Citation

Harries CJ, Webster M, Sayles RS, MacPherson PB. Reliab. Eng. 1983; 4(3): 169-180.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1983, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0143-8174(83)90050-1

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Aspects of bi-modal failures in tribological components are studied in terms of possible mechanisms of surface interaction and failure. Emphasis is placed on the influence of surface topography and self-generated wear debris on the mechanisms causing bi-modal wear-out failure characteristics, so often encountered with common tribological components. This mechanism is shown to be prevalent in many fatigue results published for rolling contacts, and by random sampling experiments is demonstrated to be a real effect and not just an artifact of sampling.

Results are presented on the influence of wear debris in rolling contacts and indicate that early failures, and particularly those which strongly influence B10 lives, are very often surface initiated and caused by debris or an unsuitable initial surface topography. This hypothesis is in direct contradiction to the formal belief, that fatigue failures in rolling contacts are sub-surface in origin.