Laser glazed bearings
- Timken Co., Canton, OH (United States)
In the past decade high power, reliable, carbon dioxide lasers have become commercially available. Laser glazing is a process in which a focused laser beam is used to melt a very small portion of a component. As the beam moves away from the melted region, the underlying mass of the component causes the liquid pool to rapidly solidify. A major advantage of laser glazing is that the refined structure is only created in areas where high load carrying capacity is required. Initially rods manufactured from BG 42 and M 50 steels were laser glazed. Laser glazing transformed the normal, fine grain, martensitic steel matrix into a very fine dendritic microstructure. The carbides in the laser glazed material were greatly reduced in size due to very rapid solidification. Using a standard ball/rod rolling contact fatigue tester, enhanced rolling contact fatigue life was realized from the laser glazing process. LM 12749 tapered roller bearing cones were fabricated from M 50 high speed steel and laser glazed. At 200% catalog load, the L{sub 15.9%} life of the laser glazed M 50 bearings was 370% greater than the wrought cones. Similarly, when tested at 300% catalog load, the laser glazed bearings had L{sub 15.9%} life 580% greater than the wrought cones. Laser processing has been applied to 440 C stainless steel. In this alloy similar reduction in the size and distribution of large chromium carbides was achieved. The glazed 440 C was approximately 20 Knoop hardness points higher than the wrought alloy. Examples and properties of glazed microstructures in ball bearings and other alloy systems are discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 316186
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9611259-; ISBN 0-8031-2421-X; TRN: IM9908%%266
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Symposium on bearing steels: into the 21st century, New Orleans, LA (United States), 19-21 Nov 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1998; Related Information: Is Part Of Bearing steels: Into the 21. century; Hoo, J.J.C. [ed.] [General Bearing Corp., West Nyack, NY (United States)]; Green, W.B. Jr. [ed.] [Torrington Co., Torrington, CT (United States)]; PB: 534 p.; ASTM special technical publication, Volume 1327
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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