases.

Effect of Martensite Fine Structure on Mechanical Properties of an 1100 MPa Grade Ultra-high Strength Steel

An 1100 MPa grade ultra-high strength steel with different martensite fine structures, characterized by prior austenite grain size, martensite packet size, block width and lath width, was studied by various heat treatment processes. The result shows that with decreasing prior austenite grain size, both the packet size and block width decrease, while the lath width has virtually no change. Accordingly, both strength and toughness increase, while total elongation decreases. The yield strength has a Hall Petch type relationship with the prior austenite grain size, packet size and block width, and the block width may be regarded as a key factor influencing strength. On the other hand, the ductile to brittle transition temperature （DBTT） is found to be more related lo the packet size, which may be considered as a dominant factor influencing toughness.

Austenite/martensite structure and corresponding ultrahigh strength and high ductility of steels processed by Q&P techniques

The microstructure of steels treated by Q&P(quenching and partitioning) process was characterized,a method of controlling retained austenite fraction based on inhomogeneous martensitic transformation was proposed,and the mechanical properties of steels treated by Q&P process were measured.The results show that the microstructure of the studied steels is mainly composed of initial martensite,fresh martensite and retained austenite.The initial marteniste formed at the first quenching step is easily etched;the fresh martensite formed at the final quenching step looks like 'blocky' type phase,and the retained austenite is mainly located on the packet boundary and initial austenite grain boundary.The inhomogeneous microstructure causes the experimental optimum quenching temperature corresponding to maximum retained austenite fraction to be higher than the calculation based on CPE(constrained paraequilibrium) model.The product of tensile strength and total tensile elongation is 47.5 GPa%,and tensile strength of 1760 MPa was obtained for the steel with carbon content of 0.51 wt%.The TRIP(transformation induced plasticity) effects of the large fractioned metastable austenite make a main contribution to the high ductility improvement,and the martensitic matrix provides high strength.

Effect of gear teeth finishing method on properties of teeth surface layer and its resistance to pitting wear creation

This work presented the characteristics of two gear teeth finishing methods, due to the properties of gear teeth surface layer obtained at the tooth working depth. These methods are: 1) the teeth carburization, hardening to a hardness of HRC 60-62 and then grinding, 2) the soft gear shaving as the final mechanical treatment and then carburizing and hardening to the hardness of HRC60-62. This work included the test results of the contact fatigue strength carried out on the circulating power system. The Wohler curves were plotted due to the obtained results, as the basis for the practical evaluation of the considered gear finishing methods. The parameters like volume distribution of the voids, content of the retained austenite, compressive residual stress value, but also the results of contact fatigue strength tests, are more favorable for the teeth shaving method than for the teeth grinding method.

Effect of Microstructure on Corrosion Fatigue Behavior of 1500 MPa Level Carbide-Free Bainite/Martensite Dual-Phase High Strength Steel

Influence of microstructure of the experimental steels on the corrosion fatigue behavior in 3.5% of NaCl aqueous solution was studied.Experimental results show that compared with the full martensite（FM）steel,the carbide-free bainite/martensite（CFB/M）steel has higher corrosion fatigue strength and corrosion fatigue crack threshold（ΔKthcf）,and lower corrosion crack propagation rate [（da/dN）cf].

Research and development of hot-rolled ultra-high strength steel at Baosteel

The effects of the composition and cooling process on the microstructures and properties of hot-rolled ultra-high strength low alloy （HSLA） steel, complex phase steel and martensite steel were studied in the laboratory. And S700MC and MP1200 ultra-high strength steels were trial produced at the 1 880 mm hot-rolling line of Baosteel. Compared with conventional hot-rolled high strength products,the idea that water is alloy was applied in the newly developed hot-rolled ultra-high strength steel. By the use of the economical composition design and controlled cooling after hot-rolling effectively,ultra-high strength steel of different steel grades can be obtained.

Research and modeling on correlation among microstructure,yield strength and process of bainite/martensite steel

The contributions of different strengthening mechanisms to yield strength of bainite/martensite multiphase rail steel with different finish cooling temperatures in the controlled cooling process were quantitatively investigated.Dislocation density and substructure size of the rail steel were measured by scanning electron microscopy,electron backscatter diffraction and X-ray diffraction.The results show that the dislocation density increases with the decrease in block width in rail steel.Based on the correlation among dislocation density,block width and yield strength,a physical model was proposed to predict the yield strength of rail steel.The variation of block width and dislocation density in different positions of rail head microstructure was integrated with temperature field simulation.Dislocation density and block width reveal significant correlations with the finish cooling temperature.

Microstructure evolution of an ultra-high strength metal alloy with tempering temperature

Optical microscopy (OM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to investigate the effect of tempering temperature on the experimental extra-high carbon steels. It is found that tempering reaction can reduce austenite content and influence the stability of the austenite. As-normalized microstructure is a mixture of twinned martensite and retained austenite. Tempered at 250 °C for 2 h, lath martensite can occasionally be found nearby the diffusionally decomposed austenite area. It also is found that tempering at 650 °C for 2 h, nanoparticles of carbides precipitate in the martensite and decomposed austenite. © The Nonferrous Metals Society of China and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012.

Microstructure design and feasibility of hot stamping for new generation high strength multi-phase steels

Optimization of microstructure for new generation advanced high strength steels(AHSS ) for automobiles was briefly reviewed.Two different heat treatments(quenching partitioning austempering/QPA and quenching partitioning tempering/QPT) have been investigated to obtain optimal microstructures,which are made up of martensite(hard phase),retained austenite(soft phase),and carbide or nano-bainite.Combination of hot stamping and newly developed heat treatments is discussed.

High temperature strength and ductility of the(C+N)strengthening Fe-Cr-Mn(W,V)steels

Fe-Cr-Mn(W, V) austenite steels used as low radioactive structural materialsin fusion reactor have been investigated. The results show that the high temperature strength andthe creep fracture life of Fe-Cr-Mn(W, V) steels can be effectively improved through (C+N)complex-strengthening, so can be the high temperature ductility. The strength and ductility of thesteels are superior to that of SUS316 steels and JPCAS below 673 K. The relationship betweenstrength, ductility and the formation temperature is related to the evolution of deformationmicrostructure. The fracture and microstructure observation above 673 K indicates that the main wayto further improve ductility at high temperature is the control of carbide coarsening at the grainboundaries.