Experimental Study on Surface Residual Stress Scatter of Bearing Steel Produced by Sequential Grinding Processes

To evaluate surface residual stresses scatter when AISI 52100 steel is sequentially ground in the actually industrial application, it focuses on measuring the bearing inner rings' raceway surface residual stresses resulted from heat treatment, rough grinding, finish grinding and super-finish grinding process. Both surface residual stresses along the circumferential and axial direction are measured by X-ray diffraction technique. Measurement data show that the residual stress standard tolerance of heat treatment surface is 3 times higher than that of the super-finished, and the surface residual stresses along circumferential and axial direction of bearing inner rings decrease to 20 MPa after super-finishing. It reveals that surface residual stress scatter occurs remarkable within the same heat treatment and abrasive-based processes; the sequential grinding processes favorably reduce the surface residual stress scatter, which converges when AISI 52100 steel is sequentially rough-grinding, finish-grinding, and super-finish grinding. Fortunately, the average surface residual stress of AISI 52100 steel enhances gradually by sequential grinding processes. The experimental investigation provides a scientific data to systemically evaluate and optimize grinding processes on AISI 52100 steel components. copyright 2010 Journal of Mechanical Engineering.