Effect of transformation plasticity on gear distortion and residual stresses in carburizing quenching simulation

Abstract

This paper addresses the effect of gear steel on distortion and residual stresses due to phase transformation in carburizing and quenching. In particular, the martensitic and bainitic phase transformation expansion and transformation plasticity properties of two automotive gearbox steels (20CrMnTiH and 20MnCr5) and their physical parameters are measured by experiments of transformation plasticity properties. Numerical simulations of the actual carburizing and quenching process of the gearbox spline helical gears were carried out in combination with the thermal and mechanical properties with temperature variations calculated by the material design software JMATPro. In particular, the phase transformation properties of the two materials and their influence on the distortion and residual stresses after carburizing and quenching were verified by experiments of transformation plasticity and numerical simulations. A reliable basis is provided for predicting the distortion mechanism of gear steels in carburizing and quenching.