• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.477-483
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• 2000

Rolling contact fatigue (RCF) tests were performed for two kinds of commercial silicon nitride balls using 4-Ball rolling contact fatigue life tester under EHL condition (Λ=8.9) and boundary lubrication condition (Λ=0.2). All the test balls were finished up to the dimensional accuracy of Grade 5 defined in KS B 2001 (Steel Balls for Ball Bearings) with a size of 8.731 mm. RCF tests were then conducted under the initial theoretical maximum contact stress 6.63 GPa and the spindle speed 10,000 rpm. All the test balls were not failed until 3.75 $\times$ 107 contact cycles and wear tracks of test balls were not conspicuous under EHL condition (Λ= 8.9). In the operations of low lambda regime (Λ= 0.2), all the test balls were surface damaged and high rolling wear resistance was achievable in fully densified using MgO 1 wt% and HIPed balls. Rolling wear of silicon nitride balls under boundary lubrication condition depend mainly on grain size and intergranular phase content of silicon nitride balls.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.287-290
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• 2005

Once hot forgings for automotive parts such as wheel bearing flange to which cyclic asymmetric bending stress is continuously applied are produced, it is necessary to control their microstructure to obtain superior mechanical properties. It is however hard to control the microstructure uniformly because the strength is reduced as coarsening of ferrite grains. To investigate the microstructural alteration according to process variables during hot working, the variation of the ferrite grain size was studied by utilizing of the computer aided servo-hydraulic Gleeble tester which is hot deformation behavior reproduction equipment. In addition, the effect of the ferrite grain size of raw material on the austenite grain behavior of hot forgings was also examined. The rolling contact fatigue resistance of the induction hardened SAE 1055 steel was compared with the occasion of the same condition of SAE52100 bearing steel. As a result, it was confirmed that the ferrite grain sizes of the forgings depend on the heating temperature and cooling start temperature during hot forging and cooling processes. The induction hardened SAE1055 steel showed a superior rolling contact fatigue resistance to the induction hardened SAE52100 steel. The reason is that SAE1055 steel is freer from the material defect such as segregation than the comparative steel.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.237-243
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• 2019

Through this study, we investigate the effects of ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM) technology on the fatigue life of needle roller bearings. The fatigue life of untreated and UNSM-treated needle roller bearings is evaluated using a roller fatigue tester at various contact stress levels under oil-lubricated conditions. We can ascertain that the fatigue life of an UNSM-treated needle roller bearing was extended by approximately 34.3% in comparison with an untreated one, where the effectiveness of UNSM technology diminishes with increasing contact stress. The surface roughness and surface hardness of needle roller bearings before and after being treated by UNSM technology are compared and discussed to understand the role of UNSM technology in improving the fatigue life of needle roller bearings. In addition, a fractograph of the damaged bearings is observed using a scanning electron microscopy to shed light on the fracture mechanisms of bearings under different contact stress levels. We can therefore conclude that the application of UNSM technology to the needle roller bearings improves the fatigue life by reducing the friction coefficient and increasing the wear resistance; this may be attributed to a reduction in surface roughness from 0.5 to $0.149{\mu}m$ and an increase in surface hardness from 58 to 62 HRc.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2016

KTX wheelset bearings have thus far been maintained in accordance with the maintenance system of French national railway company, SNCF. The overhaul cycle time (OCT) of KTX wheelset bearings is now 1.4 million km in mileage. This value, however, has not been validated in Korea that has much different railway environments with France. In fact, it is impossible to validate OCT of wheelset bearings directly because they are disassembled and cleaned only when some faults are detected. In this paper, the accuracy of the current OCT value was evaluated indirectly by investigating the effect of grease lubricants on the bearing life. Five grease samples (one new and four aged greases) were used in this study. Four aged greases of different conditions were obtained from four wheelset bearings whose mileages were about 0.3, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.8 million km, respectively. Each grease sample was then injected into the RCF (Rolling Contact Fatigue) tester and fatigue lifetime was experimentally estimated. In addition, the wt% of Fe in each grease sample was analysed. The experiment results reveal that the bearing lifetime is inversely proportional to the mileage of grease sample while the wt% of Fe increases with the mileage of grease sample. Based on the experimental results, it can be concluded that the current OCT value is appropriate for the first overhaul of wheelset bearings. However, further validation is required to determine the second and third OCT values.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.121-125
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• 2000

