The ability of precision hard turning to increase rolling contact fatigue life

In this paper, precision hard turning is proposed for the finishing of the AISI 52100 bearing components to improve rolling contact fatigue life. This finishing process induces a homogenous microstructure at surface and subsurface layers. Fatigue life tests performed on a twin-disk machine show that rolling contact fatigue life increases as Ra value decreases. The bearing components reached 0.32 million cycles for Ra=0.25 μm and 5.2 million cycles for Ra=0.11 μm. In comparison, the bearing components achieved 1.2 million cycles with grinding (Ra=0.2 μm) and 3.2 million cycles with grinding followed by honing (Ra=0.05 μm) respectively.

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► Precision hard turning generates homogeneous microstructure.
► Surface roughness has a significant effect on the rolling contact fatigue life.
► In comparison with grinding process, precision hard turning offers longer RCF life.