Peridynamic modeling of hydrogen-assisted white etching cracks in bearing steel under rolling contact fatigue

A coupled mechanical-diffusion peridynamic(PD) fatigue model is proposed to simulate hydrogen-assisted white etching cracks(WEC) in bearing steel under rolling contact fatigue(RCF). The PD model of microstructural alteration is established based on the dislocation-assisted carbon migration theory to simulate the formation of the dark etching region(DER) and white etching area(WEA), and its validity is demonstrated by reported experimental observations. The PD stress-assisted diffusion model is utilized to simulate the diffusion of hydrogen. Then the polycrystalline fatigue simulation is implemented to analyze the evolution of hydrogen -assisted WEC. Moreover, this study discusses the effects of contact conditions and internal inclusions on WEC evolution.

Automated summary

A coupled mechanical-diffusion peridynamic(PD) fatigue model is proposed to simulate hydrogen-assisted white etching cracks in bearing steel under rolling contact fatigue. The PD model of microstructural alteration based on the dislocation-assisted carbon migration theory is used to simulate the formation of dark etching region and white etching area, and its validity is demonstrated by experimental observations. The PD stress-assisted diffusion model is utilized to simulate the diffusion of hydrogen, and then the polycrystalline fatigue simulation is implemented to analyze the evolution of hydrogen-assisted white etching cracks. The effects of contact conditions and internal inclusions on the evolution of white etching cracks are also discussed in this study.