Implementation of low temperature-deposited coating fatigue parameters in commercial roller bearings catalogues

The present paper deals with the application of coating critical fatigue stresses in calculations of roller bearing-coated steel races. The fatigue limits of low temperature physical vapour deposited (PVD) coatings were determined by means of an impact tester and its evaluation software. A computer program which performs the quasi-static simulation of the bearing operation yields the necessary kinematics and dynamic parameters for the FEM simulation of the stress field occurring in coated rings during their operation. This procedure, being carried out for the recommended bearing catalogues load and rotational speed limits, indicates whether a certain coating may be reliably used in a particular bearing case. The obtained data can be implemented into roller bearing catalogues as further technological recommendations, for promising compounds. The analysis extends forward former investigations related to the fatigue performance of coatings, being deposited onto the steel races of hybrid angular contact ball bearings with ceramic rolling elements.