Grant: Engage Grants Program

Pierre-Paul Beaulieu Equipment inc. is a company located in Bic (Quebec) and is specialized in the manufacture of motorized equipment such as snow blowers and peat harvesting equipment. Among the issues that the company has noted in recent years, the premature wear of bushings and grooves in low-alloy steels. Indeed, wear is a complex set of phenomena, leading to debris emission with loss of mass, ribs, shape, and accompanied by physical and chemical changes in surfaces. In addition, it does not generally vary in a progressive manner according to parameters such as speed, temperature or time. To remedy wear problems, it is necessary to rethink the choice of materials, review the design of mechanical components or resort to heat treatment processes to harden parts. Knowing that the design criterion can not be approached knowing that the part fulfills a very specific functionality, it is necessary to explore the materials and their heat treatment by opting for surface treatments using the laser process. It will be relevant to test several materials and retain those that offer technological and economic benefits. The main goal of this project is to conduct an experimental study to optimize the hardening of bushings and grooves in low-alloy steels for heavy industrial machinery. The first objective is to conduct a comprehensive study to identify the phenomena involved and the level of stresses and deformations generated during operation. The second objective is to propose a systematic study to detect the effects of the laser process parameters on the performances and to converge towards an optimal hardness profile by developing an adequate strategy. The third objective is to confirm the repeatability of the performances obtained by running a pre-series of tests.