Engineering Failure Analysis 95 (2019) 117–126

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Engineering Failure Analysis

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engfailanal

Study of microstructural degradation of a failed pinion gear at a

T
cement plant
⁎
V. Rajinikantha, M.K. Sonia, B. Mahatoa, M. Ananda Raob,
a
Materials Engineering Division, CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur 831007, India
b
NML Madras centre, CSIR Madras Complex, Chennai 600113, India

A R T IC LE I N F O ABS TRA CT

Keywords: The failed pinion gear assembly of a cement plant was analyzed by visual, residual stress, mi-
Rolling sliding contact fatigue (RSCF) crostructure and mechanical property examination to determine the root cause of its failure. It is
Pinion gear observed that the worn out region contains several surface micro cracks, especially closer to the
Martensite decay tip (addendum) as compared to the root (dedendum) of the gear tooth profile. The surface
Micro pitting
analysis of the worn out regions showed depletion of protective chromium oxide layer at the
Stress analysis
surface and formation of iron oxide scales due to corrosion attack by lubricants, contaminants
resulted in micro pitting and subsequent wear. Residual stress measurements showed tensile
residual stresses at the tip (face) of the gear teeth and large compressive stresses at the root
(flank) of the gear teeth. The cross-sectional microstructure examination revealed the damages
due to rolling contact surface fatigue in the form of subsurface dark etched region bands and
coarsened carbides in the surface. Apart from this, the difference in the tempered core micro-
structure below the case hardened layer between the flank and face regions lead to compressive
residual stress in case of soft core and tensile stress in case of harder core respectively. The
concentration of tensile residual stresses due to untempered core at the tip aided the micro-
pitting and micro-cracking due to the rolling contact surface fatigue was responsible for the
initiation of surface cracks and final failure of the gear.

1. Introduction

Gears are mechanical elements connected to rotating shaft whose contact surfaces must be carefully shaped to specific profile to
transmit uniform and continuous rotary motion [1]. The contact surfaces of the gear can be subjected to different types of wear
namely scoring(abrasive wear), scuffing (adhesive wear) [2], pitting (corrosive wear), severe pitting accompanied by micro cracking
and spalling (rolling sliding contact fatigue) etc. Scoring is a type of sliding wear with scratch or track markings(abrasive) that results
in gradual loss of material from the surface. The wear debris are continually removed from the contact regions exposing the fresh
surface for further abrasion. This type of wear is common in non-hardened gear teeth. Scuffing is a type of adhesive wear that occurs
under heavy load and higher rotation speeds. The wear debris are again welded on to the contact surfaces resulting in adhesive wear.
The pitting can occur due to lubricant failure and subsequent corrosion attack on the gear surface. If it occurs on the dedendum
surface, it is called corrective pitting and if it occurs on the addendum surface, it is called destructive pitting. The destructive pitting
can occur due to fatigue loading conditions under high contact stress levels between mating surfaces.
Generally surface of the gear is made harder than core by case hardening, which provides protection against contact wear. An

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: anandm04@gmail.com (M. Ananda Rao).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2018.08.031
Received 8 May 2018; Received in revised form 27 August 2018; Accepted 30 August 2018
Available online 31 August 2018
1350-6307/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
V. Rajinikanth et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 95 (2019) 117–126

