Fatigue life analysis of deep rolled bearing inner rings

Abstract

The deep rolling process can influence the surface and subsurface of hardened steels, such as the bearing steel AISI 52100, due to mechanical loading and elastoplastic deformation. By intentionally adjusting the surface and subsurface properties, the fatigue life of bearing inner rings can be increased. This is among others attributed to the strengthening of surface and subsurface. Residual stresses induced by deep rolling and modifications of the material microstructure also contribute to this effect. In the investigations presented the deep rolling process parameters of rolling pressure, overlap ratio, and ball diameter were specifically selected based on previous works. Fatigue life investigations were conducted on honed and deep rolled bearing inner rings to enhance the understanding of failure mechanisms and to quantify the influence of the deep rolling process on fatigue life. It was found that the deep rolled bearing inner rings exhibit higher compressive residual stresses in the subsurface than honed rings and also showed longer fatigue life under rolling loads. Optical analyses of bearing rings that failed due to fatigue were performed to detect the failure mechanisms. The tested bearings showed classical fatigue, where cracking is initiated below the surface and propagates to the surface under further stress. Residual stresses can influence both the crack initiation and propagation.