Stress Field Evolution in a Ball Bearing Raceway Fatigue Spall (PREPRINT)

摘要

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.