Silicon nitride ceramic has been verified as an excellent rolling bearing material because of its high strength and outstanding rolling fatigue life properties. However under some corrosive circumstances it showed drawbacks such as hardness reduction and severe wear caused by corrosion. In this work, the variations of the rolling wear and hardness of three kinds of ceramics were studied for the specimen aged 15 days in alkali water (90 $\pm$ 2$\^{C}$,25 wt% NaOH ). All of the specimens, ① Si$_3$N$_4$, ② 3Y-TZP and ③ 3Y-TZP alloyed with 5 wt% CeO$_2$, were sintered and post-HIPed, and then polished up to 0.02 $\mu$mRa of surface roughness. Rolling wear tests were conducted by MJ type rolling fatigue life tester under the initial theoretical maximum contact stress of 3.16 GPa and the spindle speed of 1,000 rpm. Spindle oil was used as a lubricant. The specimens were not worn before aging. For the specimen aged in alkali water, Si$_3$N$_4$ and 3Y-TZP were worn by rolling wear tests, and hardness was decreased. While aging the specimens, the phase was transformed from tetragonal to monoclinic in 3Y-TZP and the microstructure change occurred in Si$_2$N$_4$. 3Y-TZP specimens alloyed with 5 wt% CeO$_2$ were not worn after aging and no phase transformation occurred while aging.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 1999.11a
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• pp.154-159
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• 1999

Silicon nitride ceramic has been verified as an excellent rolling bearing material because of its high strength and outstanding rolling fatigue life properties. However under some corrosive circumstances it showed drawbacks such as hardness reduction and severe wear caused by corrosion. In this work, the variations of the rolling wear and hardness of three kinds of ceramics were studied for the specimen aged 15 days in alkali water (90$\pm$2$^{\circ}C$, 25 wt% NaOH). All of the specimens, \circled1Si$_3$N$_4$, \circled23Y-TZP and \circled33Y-TZP alloyed with 5 wt% CeO$_2$, were sintered and post-Hipped, and then polished up to 0.02 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$Ra of surface roughness. Rolling wear tests were conducted by MJ type rolling fatigue life tester under the initial theoretical maximum contact stress or 3.76 Gra and the spindle speed of 1,000 rpm. Spindle oil was used as a lubricant. The specimens were not worn before aging. For the specimen aged in alkali water, Si$_3$N$_4$and 3Y-TZP were worn by rolling wear tests, and hardness was decreased. While aging the specimens, the phase was transformed from tetragonal to monoclinic in 3Y-TZP and the microstructure change occurred in Si$_3$N$_4$. 3Y-TZP alloyed with 5 wt% CeO$_2$specimens were not worn after aging and no phase transformation occurred while aging.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 1996.05a
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• pp.53-59
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• 1996

The new trends in main spindle design of Machining Center are focused on high-speed, high-precision and high-stiffness. As a main spindle bearing, the angular-contact ball bearing is well used. A rolling bearing is usually only a small part of a larger mechanical system, but its performance can have a great influence on the functioning of the whole machine. This work is about fatigue life tester design and monitoring of defected rolling-element bearings. The major work is done via experiments and the vibration signal is analysised by means of frequency spectrum technique. By analyzing the frequency spectrum, it is possible to view the condition of the bearings.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2015

In this study, we apply an ultrasonic nanocrystal surface modification (UNSM) technique to radial journal bearings (JBs) and disks made of SUJ2 and SCM440, respectively. We investigate frictional properties of untreated and UNSM-treated specimens using a ball-on-disk tester. We construct the Stribeck curve at the boundary, under mixed and full hydrodynamic lubrication conditions for the specimens using friction data obtained from JB tests. The friction at the boundary lubrication condition and the transition period to mixed lubrication condition on the UNSM-treated specimens is reduced, which improves the service life of JBs. The major effects of this reduction in the three lubrication regimes can be explained in the terms of improved mechanical properties and the presence of micro dimples. Moreover, we estimate the friction and fatigue properties of SCM440 specimens using a ball-on-disk specimen under dry and oil-lubricated conditions. Friction test results reveal that the UNSM-treated specimens show lower friction coefficient than the untreated specimens under both dry and oil-lubricated conditions. We evaluate the fatigue properties of SCM440 specimens by calculating the Hertzian stress with respect to the failure cycles. Fatigue tests results also reveal that the UNSM-treated specimens possess a longer fatigue life than the untreated specimens. The improved properties are effective in increasing the energy efficiency of bearings.