Observation of subsurface rolling contact fatigue cracks in silicon nitride and comparison of their location to Hertzian contact subsurface stresses.pdfVIP

International Journal of Fatigue 96 (2017) 283–292 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Fatigue journal homepage: /locate/ijfatigue Observation of subsurface rolling contact fatigue cracks in silicon nitride and comparison of their location to Hertzian contact subsurface stresses Charlotte Vieillard SKF Engineering and Research Centre BV, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands article info Article history: Received 22 August 2016 Received in revised form 2 December 2016 Accepted 5 December 2016 Available online 7 December 2016 Keywords: Silicon nitride Rolling contact fatigue Subsurface fatigue cracks Rolling contact abstract From lubricated rolling contact tests on silicon nitride rolling elements, genuine subsurface fatigue process from the Si3N4 microstructure was demonstrated and visualised for the ?rst time by testing two different microstructure quality levels. Subsurface fatigue cracks initiating at microstructure features were found to be associated with local orthogonal shear stresses from the Hertzian stress ?eld. All fatigue cracks displayed evidence of mode II and III crack type propagation with an angle orientation that conformed to the shear stress direction. ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In the last twenty years, hybrid bearings, i.e. rolling bearings with silicon nitride rolling elements and steel rings, have become a common product that is readily available in many types and sizes in bearing manufacturers’ catalogues. The use of ceramics as a bearing material was spurred on in the early sixties by the need for extreme temperature bearings for aero and space applications. Ceramic material purity, sintering technology and processes for super-?nishing of silicon nitride ball surfaces were developed in the 80s and early 90s to levels that are required for bearing applications offering high performance Si3N4 based products. In the last few years, hybrid bearings have been increasingly used in many other appl