Modification of steel surfaces induced by turning: non-destructive characterization using Barkhausen noise and positron annihilation

This paper deals with the characterization of sub-surface damage caused by the machining of 100Cr6 roll bearing steel. The samples turned using tools with variable flank wears were characterized by two non-destructive techniques sensitive to defects introduced by plastic deformation: magnetic Barkhausen noise and positron annihilation. These techniques were combined with light and electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction and microhardness testing. The results of the experiment showed that damage in the sub-surface region increases with increasing flank wear, but from a certain critical value dynamic recovery takes place. The intensity of Barkhausen noise strongly decreases with increasing flank wear due to the increasing density of the dislocations pinning the Bloch walls and suppressing their motion. This was confirmed by positron annihilation spectroscopy, which enables the determination of the dislocation density directly. Hence, a good correlation between Barkhausen noise emission and positron annihilation spectroscopy was found.