Experimental Investigation of Gear Scuffing for Various Tooth Surface Treatments

To explore the influence of surface quality on gear scuffing performance, an experimental investigation is performed on gears treated with different surface techniques using an FZG-type test rig. Scuffing loading capacity and detailed failure modes of gears with different surface technologies are discussed. Results reveal that the scuffing limiting temperature of the baseline ground gear under 50% surviving probability is 228.8 °C. The diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating greatly enhances gear scuffing performance, and the scuffing limiting temperature increases by 17.3% compared with the ground baseline. Under 99% surviving probability, the scuffing limiting temperature differences between ground, shot-peened, and superfinished gears are within 1.2%. This experimental investigation provides support for antiscuffing design of modern high-speed gear transmissions.