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Crack Failure of Planetary Gearbox Sun Gear

ARTICLE MAY 2010

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LETTER PAPER
International J. of Recent Trends in Engineering and Technology, Vol. 3, No. 6, May 2010

Crack Failure of Planetary Gearbox Sun Gear

R.Dhanasekaran 1*, Dr.P.Senthil Kumar 2, K.Santhi 1
1

Lecturer, K.S.Rangasamy College of Technology, Tiruchengode - 637215, India

Email: dhanaksr@gmail.com
2
Professor & Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
K.S.R College of Engineering, Tiruchengode - 637215, India
Email: cryosenthil@yahoo.com, santhiksr@gmail.com

AbstractIn this study crack failure analysis of sun gear is

analyzed in detail. From the visual inspection of the failure
surface of the failed sun gear tooth it was shown that the
cracking type was fatigue. Micro hardness (HRC), chemical
properties, optical microscopy (Core) and scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) of the gear are determined. After the
analysis of the cracked surface it is concluded that cracked
occurred due to fatigue.

parameters of the sun gear, sun gear and ring gear are
shown in Table I. The ratio of input rotation to output
rotation is dependent upon the number of teeth in each
gear, and upon which component is held stationary. The
power transmission input is 22KW at 1440rpm and the
final output power would be 18rpm. For such huge reduction the three stage planetary gear box is used. The gear
reduction can be achieved by using the gear ratio of
(1+R/S). The kind of gearing is occasionally used in tractors, foundry division and construction equipments to
give high torque to drive the wheels. In such a case the
third stage sun gear is damaged.

Index TermsSun gear, crack failure analysis, fatigue

I.

INTRODUCTION

This paper describes the detailed crack failure analysis

on the failed gear. The possible failure reasons were analyzed. Planetary gearing is a gear system that consists of
three planet gears, revolving about a sun gear. Typically,
the planet gears are mounted on a carrier which itself may
rotate relative to the sun gear. The axis of all gears is
usually parallel as shown in Fig. 1. The material used for
the manufacture of gears depends upon the strength and
service conditions like wear, noise etc. The steel is used
for high strength gears and it may be plain carbon steel or
alloy steel. The steel gears are usually heat treated in order to combine properly the toughness and tooth hardness. In general, the steels selected for gear applications
must satisfy two basic requirements for ease of fabrication and processing. Fabrication and processing requirements include machinability; forgeability and heattreatability [1].

II. EXPERIMENTAL EXAMINATION

Crack failure analysis is the route of gathering and investigating statistics to conclude the cause of a failure and
how to avoid it from recurring. It is a significant control
in manufacturing industry, where it is a very important
tool used in the development of new products and for the
upgrading of existing products. It relies on collecting
failed sun gear for subsequent examination of the causes
of failure using a wide array of method; especially microscopy. The procedure for investigating a failure covers
four areas are Initial observations, Background data, Laboratory studies and Synthesis of failure [2]. The crack
failure analysis methodology of the failure analysis is
described as follows:
TABLE I.
PARAMETER OF THE THIRD STAGE SUN GEAR
Sl. No.
1
2
3
4
5
6

Parameter
Stage
Sun gear
Planet gear
Ring gear
Third stage input
Third stage output

Unit
3
25
30
77
71
18

Visual Examination was carried out by means of independently eye.

Fig. 1. Structure of three stage planetary gearbox

Normally, gears are used for reducing speed and hence

increasing torque. In the majority of cases the desired
reduction ratio, power transmitted and pinion speed can
be recognized from the product design specification. The

Hardness measurement (Medium Case depth)

method is IS 13691-1993.
Chemical analysis by Optical Emission Spectrometer (OES) shimadzu / PDA
7000 /

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LETTER PAPER
International J. of Recent Trends in Engineering and Technology, Vol. 3, No. 6, May 2010

seen. A proper sample piece was cut from the spur gear
close to the crack origin. The cracked surface of the failed
spur gear was examined in a scanning electron microscope to identify the cause of fatigue crack initiation.
During the inspection of the planetary gearbox, 21 out of
25 from the sun gear found to be damaged. The crack
surfaces of sun gear teeth were examined by using SEM
is shown in Fig. 7. SEM examinations by using secondary electron imaging technique make visible by uncovering the crack surface of the sun gear teeth. The presence
of microscopic fatigue grooves at higher magnifications
showed the growth of fatigue cracks which are reliable
with mechanical fatigue failure of the sun gear teeth
which are subjected to severe kind of fatigue loading. A
recent study showed that majority of service failures in
sun gear occur by fatigue and gear loading is critically
vital fact.

