Abstract
A common cause for maintenance and downtime in multiple fields of the mechanical transmission industries are premature rolling bearing failures due to white etching cracks (WEC). Within this work, WEC have been successfully recreated on a two-disc test rig under rolling contact loading without additional loading such as hydrogen pre-charging. This paper summarizes the state of the investigations regarding the influence of the slip type and the lubrication regime on the WEC formation on the two-disc test rig.
Highlights
A common challenge in multiple fields of the mechanical driveline technology consist of premature rolling bearing failures caused by white etching cracks (WEC)
The white etching areas (WEA) had been well characterized by different microscopy techniques [2,3], the relevant drivers and formation mechanisms are still under debate
Rolling contact fatigue tests conducted in the present study showed that the formation of WEC
Summary
A common challenge in multiple fields of the mechanical driveline technology consist of premature rolling bearing failures caused by white etching cracks (WEC). This failure mode can lead to bearing failure at 5–20% of the nominal life [1]. This damage pattern is characterized by sub-surface crack networks within regions of altered microstructure, which lead to axial cracking or spalling of the bearing’s raceway. Besides a local hydrogen ingress [1]
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