Evolution of white etching bands in 100Cr6 bearing steel under rolling contact-fatigue
Evolution of white etching bands in 100Cr6 bearing steel under rolling contact-fatigue
The formation of white etching bands (WEBs) occurs at the subsurface of rolling contact-fatigued bearing inner rings, exhibiting microstructural decay detrimental to bearing life. Despite the fact that WEBs have been observed in bearing steels for nearly 70 years, the understanding of WEB formation is still limited and mostly qualitative. Therefore, a systematic investigation is carried out in this research to reveal the evolution of WEBs with respect to the number of contact cycles. WEBs formed at different stages are reproduced by full-scale bearing RCF tests with predetermined numbers of cycles. Multi-scale characterisation techniques such as optical microscopy, micro-indentation, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy are conducted on the microstructural alterations to study the development and microstructure of WEBs. WEBs are found in the absence of dark etching regions which is attributed to the heat treatment. With an increasing number of cycles, WEBs grow in number density and in all three dimensions, and their formation is found to be controlled by the maximum shear stress component. Ferrite bands within WEBs that contain dislocation cells manifest accumulated plastic strain in the material. Based on the characterisation results, the evolution of plastic strain under RCF is quantified.
Bearing steels, Dislocation density estimation, Lenticular carbides, Martensite decay, Microstructural alterations, Rolling contact-fatigue, White etching bands
Fu, Hanwei
5bfa8370-2f21-436c-8c78-ce414d925d94
Rivera-Díaz-Del-castillo, Pedro E.J.
6e0abc1c-2aee-4a18-badc-bac28e7831e2
27 April 2019
Fu, Hanwei
5bfa8370-2f21-436c-8c78-ce414d925d94
Rivera-Díaz-Del-castillo, Pedro E.J.
6e0abc1c-2aee-4a18-badc-bac28e7831e2
Fu, Hanwei and Rivera-Díaz-Del-castillo, Pedro E.J.
(2019)
Evolution of white etching bands in 100Cr6 bearing steel under rolling contact-fatigue.
Metals, 9 (5), [491].
(doi:10.3390/met9050491).
Abstract
The formation of white etching bands (WEBs) occurs at the subsurface of rolling contact-fatigued bearing inner rings, exhibiting microstructural decay detrimental to bearing life. Despite the fact that WEBs have been observed in bearing steels for nearly 70 years, the understanding of WEB formation is still limited and mostly qualitative. Therefore, a systematic investigation is carried out in this research to reveal the evolution of WEBs with respect to the number of contact cycles. WEBs formed at different stages are reproduced by full-scale bearing RCF tests with predetermined numbers of cycles. Multi-scale characterisation techniques such as optical microscopy, micro-indentation, scanning and transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy are conducted on the microstructural alterations to study the development and microstructure of WEBs. WEBs are found in the absence of dark etching regions which is attributed to the heat treatment. With an increasing number of cycles, WEBs grow in number density and in all three dimensions, and their formation is found to be controlled by the maximum shear stress component. Ferrite bands within WEBs that contain dislocation cells manifest accumulated plastic strain in the material. Based on the characterisation results, the evolution of plastic strain under RCF is quantified.
Text
metals-09-00491-v2
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Accepted/In Press date: 23 April 2019
Published date: 27 April 2019
Keywords:
Bearing steels, Dislocation density estimation, Lenticular carbides, Martensite decay, Microstructural alterations, Rolling contact-fatigue, White etching bands
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 492261
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/492261
ISSN: 2075-4701
PURE UUID: 84d56610-14f3-42d1-932a-068ce6d6fe2f
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Date deposited: 23 Jul 2024 16:40
Last modified: 24 Jul 2024 02:07
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Author:
Hanwei Fu
Author:
Pedro E.J. Rivera-Díaz-Del-castillo
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