Drivetrain Failure Analyses: An Investigation from Materials, Surface, and Lubrication Perspectives (Funding Agency: Deere and Company, Research Collaborators: Argonne National Laboratory, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany)

Micropitting of gears and bearings under high load and low speed (low lambda / thin film lubrication) is an area where several industries face perennial issues, causing customer downtime, increased warranty, and extra testing and development costs. In addition, a reliable method to predict the occurrence of micropitting does not exist; therefore, working on this issue will provide a competitive technical advantage. Additive manufacturing-based novel hard-facing alloys will be deposited on conventional gear materials followed by characterization, testing and modelling approaches will be pursued to enhance reliability of drivetrain components.