A newly developed pure rolling fatigue test rig with three contact points is used to test the rolling contact fatigue properties of silicon nitride ceramic balls. Ball surfaces are examined after failure with optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The failure cause,fatigue phenomenon and mechanics are analyzed. The research shows that subsurface cracks play a dominant role in the formation of spalling failure. These cracks originated from volume defects of the material and propagate,to form elliptical fatigue spalls under the action of principal tensile stresses. The principal tensile stress increases with increasing contact load,causing spall formation and reduction of rolling contact life. The greater the principal tensile stress is,the more severe the peeling of near surface is. Under the same condition,the closer volume defects are to the surface,the more likely failure occurs,the shorter the rolling contact life is.
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