Micromechanism of Plastic Accumulation and Damage Initiation in Bearing Steels under Cyclic Shear Deformation: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Abstract

Fatigue failure usually occurs on the subsurface in rolling bearings due to multiaxial and non-proportional fatigue loadings between rolling elements. One of the main stress components is the alternating shear stress. This paper focuses on the micromechanism of plastic accumulation and damage initiation in bearing steels under cyclic shear deformation. The distribution of subsurface shear stress in bearings was firstly investigated by finite element simulation. An atomic model containing bcc-Fe and cementite phases was built by molecular dynamics (MD). Shear stress–strain characteristics were discussed to explore the mechanical properties of the atomic model. Ten alternating shear cycles were designed to explore the mechanism of cyclic plastic accumulation and damage initiation. Shear stress responses and evolutions of dislocaitons, defect meshes and high-strain atoms were discussed. The results show that cyclic softening occurs when the model is in the plastic stage. Severe cyclic shear deformation can accelerate plastic accumulation and result in an earlier shear slip of the cementite phase than that under monotonic shear deformation, which might be the initiation of microscopic damage in bearing steels.