A New Statistical Model of Contact Fatigue

A detailed derivation of a new statistical model of contact fatigue life followed by its qualitative and quantitative analysis are presented. The model is based on contact and fracture mechanics and statistical treatment of the initial distribution of material defect. The model assumptions and their validation as well as the model properties are discussed. A parametric study of the model is performed. A generalization of the model for the case of stochastic residual stress or other contact parameters is proposed. Some analytical formulas for calculation of contact fatigue are proposed and analyzed. The validation of the model and its applicability to calculation of bearing fatigue life and some particular data are considered. A reflection of the quality of bearing manufacturing process on the contact fatigue model is discussed.     

A Critique of Rolling Contact Fatigue Criteria for Bearing Rings with Hoop Stresses

Tensile residual and interference fit stresses not treated in classical bearing formulations are known to reduce bearing rolling contact fatigue (RCF) life. Recent modifications of such theory to account for these stresses have simply included them in the computation of a single yield stress type criterion—either maximum shear or equivalent stress. An alternative modification is proposed and demonstrated for fatigue crack initiation that recognizes the primary influence of the maximum range of shear stress but includes the effect of normal stress on the critical planes, as in other successful bulk fatigue criteria for multiaxial nonproportional stress cycle fatigue.     

Study on Rolling Contact Fatigue in Hydrogen Environment at a Contact Pressure below Basic Static Load Capacity

A method to determine the shoulder height in an angular contact ball bearing using a 3D contact analysis is proposed. The load analysis was performed by calculating the distributions of internal loads and contact angles for each rolling element. From the results of the bearing load analysis and the contact geometry between the ball and raceways, 3D contact analyses using an influence function were conducted. The algorithm developed was applied to an angular contact ball bearing for an automotive wheel. The effects of axial load on contact pressure at the inner and outer raceways were evaluated and the critical axial loads in the present shoulder height were calculated. The critical shoulder heights were also determined when the bearing was subjected to a practical load for a steel ball bearing. The proposed methodology is generally applicable for the purpose of reducing the material cost and improving the efficiency of the bearing design process.     

An Improved Approach for 3D Rolling Contact Fatigue Simulations with Microstructure Topology

Several 2D and 3D numerical models have been developed to investigate rolling contact fatigue (RCF) by employing a continuum damage mechanics approach coupled with an explicit representation of microstructure topology. However, the previous 3D models require significant computational effort compared to 2D models. This work presents a new approach wherein efficient computational strategies are implemented to accelerate the 3D RCF simulation. In order to reduce computational time, only the volume that is critically stressed during a rolling pass is modeled with an explicit representation of microstructure topology. Furthermore, discontinuities in the subsurface stress calculation in the previously developed models for line and circular contact loading are removed. Additionally, by incorporating a new integration algorithm for damage growth, the fatigue damage simulations under line contact are accelerated by a factor of nearly 13. The variation in fatigue lives and progression of simulated fatigue spalling under line contact obtained using the new model were similar to the previous model predictions and consistent with empirical observations. The model was then extended to incorporate elastic–plastic material behavior and used to investigate the effect of material plasticity on subsurface stress distribution and shear stress–strain behavior during repeated rolling Hertzian line contact. It is demonstrated that the computational improvements for reduced solution time and enhanced accuracy are indispensable in order to conduct investigations on the effects of advanced material behavior on RCF, such as plasticity.     

A New Form of Rolling Contact Damage in Grease-Lubricated,Deep-Groove Ball Bearings

A new form of rolling contact damage was discovered in the fatigue tests of series 6206 deep groove ball bearings under pure radial load with grease lubrication. The appearance of the damage reveals a few cracks at right angles to the rolling direction of the ball, along with the formation of a dent about 20 μ m deep in the raceway surface. This is found to occur only on the stationary outer ring raceway and the ball surface and is distributed widely within the load zone. Furthermore, under the raceway surface several cracks propagating into the substrate at an angle of about 60-80 degrees relative to the raceway surface are observed not only under the damage site but also in other nearby locations. Only the cracks at the damage position open up to the surface. The grease used for the test contained a lithium complex thickener with mineral oil as the base oil with a kinematic viscosity of 141 mm²/s at 40°C. On the test bearings two pure radial load levels of 9.14 and 12.13 kN were applied. In order to prevent the occurrence of seizure at each load, the speed of the inner ring of the test bearing was maintained at 1800-2500 min^{? 1} and 600-800 min^{? 1}, respectively, to keep the outer ring circumference temperature below 65°C. It is suggested that the damage is caused by metal-to-metal contacts due to lubricant starvation under grease lubrication and to a decrease in oil film thickness due to local increases in temperature.     