unfavorable stress strain ratio, which is very often found in the transition area between hardened case and softer core, can result in
localized plastic deformation of the core material [1,3]. Occasional over loading during operation, errors in manufacturing and
assembly faults, the decrease in contact area specified in the design of the failed teeth caused by factors such as misalignment due to
failure of lubrication or bearing failure between the pinion gear and the ring gear and the occurrence of cyclic stress that induces
fatigue crack growth in the material, multiple and synergistic mechanisms, can lead the gear teeth to become damaged by rolling
sliding contact fatigue. Any instantaneous misalignment can also result in overloading at the surface, which causes initiation of cracks
at sub surface and may finally lead to micro cracking along with pitting on the surface. Evolution of damage that can occur when two
specific moving surfaces mate each other repeatedly can be allied to other processes such as pits formation, wear debris, corrosion
and fatigue cracks [4].
High cycle contact pressure loads develop in real contacting bodies and the relative motion between the two contact surfaces
causes simultaneous rolling and sliding. This combined mechanical loading of the parts defines, to a great extent, the probability that
surface contact fatigue will develop. This phenomenon is commonly called rolling- sliding contact fatigue (RSCF) [5]. The different
types of damage attributed to RSCF of gear tooth flanks are: pitting (initial pitting, progressive pitting, micro-pitting and flake
pitting), spalling and case crushing. The resulting damage is one of the most frequent causes of gear failure, and is directly related to
the shear fatigue strength profiles of case hardened materials and the distribution of shear stresses caused by rolling-sliding contact
loading [3]. Locations at which shear stresses exceed shear fatigue strength are the most likely sites for damage initiation. When a
material is subjected to shear stress that is lower than its shear fatigue strength, no damage occurs. If shear stress exceeding its shear
fatigue strength at the surface, the resulting damage is pitting. However, if it is subjected to just below the surface, resulting damage
is flake pitting and/or spalling and if it is subjected to deeper subsurface layers, it undergoes case crushing [6,7]. O. Asi showed that
fatigue crack initiation from destructive pitting accompanied with spalling at one end of tooth in the vicinity of the pitch line because
of misalignment was responsible for the failure of helical gear teeth [8]. C. R. Das et al. [9] studied the failure of a pinion gear which
was part of an air-motor driving a diesel generator of a power plant's emergency power supply system and concluded that failure was
due to misalignment leading to fatigue and severe wear on the surface. Luciana Sgarbi Rossino et al. [1] have studied the surface
contact fatigue failure of a case hardened driver pinion located in the intermediate shaft of a reducer gearbox used in sugar and
alcohol mill. The cementite phase (Fe3C) formation at grain boundaries favored surface crack nucleation and propagation during
cyclic loading giving rise to pit formation in the wear area of the pinion teeth, and concludes that surface contact fatigue was the
failure mechanism of the gear. M. R. Lias et al. [10] modelled the stress distribution of gear tooth due to axial misalignment condition
and reported that misalignment contribute high stresses to the gear teeth. Increasing both deviation misalignment angle and load will
increase the face load factor and probably could lead to a fatigue crack nucleation at the maximum stress region leading to breakage
of the gear.In this work, the failure of a pinion gear (DIN 17CrNiMo6) in a cement plant was analyzed.

2. Materials and methods

A pinion gear failed during service at a cement plant has been received to investigate the root cause of failure. The schematic
cross-section of gear with standard terminology is shown in Fig. 1. The pinion gear was part of a gear box system of the slag mill,
which is used for grinding mixture of clinker, gypsum and wet fly ash to cement. The typical operating condition of slag mill are:
Total feed −112 metric ton, MT comprising of Clinker - 99 MT, Gypsum −3 MT and Wet Fly Ash −10 MT; Mill vibration - 5.63 mm/
s; and Power - 2106 kW. The total raw material feed variation of slag mill over ~900 h and its frequency is shown in Fig. 2. The pinion
is a type of spiral bevel gear having a major diameter of 435 mm with 13 teeth in curved and oblique form such that more than one
teeth of the pinion are always in contact with rotating shaft (ring gear). Figs. 3a and b shows the failed pinion gear along with the ring
gear. Pinion gear transmits a uniform and continuous rotatory motion to rotating shaft usually at 90 degree with an input speed of

Fig. 1. Schematic cross-section of gear.

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Fig. 2. Slag mill operation for ~900 h (a) total feed weight and (b) total load feed frequency.

Fig. 3. Shows the (a) failed pinion gear and (b) corresponding ring gear.

990 rpm and an output speed of 2515 rpm. The static load on axial bearing is 683 MT whereas the dynamic load is 1197 MT. The
maximum power rating of the gear unit is 3100 kW (kilowatt) and was designed to trip, if the vibration of the unit was found to
exceed 25 mm/s for 3 s. The failure of the pinion gear occured prematurely after 49,000 h of service.
Chemical composition of the failed gear teeth was analyzed by Optical Emission Spectroscopy (Spectrolab, Germany). Residual
stress measurements at various locations on the worn out surface (i.e case) of the failed gear teeth was carried out by X-ray diffraction
residual stress measurement system (StressTech, Finland) with Cr- Kα1 radiation which has a fixed wavelength of 2.2897 Å. The
macrohardness measurements were carried out using Economet VH-50MD hardness testing machine at a test load of 10Kg with dwell
time of 10s. The worn out surfaces/wear track on the gear mating surfaces were cut with substantial care to avoid any kind of foreign
contamination and examined under high resolution FEG-Scanning Electron Microscopy (FEI-Nova Nano SEM) using secondary
electron imaging (SEI). The nature of corrosion products and contaminations were studied using Energy dispersive X-ray (EDS) micro
chemical analysis. The samples at selected regions were cut and prepared by standard metallographic procedure for microstructural
examination. 2% Nital was used as etching reagent to reveal the microstructure.

