A study on the effects of machining-induced residual stress on rolling contact fatigue

This study investigates the effects of machining-induced residual stress on rolling contact fatigue of hard machined components. The rolling contact fatigue life predictions demonstrate that the fatigue life is influenced by residual stresses significantly and that tool nose radius can contribute to the optimization of machining parameters to enhance the fatigue performance of hard machined components. The rolling contact fatigue test results show that the prediction accuracy of the fatigue life model can be enhanced significantly by incorporating residual stresses. It is further noted that residual stresses influence the rolling contact fatigue life by more than 40%. The results demonstrate that the rolling contact fatigue performance of hard machined components can be enhanced significantly by optimizing the residual stress distribution below the machined surface. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.