Samputensili at the Wear of Materials Conference 2019

During the Wear of Materials 2019 International Conference in Miami, FL, Samputensili Cutting Tools, together with the German RWTH Aachen University, published a scientific article about “Development of an Application-Oriented Tool Life Equation for Dry Gear Finish Hobbing”.

The full paper can be read HERE.

This article deals with the analysis of tool wear behavior in gear finish hobbing. Gear finish hobbing is a fine machining method for gears before heat treatment. The most common fine machining process for gears in soft conditions is the well-known gear shaving process. But with the improving technologies in hobbing machines as well as the hobbing tools the use of gear finish hobbing increases significantly. Thereby gear finish hobbing offers the opportunity to realize pre- and finishing processing with one machine at one clamping by the use of one tool. Furthermore, a complete dry process chain can be implemented by the combined use of low pressure carburizing and gas quenching as heat treatment. On account of the above-mentioned economic and ecological advantages, the use of gear finish hobbing is increasingly considered by the manufacturers of gears.

Gear finish hobbing for high-performance gears is mostly divided into two cuts, roughing and finishing.

While roughing process follows the state of art hobbing processes, finishing with hobbing in the gear industry has still a gap of knowledge regarding speeds and feeds. The results of this scientific paper are the analysis of different cutting materials to perform the finish hobbing of gears. For these investigations, tools made out of high-speed-steel, carbide as well as Cermet and CBN were used.

Gear_Finish_Hobbing_4

The results of the wear behavior were summarized in a tool life model, which allows the gear manufacturer to choose the best speeds and feeds for their applications.

The collaboration between RWTH Aachen University and Samputensili offers the possibility to investigate the hobbing processes at the level of today`s state of art and beyond. The cutting trials have been performed at cutting speeds up to 1,500 m/min, to find further potentials above today`s process limits. Samputensili is proud to be part of the scientific environment in gear cutting. With this knowledge, we will be able to support our customers in today`s and tomorrow`s gear cutting applications.