Influence of Slip and Lubrication Regime on the Formation of White Etching Cracks on a Two-Disc Test Rig

Abstract

A common cause for maintenance and downtime in multiple fields of the mechanical transmission industries are premature rolling bearing failures due to white etching cracks (WEC). Within this work, WEC have been successfully recreated on a two-disc test rig under rolling contact loading without additional loading such as hydrogen pre-charging. This paper summarizes the state of the investigations regarding the influence of the slip type and the lubrication regime on the WEC formation on the two-disc test rig.

Keywords

• roller bearings
• rolling contact fatigue
• white etching cracks
• axial cracks