Effect of Repeated Induction Heating on Fatigue Crack Propagation in SAE 52100 Bearing Steel

Abstract

Martensitic high carbon high strength SAE 52100 bearing steel is one of the main alloys used for rolling contact applications when high wear and fatigue resistance are required. Refining the microstructure of steel improves its mechanical properties (e.g. toughness). In this work SAE 52100 specimens were exposed to repeated induction heating process and rotation bending tests were performed using single- and repeatedly heat-treated material in order to investigate the influence of this cyclic heat treatment on the mechanical properties of SAE 52100. In an attempt to determine the effect of the repeated induction heating and quenching on the material, we focused our observations on the internal fatigue “fisheye" cracks. It was noted that crack propagation was successfully halted by the refined microstructure in heat affected zone, therefore it can be concluded that repeated induction heating and quenching processes help to slow down the propagation of fisheye cracks in SAE52100 steel bars.