Effect of sulphide inclusions on rolling contact fatigue life of bearing steels

Flaking failure in rolling contact fatigue (RCF) of hardened bearing steel under well controlled lubrication is known to originate primarily from non-metallic inclusions. Among several different types of defects inevitably present in steels, the influence of sulphides on the RCF performance of steel is an issue that still raises many questions and controversies. In the present study, our objective is to investigate this matter by observing cracks initiating from sulphides after RCF testing. To accelerate bearing failure, high Hertzian stresses of 5.3 GPa were used. It was found that cracks initiated from the elongated tips of sulphides and propagated to a direction parallel to the direction of load movement. This rule was true regardless of the relationship between the direction of load movement and the elongation direction of sulphides. We concluded that sulphides could be a dominant factor in RCF life when the harmful oxide effect was excluded.