• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.137-143
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• 2000

An automobile clutch diaphragm spring is operating in a closed clutch housing under high temperature and subject to high stress concentration in driving condition, which frequently causes cracks and fracture. The material of spring is required to possess sufficient fatigue strength and tenacity, which depend largely on the condition of tempering heat treatment. In this paper, specimens are made under a number of different tempering temperatures md tested to find the optimal tempering heat treatment condition. The experiments include the verification of microscopic structure, hardness, tensile strength, fatigue crack growth rate, stress intensity factor range and residual stress. Also, decarbonization, which occurs in actual heat treatment process, is measured and allowable decarbonization depth is studied by durability test.