2005 and Test method is OES-ASTM E

415/99a.
Optical microscope (OM) test method is ASM
IX. 3% Nital was used as the etchant.
Observation of the cracking surfaces in the
scanning electron microscope (SEM).
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A. Visual Examination
The crack surface was initially observed with the independently eye is shown in Fig. 2 (a, b). The damaging
was consistent with solid particles and it is being pressed
by the surface of the sun gear under heavy load. So the
larger portion of the sun gear teeth would be damaged by
the heavy load.
B. Hardness measurement
Hardness measurements were carried out with the
Rockwell standard method. Sample collected near the
cracks location. The result of the micro-Rockwell hardness testing is shown in Fig. 3. The principle for determining medium case depth [3] is described as the depth
of material with hardness greater than 58.8 HRC. This
indicates that the case depth is approximately 0.8 mm.
C. Chemical analysis
In Fig. 4, are shown the chemical composition values
expressed in % by weight, indicating the sun gear was
made of EN alloy 353 steel. Typical applications of En
353 steel is being heavy-duty gears, shaft, pinions, camshafts, gudgeon pins and heavy vehicles transmission
components [4].
D. Optical Test
The total life of a component can be related to the cumulative effects of the successive events namely crack
initiation, crack propagation and final fracture [5]. In this
the initiation life is largely governed by surface and subsurface phenomenon whereas the propagation life is governed by microstructure. From that, the structure consists of retained austenite (which appears white) and martensite (which appears dark) is shown in Fig. 5 (a,b).
General structure shows fine tempered martensite
throughout the case. But also retained austenite [20 - 30
%] is noticed near the crack surface. From the observation it is noticed that the presence of retained austenite is
higher near the crack surface. This retained austenite may
weaken the surface and may cause wear at the surface. In
the crack surface the wear is noticed up to a depth of retained austenite present area.

Fig. 2. (a, b) Photographs of damaged crack surface

Fig. 3. Hardness values of cracked sun gear materials

E. Scanning electron Microscopy Examination

Extensive pitting, spalling and surface cracking can be
seen at the crack origin in Fig. 6. In addition, scoring
marks along the circumference of the web can also be
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LETTER PAPER
International J. of Recent Trends in Engineering and Technology, Vol. 3, No. 6, May 2010

IV.

CONCLUSION

The sun gear was examined and following conclusions

were drawn: Visual examination of the crack surface specified that the gear tooth failed due to a fatigue crack.
Micro-pitting indicates that the fatigue crack penetrated a
small portion of the tooth before a piece broke off. The
failure of the gear teeth is mainly due to the improper
heat treatment. The gear material was EN 353 alloy steel.
The failure of the spur gear is due to surface contact fatigue. Fatigue has commenced at radius of the teeth. It appears that the fatigue crack has initiated at pitch line of
the teeth. Pitting and spalling occur after repetitions of
loading. The retained austenite may weaken the surface
and may cause wear at the surface. It was concluded from
SEM examination of the sun gear crack surface that the
crumble of gear tooth resulted from fatigue due to heavy
loading.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Fig. 4. Chemical composition of sun gear (% weight)

Fig. 5. (a, b) Optical microstructures at different locations

The authors wish to thank Mr. S.Baskaran, Asst.

General Manager - Maintenance, Sakthi Auto Component
Ltd., Erode, for his help in understanding the history of
the failed component. The authors would also like to acknowledge the M/s. Chennai Mettex Lab (P) Ltd. and
PSG College of Tech. for metallurgical studies.
REFERENCES
[1] C.R. Das, S.K. Albert, A.K. Bhaduri, S.K. Ray, Failure
analysis of a pinion, Engineering Failure Analysis 12, pp. 287
298, 2005.
[2] Sidney H Avner, Introduction to physical metallurgy,
Second edition, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing company ltd.,
New Delhi, pp. 634, 2006.
[3] Donald S. Clark, Wilbur R. Varney,Physical metallurgy for
engineers, East-West student edition, Affiliated East-West
press, New Delhi, pp. 262.
[4] A. Bensely, S. Stephen Jayakumar, D. Mohan Lal, G. Nagarajan, A. Rajadurai, Failure investigation of crown wheel and
pinion, Engineering Failure Analysis, 13, pp. 12851292,
2006.
[5] A. Bensely et al. Fatigue behaviour and fracture mechanism of cryogenic alloy treated En 353 steel, Materials and Design, 30, pp. 29552962, 2009.

Fig. 6. (a, b) SEM showing the pitting at the magnification

Fig. 7. SEM showing the fatigue crack originated by micro crack

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