润滑油添加剂对轴承钢球滚动接触疲劳寿命的影响

利用自制的球—棒疲劳试验机研究了4种添加剂对GCrl5钢球接触疲劳性能的影响,并借助于扫描电镜分析了不同添加剂对钢球接触疲劳的作用机理。结果表明,4种添加剂都不同程度地提高了GCrl5钢球的接触疲劳寿命,其中以含磷的极压添加剂T305和含有活性基团的降凝剂仍旧效果为佳。     

Fabrication and Wear Test of a Continuous Fiber/Particulate Composite Total Surface Hip Replacement

Continuous fiber woven E-glass/epoxy composite femoral shells having the same elastic properties as bone have been fabricated. These shells were coated with filled epoxy wear-resistant coatings consisting of 1 to 64 micron particles of: Al₂O₃, Al₂O₃ + Cu, and 18–8 stainless steel + Al₂O₃ in an epoxy matrix. The resulting femoral shells were wear tested dry against ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) acetabular cups for up to 250 000 cycles on a total hip simulator. The best femoral shell tested was the one containing particles of 18–8 stainless steel + Al₂O₃ in an epoxy base. Articulation of this shell dry against UHMWPE for 250 000 cycles resulted in a friction force that was about 10 percent lower than that of the current total hip prosthesis; that is, a vitallium ball articulating dry with an UHMWPE cup. An UHMWPE acetabular cup when articulating with a vitallium ball showed a weight loss of 0.0004 gram, while an UHMWPE cup when articulating with the 18–8 stainless steel + Al₂O₃ epoxy shell in the 250 000 cycle wear test showed a 0.0058 gram weight loss. Addition of graphite fibers to the UHMWPE acetabular cup and articulation with the 18–8 stainless steel + Al₂O₃ epoxy shell increased the friction force but reduced the surface damage to the UHMWPE. When femoral shells containing Al₂O₃ + Cu particles in an expoxy matrix were run dry against UHMWPE for 42 000 cycles, the friction force was continually increasing and there was evidence of more surface damage to the UHMWPE cup than when the shell contained particles of 18–8 stainless steel + Al₂O₃.     

Influence of Initial Residual Stress on Material Properties of Bearing Steel During Rolling Contact Fatigue

Rolling contact fatigue (RCF) experiments were performed on AISI M50 bearing balls using a single ball test rig to investigate the evolution of the material properties within the RCF-affected subsurface region. Using a combination of micro-indentation and miniature compression testing methods, the influence of contact stress, initial residual stresses, and the number of contact cycles on the resulting evolution of material properties was investigated. It was found that the balls with initial residual compressive stresses show less change in material properties after RCF loading than the balls without such initial residual stresses. The formation of a light etching region (LER) is shown to not correlate with a decrease in material strength and hardness, but it does serve as a predictor for failure due to spall.     

A Study on Incipient Damage Monitoring in Rolling Contact Fatigue Process Using Acoustic Emission

Acoustic emissions (AE) technique was applied to rolling contact fatigue tests of two radially loaded rollers running under constant load and velocity to detect the incipient damage and damage location. Signals detected from contacts were processed using signal conditioning and enhancement techniques by an AE source locator to bring out the difference between the signals from the sound and damaged rollers. It was found that AE hit count pulse observations by the AE source locator can provide an indication of the damage at its initial stage. The conventional AE parameters and the AE signal features were studied and correlated with the AE source locator counts. The results demonstrated the successful use of the combination of the AE monitoring and the AE source locator as a new technique for detecting the incipient damage and forecasting the position of the damage in the roller, and this technique could allow the user to monitor the rate of deterioration of the rolling elements.     

