Residual stresses in gear form grinding by considering carburizing heat treatment: multi-field coupled numerical simulation and experimental verification

The residual stresses of the grinding surface exert a significant effect on the strength, fatigue life and corrosion resistance of gears. To investigate the variations and distributions of grinding-induced residual stresses, a novel multi-physics coupling numerical simulation model in gear form grinding was developed. Compared with traditional calculation models, the effects of the heat treatment process on the residual stresses after gear grinding were taken into account. By analyzing the interaction of temperature, microstructure, and stress/strain fields during heat treatment, a finite element model of gear heat treatment, including carburizing, quenching, and tempering processes, was initially developed. The strains caused by phase transformation, transformation plasticity, and thermal expansion/contraction were acquired using this model. Additionally, based on the initial residual stress distribution after heat treatment, geometry contact relation during grinding, heat distribution ratio in the grinding zone, and thermo-elastoplastic constitutive model, a continuous simulation model was established to obtain the temperature and residual stress distribution during gear form grinding. The prediction accuracy for the grinding temperature and residual stresses was verified with the measurement data.