Electron-microscope studies of carbide decay during contact fatigue in ball bearings

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Structural changes in ball-bearing steels caused by rolling contact fatigue have been studied. Attention is focused on changes that occur in the various carbide constituents. Large spherical primary cementite particles gradually break up and disappear during the fatigue process. At the same time, fine carbide constituents present in either a tempered martensite or lower bainite matrix also disappear. The decay process is described, the transformation products identified, and the mechanisms discussed.