ISSN: 1546-962X
CODEN: JAIOAD
Published Online: 8 December 2009
Page Count: 18

Stress Field Evolution in a Ball Bearing Raceway Fatigue Spall

Branch, Nathan A.
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Arakere, Nagaraj K.
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Svendsen, Vaughn
Propulsion Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH

Forster, Nelson H.
Propulsion Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, OH

(Received 17 May 2009; accepted 23 October 2009)

Abstract

The governing mechanisms of fatigue spall propagation in ball bearing inner raceways are investigated through the use of elastic-plastic finite element modeling, X-ray diffraction, and the visual inspection of fatigue spall cracks. The model simulates multiple ball impacts with a fatigue spall’s edge in a 208 size ball bearing operating at 10,000 rpm. Ball impacts are shown to cause severe plastic deformation within the spall edge and induce tensile residual stresses. The finite element results are supported by X-ray diffraction measurements and the locations of cracks observed around the edge of a spall.

Keywords:
rolling element bearings, rolling contact fatigue, spall propagation, contact mechanics, bearing steels, gas/jet turbines, impact wear, elastic-plastic finite element analysis, residual stresses, X-ray diffraction

Paper ID: JAI102529
DOI: 10.1520/JAI102529
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