Bearing Steel
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High-carbon, high-chromium steel engineered for extreme hardness, wear resistance, and fatigue life in rolling-element bearings.
Bearing steels must withstand millions of rolling contact fatigue cycles under Hertzian contact stresses exceeding 3,000 MPa. Cleanliness is paramount — a single oxide inclusion 15 µm in diameter can initiate a spalling failure. Modern vacuum-degassed bearing steels achieve L10 fatigue lives exceeding 10 billion cycles.
Designation Guide
AISI 52100 (100Cr6 in European notation, SUJ2 in JIS) is by far the most widely used bearing steel, containing 1.0% carbon and 1.5% chromium. For corrosive environments, 440C martensitic stainless or Cronidur 30 (nitrogen-bearing) are specified. Carburizing grades M50NiL and 32CrMoV13 serve high-temperature aerospace bearings.
Selection Tips
52100 is the default for ball and roller bearings operating below 150 °C. Above 150 °C, M50 or M50NiL (case-carburized) maintains hardness. In corrosive environments, consider 440C (lower fatigue life but corrosion resistant) or hybrid ceramic bearings (steel races + Si3N4 balls). Always specify vacuum-degassed or vacuum-remelted steel for critical bearing applications — total oxygen content below 10 ppm dramatically extends fatigue life.