3. Results and discussion

The chemical composition was determined at both case and core regions of the gear teeth. The results are tabulated in Table 1.
The bulk X-ray micro chemical analysis confirmed that chemical composition of core of the pinion gear is according to standard i.e.
DIN 17CrNiMo6, where as chemical analysis at surface showed comparatively higher carbon content due to case hardening at the
surface of the gear.
The detailed visual examination of the failed surface of pinion gear revealed several micro cracks along with pitting on the failed
surface as shown in the Fig. 4. The regions marked 1, 2 and 3 corresponds to micro-cracking, pitting and surface degradation
(spalling) associated with severe pitting respectively. It confirms that the gear teeth was severely pitted and several micro-cracks were
located especially at face of the addendum region of the gear teeth surface. Since this pinion gear is case hardened, it demands closer
tolerances during manufacturing and any surface damage can be detrimental to its useful life. Hardened gear materials are more
resistant to pitting and hence occurrence of pitting is a signature of excessive loads during operation and can be considered detri-
mental. The visual examination of gear teeth of slag mill ring gear showed alternate bright and dark regions which is an indication

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Table 1
Chemical Analysis of failed gear teeth.
Element At surface, % Wt (Case hardened surface) At core, % Wt DIN 17CrNiMo6 specification

C 0.716 0.201 0.15–0.21

Mn 0.501 0.504 0.50–0.90
Si 0.363 0.357 ≤ 0.40
S 0.002 0.002 0.015 max
P 0.011 0.010 0.025 max
Cr 1.676 1.693 1.50–1.80
Ni 1.492 1.498 1.40–1.70
Mo 0.299 0.296 0.25–0.35
Al 0.052 0.034 ≤ 0.50
Cu 0.171 0.167 ≤ 0.30

Fig. 4. showing damages on the failed pinion gear.

that the main gear was also exposed to abnormal loading. Based on visual examination, it is confirmed that a definite tooth dis-
placement would have happened during service of the gear assembly. Samples were sliced to cut sections (A-E) from one tooth of the
pinion gear (Fig. 3a) and subjected to further examination by X-ray residual stress measurement system and scanning electron
microscopy (Fig. 5). The effect of slicing sections on residual stress measurements was eliminated by electro polishing before carrying
out residual stress measurement.
The residual stress analysis of the gear was studied using XRD method to cut sections of sample A (highly pitted/damaged) and
sample E (moderately pitted/damaged) along the diagonal direction as shown in Fig. 6. The compressive residual stress was found to
be maximum at flank (i.e., at root) and tensile residual stress was found to be maximum at face of the gear teeth as observed from
Table 2. The trend in residual stress variation was similar for both A and E sections but the magnitude in sample A was much higher
than the sample E. It confirms that the pinion gear teeth at sample A location was exposed to higher loading condition as compared to
sample E location. This implies that the observed variation in residual stresses were caused by misalignment of the gear teeth during
service. Due to this, an unfavorable stress strain ratio was generated between the harder surface (case) and softer core (matrix) [1,3].
The distribution of unfavorable stress strain ratio may lead to local plastic deformation and aggravates pitting leading to micro-cracks
on both sub-surface & surface of the pinion gear teeth. The gear at face locations of sample A showed severe micro-pitting associated
with spalling. It is reported that significant plastic yielding can occur at the spalling edges due to reduced contact area and impact
loading which may alter the state of residual stress [11].

Fig. 5. Shows the cut sections of a failed pinion gear tooth (marked in Fig. 3a).

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Fig. 6. shows the cut slices of pinion gear teeth from (a) highly damaged sample A and (b) moderate damaged sample E.

Table 2
Residual stresses on sample A & E.
S·No Sample A Sample E Location Hardness (HV10) of Sample A

1 −315 ± 20 MPa −32 ± 18 MPa Flank (Root) 614 (Case) and 350(Core)
2 −339 ± 37 MPa −112 ± 20 MPa Mid-rib –
3 +67 ± 22 MPa +40 ± 25 MPa Face(Tip) 645(Case) and 456(Core)

Fig. 7. Carbide particles distribution (thresholded- overlayed with pink color) at cross-section near to surface of the Gear, (a) Schematic showing
sample locations on gear; (b) Case at gear face/tip location; (c) Case at gear flank/root location; (d) Histogram showing carbide particle size
distribution. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

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Fig. 8. SEM micrographs showing distinct cross -section microstructure at interface locations between case and core: (a) & (b) microstructure at
flank region; (c) & (d) microstructure at face region; (e) & (f) dark patches (DER) at face region interface location.

