One of the most common failure mechanism of highly stressed case carburized gears is micropitting (gray
staining). [1 ],[2],[3] The standard FZG gear test (FVA Work Sheet 54) is generally used to determine the
micropitting load capacity of gear lubricants. In recent years, FZG gear testing has also demonstrated its
usefulness for evaluating the effect of superfinishing on increasing the micropitting load capacity of gears.
Such studies, however, can onlybeafforded bymajorcorporationsorresearch consortiumswherebythedata
is typically kept confidential. Results from the Technical University of Munich were previously presented in
Part 1 of this paper.[4] Part II will present the results of Ruhr University Bochum. Both research groups
concluded that superfinishing is one of the most powerful technologies for significantly increasing the load
carrying capacity of gear flanks.