Cohesive zone modeling of intergranular fatigue damage in rolling contacts

Fatigue lives of rolling element bearings exhibit much scatter due to the statistical nature of the failure process. The localized character of contact stresses enhances the effects of microstructural features on fatigue life. In this paper, the growth of intergranular fatigue damage in rolling contacts is investigated. An explicit finite element model is developed which models the grain boundaries using an irreversible cohesive zone approach. The effects that the grain boundary properties play in fatigue life scatter and final spall patterns are presented and discussed. The predicted fatigue lives and spall patterns were found to be similar to experimental results.

Research highlights
► A rolling contact fatigue life prediction model has been developed.
► Model incorporates grain boundary damage using cohesive zone elements.
► Predicted fatigue life scatter and spall shapes agree with experimental results.