Evolution of tooth flank roughness during gear micropitting tests

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to get a better understanding of roughness evolution and micropitting initiation on the tooth flank, as well as the evolution of surface topography during the test load stages in a modified DGMK short micropitting test procedure. Design/methodology/approach A modified DGMK short micropitting test procedure was performed, using an increased number of surface observations (three times more) in order to understand the evolution of the surface during each load stage performed. Each of these surface observations consists in the evaluation of surface roughness, surface topography, visual inspection and also weigh measurements as well as lubricant analysis. Findings This work showed that the larger modifications on surface took place in the beginning of tests, especially during load stage K3 (lowest load, considered as running‐in) and on the first period of load stage K6, that is, during the first 200,000 cycles of the test. The 3D roughness parameters (St and Sv), obtained from the surface topographies, gave a more precise indication about surface roughness evolution and micropitting generation than the 2D parameters, especially in what concerns to inferring the depth of micropits and the reduction of roughness. Tooth flank topography allows to identify local changes on the surface and the appearance of first micropits. Research limitations/implications This work was performed with gears holding a high surface roughness and with a ester‐based lubricant. It was interesting to see the differences observed for surface evolution, for other base oils and also for gears with lower roughness. Practical implications The main implication of this work is the understanding that major changes in the surface took place in the first cycles, indicating that the running‐in procedure could be very important for the surface fatigue life. This work also showed that micropitting depends on local contact conditions. Depending on the roughness of the counter surface, micropitting can appear on the bottom of the deep valleys and/or do not appear on the tip of the roughness peaks. The surface topography, and implicitly 3D roughness parameters, is very useful for the observation of surface evolution. Originality/value This paper shows in detail the evolution of the tooth surface during a micropitting test. The micropits generation and evolution and also surface wear evolution are presented.