Rotary bending fatigue behavior of a rare earth addition bearing steel: The effects of a gradient nanostructured surface layer formed by surface mechanical rolling treatment

•Surface mechanical rolling was applied to treat a rE-addition bearing steel.•A 700 μm-thick gradient nanostructured surface layer was formed on treated samples.•Fatigue property increases significantly in gradient samples in high cycle regime.•The thickness of gradient layer plays a crucial role in enhancing fatigue property. A 700 μm-thick gradient nanostructured surface layer with enhanced hardness and compressive residual stress was produced on a rare earth addition bearing steel by surface mechanical rolling treatment under fine lubrication and cooling. Rotary bending fatigue tests showed that fatigue properties are significantly enhanced in the surface modified samples under the internal-induced failure mode, with the fatigue strength increasing from 1050 MPa in the as-received counterparts to 1200 MPa in them at a fatigue life of 107 cycles. Analyses revealed that the enhanced fatigue properties are related with the transfer of crack initiation site to a deeper region in the surface layer. And the formation of a thick gradient nanostructured surface layer with enhanced hardness and compressive residual stress contributes to the enhancement of fatigue properties of bearing steel.