Effect of Superfinishing on Scuffing Resistance

A fundamental understanding of gear scuffing has been promoted for a number of years by the use of twin disc scuffing rigs. Quantities of interest such as friction and bulk temperature are more easily and less expensively measured than performing actual gear testing. This paper discusses the scuffing test data performed on specimens superfinished using chemically accelerated vibratory finishing. One set of samples was superfinished using a high density non-abrasive ceramic media, while another set of samples was superfinished using a non-abrasive plastic media. This data is compared to other specimens with different surface finishes tested under identical conditions.