Ceramic Materials for Rolling Element Bearing Applications

摘要

Advanced ceramics, silicon nitride ceramics in particular, offer the potentialfor significant performance increases in rolling element bearings. This chapter reviews the properties of candidate ceramic materials relevant to rolling element bearing performance. The behavior of fully dense silicon nitride for a variety of bearing performance factors including rolling contact fatigue, lubrication behavior, and failure mode is reviewed. Processing advances are briefly described, and experience in actual applications is discussed. (MM).