A Theoretical Study of Residual Stress Effects on Fatigue Life Prediction

Recently, the trend has been toward the use of the full subsurface stress field in rolling element bearing fatigue life prediction (stress field-based life models). By using the stress field-based bearing life models, more accurate assessments of such things as fitting practice and thermal treatments on the bearing performance are achieved. However, one aspect missing in most models has been the consideration of the changing residual stress during operation of the bearing. This study was conducted to investigate the time dependent residual stress on contact fatigue life predictions.

This study concluded that the changes in residual stress during operation were most likely a fatigue reaction of the material to the pre-fatigue residual stress and cyclic contact stress fields. The materials fatigue response changes the instantaneous values of the material constants in most stress field-based life equations, thus making them in-calculable. As such, the pre-fatigue residual stress field should be used in the stress field-based models.     

Effect of Lubricant Degradation on Contact Fatigue

It is well known that contact fatigue is affected by contact pressure, frictional stress, residual stress, initial distribution of material flaws, and so on. The behavior of contact pressure and, primarily, the frictional stress is determined by the viscous properties of the lubricant used. It is also recognized that lubricants degrade while passing through lubricated contacts. Degradation of lubricants causes viscosity loss that, in turn, reduces the frictional stress and raises contact fatigue life. The objective of this study was to find out the extent to which lubricant degradation may change contact fatigue life of elastic surfaces completely separated by lubricant. The analysis was performed numerically based on the models of contact fatigue and lubricant degradation recently developed by the author. The results showed that contact fatigue life of solids completely separated by lubricants with the same ambient viscosity may vary significantly due to the specific way lubricants are formulated. In particular, contact fatigue life is strongly affected by the initial molecular weight distribution of the polymeric additive (viscosity improver) in the lubricant and contact operating conditions, which in some cases promote fast lubricant degradation caused by high lubricant shearing stresses.     

Experimental Study of Cyclic Rolling-Contact Fatigue of Silicon Nitride Balls

A newly developed pure-rolling fatigue test rig with three contact points for bearing balls was used to perform rolling-contact fatigue (RCF) tests. The fatigue properties of GCr ₁₅ steel balls and two kinds of Si ₃ N ₄ ceramic balls (GSN-200 and NBD-200) produced with different technologies were compared. Life test data, summarized in accordance with the Weibull theory, showed that the life of the GSN-200 balls was close to that of the GCr ₁₅ balls, whereas the life of the NBD-200 balls was much longer than those of GSN-200 and GCr ₁₅ . Under the same working condition, the temperature rise of all the ceramic balls was lower than that of the steel balls. Ball surfaces were examined after failure with optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. It was identified by test that the failure mode of ceramic balls was surface spall. The research shows that subsurface cracks play a dominant role in spalling failure. These cracks originated from volume defects of the material and propagate to form elliptical fatigue spalls.     

滚动轴承疲劳失效过程的分析与研究

本文应用铁道技术以辅以ＳＥＭ、ＥＤＡＸ，表面轮廓仪等分析仪器，对滚动轴承在疲劳寿命试验中的润滑状态，磨损过程及疲劳失效机理进行了探讨。并讨论了铁普技术应用於滚动轴承的工作状态监测及故障诊断方面的可靠性及可靠性。     

典型构件疲劳微裂纹全寿命预测方法研究

基于损伤力学理论建立金属疲劳裂纹损伤模型,结合有限元法预估疲劳微裂纹萌生及扩展全寿命。引入附加载荷法,实现了对刚度矩阵的连续计算,应用Matlab编程计算,通过对单个单元的损伤计算,得到了单元从无损到破坏过程中等效应力的变化,进而给出疲劳裂纹损伤模型,并对不同规格金属试件的疲劳寿命预估。将计算结果与试验结果进行对比,得到的相对误差在接受范围内,验证了该模型的准确性,对于研究金属试件微观损伤以及疲劳寿命预估具有重要的参考意义。     

Magnetooptical Analysis of the Subsurface Region in a Bearing Ring Subjected to Rolling Contact Fatigue

It has been known for decades that high contact load in bearings leads to fatigue alterations of subsurface material, which can be optically visualized on etched samples. In the literature, these alterations are termed dark etching regions and white etching bands, due to their peculiar patterns and contrast. In the current work, it is proposed to study these alterations by the magnetooptical Kerr effect, expecting that the material changes associated with rolling contact fatigue also affect the magnetic properties of bearing steel. The advantage of this method is that it has good spatial resolution, allowing recording of magnetic properties on microscopic scales. Samples containing dark etching regions and white etching bands were compared in the magnetooptical test with the reference sample containing no optically visible changes. It was found that the coercive force of material reduces as result of microstructural changes caused by rolling contact fatigue.     

