An Investigation of Case Core Separation in Carburized Steel Gears

This document presents a description of the mechanism that drives case core separations to occur in the gear teeth of carburized steel gears.  A case study of known case core separations is presented.  Contributing factors for crack initiation are identified and discussed.  Nondestructive testing techniques for identifying case core separations and corrective measures to limit the probability of case core initiation are also addressed herein.