ormalizing
treatment will produce a finished part which is of equal quality to
that of the quenched and annealed forgings. However, in the case of
complex forgings, or those of large section, more uniform physical
properties of the finished part will be obtained by quenching and
annealing the forgings in the place of normalizing.

The heat treatment of the finished gears consisted of quenching
in oil from a temperature of from 1,420 to 1,440 deg.F. for the No.
X-3,340 steel, or from a temperature of from 1,500 to 1,540 deg.F.
for No. 6,140 steel, followed by tempering in saltpeter or in an
electric furnace at a temperature of from 650 to 700 deg.F.

The question has been asked by many engineers, why is the comparatively
low scleroscope hardness specified for gears? The reason for this is
that at best the life of an aviation engine is short, as compared with
that of an automobile, truck or tractor, and that shock resistance
is of vital importance. A sclerescope hardness of from 55 to 65
will give sufficient resistance to wear to prevent replacements
during the life of an aviation engine, while at the same time this
hardness produces approximately 50 per cent greater shock-resisting
properties to the gear. In the case of the automobile, truck or
tractor, resistance to wear is the main criterion and for that
reason the higher hardness is specified.

Great care should be taken in the design of an aviation engine
gear to eliminate sharp corners at the bottom of teeth as well
as in keyways. Any change of section in any stressed part of an
aviation engine must have a radius of at least 1/32 in. to give
proper shock and fatigue resistance. This fact has been demonstrated
many times during the Liberty engine program.

CONNECTING RODS

The material used for all connecting rods on the Liberty engine
was selected at the option of the manufacturer from one of two
standard S. A. E. steels, the composition of which are given in
Table 13.

TABLE 13.--COMPOSITION OF STEELS NOS. X-3,335 AND 6,135

Steel No. X-3,335 6,135
Carbon, minimum 0.300 0.300
Carbon, maximum 0.400 0.400
Manganese, minimum 0.450 0.500
Manganese, maximum 0.750 0.800
Phosphorus, maximum 0.040 0.040
Sulphur, maximum 0.045 0.045
Nickel, minimum 2.750
Nickel, maximum 3.250
Chromium, minimum 0.700 0.800
Chromium, maximum 0.950 1.100
Vanadium minimum