Applying and Specifying Metallurgical Engineering during the Production of Heavy Truck Axles

"The American Trucking Associations reports that in 2012, trucks moved 9.4 billion tons of freight, or about 68.5 percent of all freight tonnage transported domestically."  "Spending in the U.S. logistics and transportation industry totaled $1.33 trillion in 2012, and represented 8.5 percent of annual gross domestic product (GDP)."  Truck axles for decades have been made from induction plain carbon hardened steel with around 0.4% percent carbon.   Associated metallurgical engineering of material procurement and forging processing also impacts axle production and performance.  A review of metallurgical principles and controls currently applied to heavy truck axle production will be presented and discussed, focusing on peer review and acceptance of these principles and controls as deployed, plus engineering value optimization.  Case depth, surface hardness, microstructure, grain size, chemical compositional interactions, procurement, processing, characterizations and achievements are to be discussed.