The Influence of Heat Generation In the Contact Zone on Bearing Fatigue Behavior

Abstract

The material behavior of the standard bearing steel SAE 52100 and the heat resistant bearing steels M50, M50 NiL, and Cronidur 30 as a function of the operational temperature has been investigated. The reduction in rolling contact fatigue strength due to a temperature rise was found to be significantly higher than the reduction of hardness. The mechanism of heat generation due to the bearing operation induces a temperature distribution, which makes it necessary to distinguish between the temperature ruling the subsurface fatigue processes and a higher temperature dominating the surface originated damage initiation.