The state-of-art of microstructural evolution of bearing materials under Rolling Contact Fatigue

ABSTRACT

The microstructure evolves during the service of bearings, and feature microstructures appear after a certain period of time. The microstructural evolution has a great impact on the service life of bearings, resulting in a significant deviation from the calculated life. This paper summarised the research progress of the microstructural evolution. Four feature microstructures including Butterfly, White Etching Cracks, Dark Etching Region, and White Etching Bands were reviewed about the phase composition, mechanical properties, and mechanisms. Several proposed mechanisms were analysed and discussed on the rationality and insufficiency, and the latest theories have been emphasised. Previous microstructural alterations were also included. At last, the relationship between feature microstructures and fatigue failure was analysed through previous studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Rolling Contact Fatigue
• microstructural evolution
• Butterfly
• White Etching Cracks
• Dark Etching Region
• White Etching Bands
• rolling bearings
• bearing steels

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by National Key R&D Program of China: [Grant Number 2018YFB2000300]; the National Natural Science Foundation of China: [Grant Number 51375146].