Heat Treating Bearings & Gears
Get the most consistent, reliable heat treating services for bearings and gears when you partner with Paulo.
Start Your QuoteBest Practices for Heat Treating Bearings & Gears
Bearings and gears drive the mechanics of the vehicles and equipment that we rely on every day. Proper heat treatment ensures maximum part life and performance.
Controlled Austenitization
Ensuring that the proper microstructure results from heat treatment is critical to field performance for bearings and gears. Our automated precision furnace controls allow us to minimize retained austenite formation in our continuous belt and batch equipment.
Testing Specifications
We ensure proper hardness in your finished parts using Rockwell, Brinell, and microhardness testing. For case hardened bearings and gears, we often use the microhardness technique. We perform destructive testing on parts to verify total case depth. Our quality team can measure your parts at your desired spot in the part’s geometry to bring you peace of mind in your heat treating results.
Preventing Distortion
Gears and bearings often require tight tolerances to function in their applications. Some gears are often heat treated prior to being machined into their final shape. Your quench media and quench and cooling rates play a large role in preventing distortion. We apply precise controls to this (and every) step of your parts’ processes to yield in-shape parts that are ready for the next production step.
Case Depth
The desired case depth varies for bearings and gears depending on the application. Heavier applications, such as helical gears for agricultural equipment, require deep case carburizing because of the tremendous forces placed on the parts. Smaller parts run the risk of through casing without proper process control, where the resulting part is all case and no core. With our automated, precision process controls, we’re able to avoid through casing and deliver the precise case depth you need for your parts.
Types of Gears We Process
- Spur Gears
- Helical Gears
- Double Helical Gears
- Herringbone Gears
- Bevel Gears
- Worm Gears
- Hypoid Gears
Types of Bearings We Process
- Ball Bearings
- Tapered Roller Bearings
- Ball Thrust Bearings
- Roller Thrust Bearings
- 52100 Bearings
Carburizing
Carburizing is a case hardening method that enhances wear resistance for bearings and gears. By creating a hard external case and preserving a softer, more ductile core, case hardened parts are able to withstand friction in their applications without cracking.Â
A common concern with case hardening smaller parts is avoiding through casing. Through casing means that the part has been overcased so that no ductile core remains in the center. We avoid this error with precise control over the carbon content of the atmosphere during processing, which we determine using proprietary models developed over decades of research.
We measure case depth differently depending on whether your specifications call for effective or total case depth. Safety-critcal gears for automotive and aerospace typically specify effective case depth, whereas total case depth is specified when a ductile core is desired, but the requirements of the application are less stringent.
Through Hardening
Through hardening is often specified for bearings that require both high strength and wear resistance, such as 52100 bearings. Through hardening (also known as neutral hardening) produces uniform hardness throughout the part. After quenching, through hardened parts are tempered to reduce brittleness and enhance ductility.
Carburizing
Carburizing is a case hardening method that enhances wear resistance for bearings and gears. By creating a hard external case and preserving a softer, more ductile core, case hardened parts are able to withstand friction in their applications without cracking.Â
A common concern with case hardening smaller parts is avoiding through casing. Through casing means that the part has been overcased so that no ductile core remains in the center. We avoid this error with precise control over the carbon content of the atmosphere during processing, which we determine using proprietary models developed over decades of research.
We measure case depth differently depending on whether your specifications call for effective or total case depth. Safety-critcal gears for automotive and aerospace typically specify effective case depth, whereas total case depth is specified when a ductile core is desired, but the requirements of the application are less stringent.
Through Hardening
Through hardening is often specified for bearings that require both high strength and wear resistance, such as 52100 bearings. Through hardening (also known as neutral hardening) produces uniform hardness throughout the part. After quenching, through hardened parts are tempered to reduce brittleness and enhance ductility.
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