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White-Etching Matter in Bearing Steel. Part I: Controlled Cracking of 52100 Steel

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Abstract

Although most of the research performed in bearing steel metallurgy aims to prevent crack nucleation and propagation, some applications require the exact opposite in order to study the role that disconnected surfaces inside the bulk material play when load is applied, or when fluids entrapped in surface cracks propagate tensile stresses or exacerbate corrosion. Four heat treatments have been designed to create controlled arrays of crack types and distributions in quenched and untempered steel normally used in the manufacture of bearings. The varieties of cracks studied include sparsely distributed martensite-plate cracks, fine-grain-boundary cracks, abundant martensite-plate cracks, and surface cracks. The intention was to create samples which can then be subjected to appropriate mechanical testing so that phenomena such as the appearance of “white-etching areas” or “white-etching cracks,” crack-lubricant interactions, or hydrogen trapping can be studied further.

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Acknowledgments

We are thankful to Dr Steve Ooi for advice on experimental techniques and Dr Carsten Schwandt for the use of the vacuum oven and isostatic press. W. Solano-Alvarez is thankful to CONACyT, the Cambridge Overseas Trusts, and the Roberto Rocca Education Program for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, U.K.

    W. Solano-Alvarez (Ph.D. Student) & H. K. D. H. Bhadeshia (TATA Steel Professor of Metallurgy and Director of the SKF University Technology Centre)

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  1. W. Solano-Alvarez
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  2. H. K. D. H. Bhadeshia
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Correspondence to W. Solano-Alvarez.

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Manuscript submitted December 11, 2013.

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Solano-Alvarez, W., Bhadeshia, H.K.D.H. White-Etching Matter in Bearing Steel. Part I: Controlled Cracking of 52100 Steel. Metall Mater Trans A 45, 4907–4915 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-014-2430-y

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