Study on rolling contact fatigue life of aviation gear steel based on modified LP theory

ObjectiveContact fatigue failure is the primary failure mode for gears operating under extreme conditions such as high speed, heavy duty, and high temperature. It has become a significant technical bottleneck limiting the development of aviation equipment toward higher reliability, longer life, and higher power density. Predicting contact fatigue life is now a critical focus of both engineering and academic research. The quantitative prediction research of gear contact fatigue life was carried out.MethodsFirstly, over 400 rolling contact fatigue specimens made from 9310 aviation gear steel were prepared and subjected to more than 5 000 hours of fatigue testing. The investigation examined the effects of service conditions, such as contact stress and slip rate, as well as surface integrity states created by over ten processes including carburizing grinding, shot peening, fine particle peening, and rolling finishing, on rolling contact fatigue life. Secondly, the Lundberg-Palmgren （LP） theory was modified using multiple linear regression methods, resulting in an LP rolling contact fatigue life prediction formula based on service conditions and surface integrity parameters.ResultsIt is found that increasing the slip rate from 10% to 30% reduces the fatigue life at a contact stress of 3 000 MPa by 52.6%, from 2.28×10⁶ r to 1.08×10⁶ r. Additionally, when the contact stress is 3 000 MPa and the slip rate is 20%, dual shot peening significantly improves fatigue life, increasing it by 113.8% from 1.52×10⁶ r in the carburizing grinding state to 3.25×10⁶ r. The derived LP contact fatigue life prediction formula, considering service conditions and surface integrity, demonstrates an error margin within twice dispersion band, thus meeting engineering application requirements.