Numerical Investigation on the Effects of Machining-Induced White Layer during Rolling Contact

It is well known that a thin phase-transformed white layer can be formed on component surfaces produced by hard machining. However, it is not clear as to how the white layer affects component performance, for example, in rolling contact fatigue. This study aims to determine the effects of white layer and associated residual stress on rolling contact stresses and strains. It is nearly impossible for an experimental study to identify the effects of white layer alone on rolling contact. Furthermore, small-scale contact stresses and strains (less than 30 μm) of the phase-transformed region are difficult to measure using the current experimental techniques. Therefore, a finite element analysis simulation model of rolling contact incorporating machining-induced surface integrity has been developed in this study. Three cases were investigated to decouple the effects of surface integrity factors: surface with white layer only, surface with residual stress only, and surface with white layer and residual stress. The simulation results show that distinct material properties of the white layer significantly influence the magnitudes and distributions of near-surface stresses and strains instead of those in the subsurface. Furthermore, it can be inferred that the white layer would affect near-surface fatigue damage instead of subsurface fatigue damage. The simulated near-surface fatigue damage mechanisms have been substantiated by the fatigue test data.     

Crack Propagation of Rolling Contact Fatigue in Ball Bearing Steel Due to Tensile Strain

Crack propagations or failure modes in rolling element bearings, which had been difficult to explain via conventional crack propagation mechanisms such as the orthogonal shear stress mechanism, were discussed from the viewpoint of a tensile strain mechanism. Contact stresses are compressive in three axes, whose values differ from each other; then strain can be tensile in one of these directions, acting at a right angle to the direction of maximum compressive stress. A crack is considered to propagate by this tensile strain. When contact stress is small, a crack produced by some cause can propagate by this elastic tensile strain. When contact stress is large, residual tensile strain is produced by plastic deformation, which can also influence the crack propagation. Several failure modes of rolling element bearings, which had been difficult to explain, were explained by tensile strain.     

我国滚动功能部件产业现状分析

滚动功能部件作为机床四大主要配套部件,在整个数控机床的产业链中具有重要地位.文章主要探讨了国产滚动功能部件的企业状况、市场前景、发展瓶颈等方面,并提出了一些解决问题的思路和方法.     

Numerical Investigation into the Effect of Contact Geometry on Fretting Fatigue Crack Propagation Lifetime

Fretting fatigue is a phenomenon in which two contact surfaces undergo a small relative oscillatory motion due to cyclic loading. There is a need to analyze the effects of contact geometry on crack propagation under fretting fatigue conditions. In this investigation, a finite element modeling method was used to study the effects of different contact geometries along with crack–contact interaction on crack propagation lifetime. Different contacts geometries—that is, cylindrical on flat and flat on flat—along with different contact span widths were analyzed. In addition, the effects of different contact spans on stress distribution at the contact interface were investigated. The computed crack propagation life was compared with experimental results. It was found that the crack initiated near the contact trailing edge for all contact geometries, which agreed with experimental observations. In terms of crack propagation for different contact spans, the fretting fatigue life for a two-based cylindrical pad was shorter than that for a two-based flat pad. By increasing the contact span width for both flat and cylindrical pads, the crack propagation lifetime increased. A comparison between the experimental and numerical results demonstrated a difference of about 18% in crack propagation lifetime.     

A Brief Examination of Factors Affecting Tractive Friction Coefficients of Spheres Rolling on Flat Plates

The use of steel ball-bearing balls in a new variable speed friction drive has given impetus to the study of factors governing their tractive capacity. The coefficient of tractive friction, defined as the ratio of tractive force to normal force at a specified slip rate, was observed to depend on lubricant properties and ball diameter, but to be relatively independent of normal load and rolling velocity. Coefficients of 0.08 were found to be attainable using conventional lubricants.