Evaluation of Advanced Gear Forging Techniques

Recent advances in forging techniques make possible the fabrication of aircraft-quality gears with improved bending fatigue strength. This paper presents the results of several recent test programs sponsored by the U. S. Army Aviation Materiel Laboratories (U. S. AVLABS) to evaluate the comparative fatigue strength of gears with integrally-forged teeth and gears made from conventional pancake forgings with cut and ground teeth. Included in this presentation are single-tooth fatigue test data on spur gears manufactured by several high-energy forging techniques and gears made from conventional pancake forgings.