Effect of Carbon Partition and Precipitation on Wear Resistance of Carburized Layer in Heavy-Duty Gear

The carburizing–quenching–tempering process is generally conducted on heavy-duty gear in order to obtain favorable comprehensive mechanical performance. Different mechanical properties could be produced by carbon partition and precipitation. In this study, the carburizing–quenching–tempering process was carried out on low-carbon alloy steel in order to investigate the influence of microstructure evolution and precipitate transition on mechanical behavior and wear resistance under different carburizing/tempering durations. Favorable comprehensive mechanical property and wear resistance could be obtained in favor of long durations of carburizing/tempering. A fatigue-wear model was proposed to describe fatigue crack evolution and damage mechanism on the basis of wear features.