Melting route effects on the rotatory bending fatigue and rolling contact fatigue properties of high carbon bearing steel SAE52100

The rotatory bending fatigue (RBF) behavior, the rolling contact fatigue (RCF) behavior and inclusion characteristics are examined on SAE52100 steels fabricated by three different melting routes. It is found that both RCF-life and RBF-strength are strongly determined by the inclusion size and no RCF could be found when the maximum inclusion size is smaller than 16 mu m, which is strongly dependent on the melting routes. This conclusion is not only very important to control of the characteristics of non-metallic inclusions but to the adjustment and improvement of processing techniques of SAE52100 bearing steels in the steel industry.