Heat Treating Gears Improves Surface Durability

A common question asked of gear manufacturers by their potential customer is, “Is this gear strong enough for my application?” Without qualifiers, this question is ambiguous at best. The world record for deadlift is 536 kilograms (1,181 pounds). Does this make the record holder strong enough? Could he hold this weight for 10 minutes? How about for an hour? A gear needs to be able to withstand the applied torque of the desired service life of the gear. As such, the bending strength AND the surface durability need to be considered in order to answer the heretofore mentioned strength question.