The Vicker hardness measurements were also carried out at both surface (case hard) and core of the pinion gear teeth at both flank
and face of the gear for sample A. The surface (case) hardness showed an average hardness value of ~706 HV10,i.e., 60 HRC at both
these locations. According to literature, DIN 17CrNiMo6 will have the hardness in the range of 60–61 HRC on surface and 35–43 HRC
at core [1]. The core hardness at the face region (456 HV10) is higher than the flank region of the gear tooth (350 HV10). This
difference in hardness values also corresponds to the variation in residual stress pattern that might have caused due to misalignment
leading to undue stress accumulation which culminated in the failure of the pinion gear. The detailed microstructural examination
was also carried out to reason the observed large difference in residual stress between the flank (root) and face (tip) locations of
sample A.

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Fig. 9. SEM micrographs of cross- section microstructure from core locations: (a) & (b) at face/tip location and (c) & (d) at flank/root location.

Fig. 7a shows the schematic of sample A with face and flank regions, which were examined for cross-section microstructure.
Figs. 7b & c shows the carburised case microstructure from the face and flank regions respectively. The carbide particles are high-
lighted after masking in image processing. The carbide particles in the face region are coarser and less rounded as compared to that of
flank region. The carbide particles are harder as compared to the matrix and therefore can act as stress raisers under the action of
rolling contact fatigue [12]. The coarsened carbide particles are more prone for reduced fatigue life due to more angular edges as
compared to the fine spherical carbides. The carbide particles with angular edges can act as stress concentration points as compared
to their spherical counterparts. The image analysis was performed on carbide particles by threshold to obtain their size distribution.
In Fig. 7d the ferret diameter is used as a measure to describe the size distribution of carbides. It is clearly seen that the carbide
particles are coarser in the face region as compared to the flank region. This coarsening is possible due to influx of carbon migration
from martensite decay phenomenon under the influence of rolling contact fatigue. Martensite decay associated with micro pitting is a
common problem for the carburised gears under the rolling contact stresses [13–17]. The pits like regions are marked with white
arrow in the microstructure (Figs. 7b & c). This damage becomes more severe when there is gear misalignment leading to undue and
uneven stress distribution and thus degrading the martensite microstructure.
The degradation of martensite manifests in the form of either light or dark etched bands well known as white etched bands (WEB)
and dark etched region (DER). This is because of the carbon redistribution of martensite under the influence of severe alternating
stresses may lead to local ferrite formation. Generally DER appears as a subsurface phenomenon in the form of uniformly distributed
bands varying from 100 to 600 μm [16]. Fig. 8 shows the interface microstructures taken from both flank and face locations. The
martensite region appears less disturbed with very few DER bands and fine carbides observable at higher magnification in the flank
region as shown in Fig. 8(a & b). The martensite region showed large decay effect with more number of DER bands and absence of
carbides with more shearing between plates of martensite observable at higher magnification as shown in Fig. 8(c & d). It is also
observed the presence of larger DER ferrite like regions in the microstructure that has been affected by alternating stress or loading
conditions (Fig. 8 e & f). Overall the interface microstructure at the face region is more damaged/subjected to severe stress de-
gradation as compared to the flank location.
Fig. 9 shows microstructure of core from both face and flank regions of sample A. Figs. 9a & b shows the tempered martensite with
plate like structures from the face region and Figs. 9c & d shows the completely tempered martensite microstructure with no plate like

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Fig. 10. Optical micrographs of carburised casing cross-section (as marked in Fig. 7a) (a) schematic with markings 1, 2, and 3 corresponds to Fig. 10
b, c, and d locations respectively; (b) micro pit and grain boundary attack closer to surface at a circled location; (c) DER at location 2 and (d) bands
of bright and dark contrast at an angle to the surface at the interface. at location3.

