The bearing rig tests performed in this study, demonstrate superior bearing performance of Cronidur 30 steel over conventional bearing steels. In these tests the L10 life of Cronidur 30 steel as calculated by the DIN/ISO 281 method was 80 times the unfactored L10 life under full lubrication conditions. In boundary lubrication conditions, the Cronidur 30 steel demonstrated the L10 life capability typical of EHD lubrication conditions, whereas the other steels showed a drastically reduced lives. In tests with predamaged races and boundary lubrication conditions, Cronidur 30 demonstrated 8 times the calculated L10 life, whereas the conventional steels exhibited further debit in lives as compared to the boundary lubrication testing whithout predamage. The improved performance of Cronidur 30 steel over conventional bearing steels is attributed to its unique compositional formulation and microstructure that results in provision of balanced properties in the alloy – hardness, toughness and corrosion resistance.
Results are reported for a project sponsored by the United States Air Force Wright Laboratories entitled “High Temperature Bearing / Lubricant System Development.” The major emphasis of this project was the evaluation of bearing materials with improved corrosion resistance, high hot hardness, and high fracture toughness, intended to meet the requirements of the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technologies (IHPTET) Phase II engine. The project included material property studies on candidate bearing materials and lubricants which formed the selection basis for subscale and full-scale bearing rig verification tests. The carburizing stainless steel alloy Pyrowear 675 demonstrated significant fatigue life, fracture toughness, and corrosion resistance improvements relative to the M50 NiL baseline bearing material. The new Skylube II (MCS-2482) lubricant provided significant thermal degradation improvements with respect to the Skylube 600 (PWA-524, MIL-L-87100) lubricant. Two 130 mm bore Pyrowear 675 hybrid ball bearings with silicon nitride balls were run successfully for 231 hours with Skylube II lubricant at temperatures consistent with IHPTET II requirements.
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