Design, Development and Application of New, High-Performance Gear Steels
Abstract
QuesTek Innovations LLC is applying its Materials by Design computational design technology to develop a new class of high-strength, secondary hardening gear steels that are optimized for high-temperature, low-pressure (i.e., vacuum) carburization. The new alloys offer three different levels of case hardness (with the ability to "dial-in" hardness profiles, including exceptionally high case hardness), and their high core strength, toughness and other properties offer the potential to reduce drivetrain weight or increase power density relative to incumbent alloys such as AISI 9310 or Pyrowear Alloy 53. This new class of alloys utilizes an efficient nanoscale M2C carbide strengthening dispersion; their key benefits include: high fatigue resistance (in contact, bending and scoring); high hardenability achieved via low-pressure carburization (thus reducing quench distortion and associated manufacturing steps); a tempering temperature of 900 deg F or higher (providing up to a 500 deg F increase in thermal stability relative to incumbent alloys); and core tensile strengths in excess of 225 ksi. Ferrium C61 is one alloy in this family and is currently used in transaxle ring and pinions for SCORE 1600 class off-road racing cars as well as process equipment applications. C61 is also being examined in an Army SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) program as a potential replacement for 9310 in CH-47 Chinook helicopter main rotor mast applications, yielding a projected potential weight savings of 15-25%. Secondly, Ferrium C64 is being developed under a Navy STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) program aimed at rotorcraft gear transmission applications in order to reduce weight, improve fatigue performance and improve high-temperature operating capability relative to the incumbent alloy Pyrowear Alloy 53.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA575246
Entities
People
- C. P. Kern
- J. A. Wright
- J. T. Sebastian
- R. J. Kooy