Foiling Metal Gear Field Failures

Macropitting, micropitting, bending fatigue, scuffing, and wear are the five common failure modes plaguing metal gears. Recognizing which mode impacts your equipment is vital to preventive maintenance and repair. The distinct features of each failure mode are delineated in this Machine Design piece, providing the knowledge needed to correctly diagnose the surface and subsurface characteristics marking specific failure phenomena. Crack nucleation and propagation, scoring, and cratering are some of the physical indicators of failure processes. Each failure, however, may involve several modes, making isolation and identification more difficult. Can you readily define and remedy these gear failure occurrences in your operations?

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