features. In general, the core microstructures are different at both the face and flank regions. This can be attributed to variation in
residual stress pattern from tensile to compressive corresponding from face to flank region. The core microstructure appears to be
partly tempered and hence not tough enough to absorb the loading conditions during gear operation leading to tensile residual
stresses, which can cause micro cracks to open up. There is little banding observed at the boundaries due to the stress effects and
marked by white arrows in Fig. 9a. The tempered martensite when at higher magnification clearly shows slip band like striations
features adjacent to the micro bands marked in Fig. 9a. However Figs. 9c & d shows that the microstructure of the core is tempered
martensite at flank region and hence enough toughness to absorb the loading conditions. Therefore the above cross-sectional mi-
crostructure analysis validates that the tip (face) region are deteriorated and become weaker as compared to root (flank) region of the
gear teeth. The above conditions of core (improper tempered microstructure) and gear misalignment are responsible for the mar-
tensite decay, DER formation and subsequent cracks formation on the faces of the gear teeth, which finally lead to its failure.
Fig. 10 (a) shows the schematic of carburised casing cross-section of sample A taken at face location as marked in Fig. 7. The
markings numbered as 1, 2 and 3 corresponds to schematic locations of Figs. 10 b–d respectively. Fig. 10b shows cross-section near to
case hardened surface with a micro pit (marked as circle) and further corrosion propagated through the thickened boundaries
(marked with arrows) and degraded the martensite microstructure. Fig. 10c showed the typical DER features at higher magnification
in the subsurface of case. Fig. 10d shows the stress induced effect in the form of alternating white and dark bands corresponding to
the fatigue alternate loading conditions at the interface between hardened case and softer core. The presence of DER indicates the
rolling contact fatigue was predominant mechanism of degradation that caused micro pitting leading to spalling degradation and
subsequent failure.
The surface analysis of the failed gear surface was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fig. 11(a–c) corresponds
to increasing magnification of failed surface, which shows the sliding wear marks and damages in the form of oxides or pits due to
corrosion. At lower magnification, the mating surface of the gear showed very sharp sliding wear tracks (Fig. 11a). At a higher
magnification (3000×), several pit networks were observed along with the sliding wear track (Fig. 11b). Fig. 11(c) shows brittle
oxides with crack in the pit locations, that can connect along the pit network to form continuous crack, thus causing damage and
exfoliation loss of mating surface. The spalling fragments get detached from the wear surface as a net result of compressive loads,
which give rise to combined rolling and sliding loads between the gear surface contacts with each other. It is worth noting that the
pinion invariably degrades at a faster rate than the ring gear because of its size and magnitude of speed of rotation.
Table 3 shows the energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) micro-analysis results of regions marked in Fig. 11(c) corresponds to

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Fig. 11. SEM micrographs of failed pinion gear mating surface: (a) sliding wear marks. (b) Pitting near wear tracks. (c) Cracking of oxide at pits
along the wear tracks. (d) Oxide scale spalling.

Table 3
X-ray EDS analysis results of region 1 & 2 (Fig. 11 c) and region 3 & 4 (Fig. 11 d).
Element, Wt%. Region 1 Region 2 Region 3 Region 4

C 07.42 3.79 6.06 6.72

O 25.01 23.17 34.09
Al 01.36 2.68 0.5
Si 01.35 1.18
S 01.60 0.83
Cr 05.77 4.01
Fe 57.50 93.53 63.14 59.19
Cl 1.08

chromium oxide and higher carbon content of the pit at region 1 and the surface with lower carbon content being worn off at region
2. There is clear indication of varied carbon percentage regions. Region 1 is rich in C percentage (rich in Fe3C phase) compared to
region 2, which is clear indication of gear surface gets chipped off at different depths from the surface (i.e. at sub surface) based on
the magnitude of stress concentration developed at different regions. Usually chromium in the steel acts as corrosion resistance
element by forming chromium oxide film on the surface. From Fig. 11(d), it is observed that chromium oxide protective scale was
broken and leading to further iron oxidation on the surface. Hence more chromium oxide in the exposed subsurface (region 3) and
only iron oxide on the surface (region 4) [Table 3]. The excessive stresses on the surface due to misalignment could cause cracking of
the protective chromium oxide scale leading to iron oxide formation and thus damage to the pinion gear.

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4. Conclusions

The presence of large compressive residual stress were observed in flank region at dedendum of the gear teeth surface and tensile
residual stresses were present in face region at addendum of the gear teeth surface. The microstructure analysis showed martensite
decay, evidenced from the presence of dark etched region (DER) in the subsurface and pitting on the surface with coarser carbide
distribution in case of face region were believed to be responsible for initiation of surface crack by rolling sliding contact fatigue
(RSCF). The difference in the core microstructure between the face and flank regions correlates with the observed difference in
hardness values due to different tempering condition. The crack openings, worn out tracks and chipped off regions along the rolling
direction clearly indicates that the gear would have exposed to excessive loading conditions due to displacement, resulted in gen-
eration of more compressive stresses on the surface at root and tensile stresses on the surface at tip. Hence the failure of the gear is
mainly due to rolling sliding contact fatigue caused by both undesirable core microstructure and undesirable alternating stress
conditions produced on gear teeth surface, which might have occurred due to misalignment or lubrication failure and other un-
foreseen circumstances.

Acknowledgement

The authors express their sincere thanks to Director, CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur, for his encouragement
and permission to publish this work.

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