Improving the wear resistance of 440C bearing steel balls by adding ZrO2 in mechanical alloying

• Published in: Wear Vol. 550-551; p. 205416
• Main Authors: Liu, Zhihui, Zhang, Jiahao, Zhang, Zhijian, Song, Shaowen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15-07-2024
• Subjects: Mechanical ball milling; Surface gradient nanostructure; Wear resistance; ZrO2 powder; ZrO2 powder; Wear resistance; Mechanical ball milling; Surface gradient nanostructure
• ISSN: 0043-1648; 1873-2577
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wear.2024.205416

The wear resistance of 440C bearing steel balls significantly impacts the reliability of bearings. Our method for increasing the wear resistance of steel balls combines mechanical alloying to create nanogradient structures with ZrO2 doping on the surface of the steel balls. The results revealed that ZrO2 formed mechanical alloying on the surface of the steel balls. Under all loads, the processed samples exhibited excellent wear resistance. Compared to untreated samples, the wear of processed samples subjected to 20, 40, and 60 N loads decreased by 28.82 %, 50.25 %, and 50.79 %, respectively. The existing literature indicates that adding ZrO2 powder during mechanical alloying is a promising method for improving the friction performance of bearing steel balls.
•The processed sample had a maximum microhardness of 803.4 HV, while the untreated sample had increased by 22.13 %.•The micro pits, nano-gradient structure, and ZrO2 all improved the wear resistance of steel balls.•The friction experiment revealed that the processed sample had a 50.79 % lower wear rate than the unprocessed 60 N load.