AN ADDITIVES INFLUENCE ON THE PITTING AND WEAR OF BALL-BEARING STEEL

This paper describes the results of some rolling contact fatigue tests on roller rings using a new type of fatigue machine. Two types of lub ricant were used: a base oil, and the same oil with a commercial sulph ur-phosphorus extreme-pressure (EP) additive package. The presence of the additives gave a more polished track and a lower wear rate, but at the same time, the L(10) life and Weibull slope were reduced. These r esults confirm that such additive types can reduce the life of bearing s, possibly by a mechanism of corrosion-enhanced fatigue.