A processing-microstructure-performance approach is followed to study three bearing steel samples manufactured from the most frequently used continuous casting routes. The inclusion microstructures of the samples were altered by varying the metallurgy and hot working conditions. Inclusion size distribution information is obtained, showing the steel-making route that results in the highest cleanliness. 3D analysis of inclusion morphologies using electrolytic extraction indicates the irregularities on the surface to be favourable sites for crack nucleation under RCF. Flat-washer and ball-on-rod tests were conducted to study the rolling contact fatigue life of the steels, with the results from the flatwasher testing method being more representative for bearing life. This research suggests that early fatigue of bearings is governed by silicate fragmentation and late fatigue by TiN inclusions.
It has been recently demonstrated [M. P. Blodgett and P. B. Nagy, J. Nondestruct. Eval. 23, 107 (2004)] that eddy current conductivity measurements can be exploited for near-surface residual stress assessment in surface-treated nickel-base superalloy components. To quantitatively assess the prevailing residual stress from eddy current conductivity measurements, the piezoresistivity coefficients of the material must be first determined using known external applied stresses. These calibration measurements are usually conducted on a reference specimen of the same material using cyclic uniaxial loads between 0.1 and 10 Hz, which is fast enough to produce adiabatic conditions. Therefore, the question arises whether dynamic calibration measurements can be used or not for accurately assessing the sensitivity of the eddy current method for static residual stress. It is demonstrated in this paper that such dynamic calibration measurements should be corrected for the thermoelastic effect, which is always positive, i.e., it increases the conductivity in tension, when the material cools down, and reduces it in compression, when the material heats up. For low-conductivity titanium and nickel-base engine alloys the thermoelastic corrections are relatively modest at ≈5-10%, but for high-conductivity aluminum alloys the difference between the adiabatic and isothermal properties could be as high as 50%.
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