Hydrogen is promising as an environmentally friendly energy source such as in fuel cells. A hydrogen atmosphere, however, is not always preferable in a tribological aspect. We conducted a rolling contact fatigue test under elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) conditions in hydrogen atmosphere to study the effects of hydrogen on the rolling fatigue. Fatigue life in hydrogen was remarkably shortened compared with that in air, and the modes of surface damages generated were changed depending on the lubricating condition tested. The main surface damage in a partial EHL regime was surface-originated flaking or excessive wear attributed to not forming oxide film of a protective one, whereas that in the full EHL regime was subsurface-originated flaking accompanied by the formation of a white etching constituent with a very low fatigue limit.
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