2rerro2o Heat Treatment of AISI 52100 For Bearing Applications | Gear Solutions Magazine Your Resource tothe Gear Industy
Heat Treatment of AISI 52100 For Bearing
Applications
Manufacturing a component is oftentimes extremely
complex, even when that component seems as simple as
a bearing.
By D, Scott MacKenzie, Ph.D., FASM - July 19, 2017
Bearings are crucial to our industrial life. They are
found in virtually all industrial applications from
wind bearings to aircraft engines. They are found
in toys such as figits and bicycles, as well as
automotive applications in engines and
transmissions. Bearings allow parts to rotate in
contact with another part with very low friction.
Bearings are absolutely necessary to reduce
energy consumption from friction loss.
Bearings consist of four components: the outer
race, inner race, the rolling element (balls,
cylinders or barrels), and a cage to separate the
rolling elements. The inner and outer races
contain the rolling elements, while the cage
separates the rolling elements from touching each
other and reduces contact friction,
There are essentially four types of roller bearings: ball bearings, cylindrical bearings
(including needle bearings), spherical bearings, and tapered roller bearings. These are
illustrated in Figure 1
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v
Figure 1: Types of bearings: (From left) ball bearing, cylindrical bearing, spherical bearings, and tapered roller bearings.
(Photo courtesy of Timken Corporation, North Canton, Ohio).
In ball bearings, spherical balls are enclosed within two concentric rings. The balls allow the
two rings to rotate relative to each other and support a radial load. For greater load
capacity, cylindrical rolling elements are used, The greater load capacity is due to the larger
contact surface area between the inner and outer rings and the cylindrical roller element.
Needle bearings are a special case of the cylindrical bearing where the rolling element is
long and thin. These bearings are designed to save space. Spherical roller bearings use two
rows of barrel-shaped roller elements. This allows the bearing to permit a misaligned load.
Tapered roller bearings have tapered rolling elements and rings. This increases the surface
contact area between the inner and outer rings, allowing for large radial and thrust loads
compared to ball or cylindrical bearings.
While there are many steels used for the production of bearings, the most commonly used
bearing material is AISI 52100. This is also known as 100Cr6 or other designations. The
primary alloying element is approximately 1.3 to 1.6 percent Cr, with a carbon content of
approximately 1.0 percent. The typical chemical composition of AISI 52100 is shown in the
following table:
c Mn. Si cr Ni Mo Cu s Pp
095-110 0.20-0,50 <035 130-160 - - <0.025 <0.025 -
In general, raw material for AISI 52100 is supplied as either hot rolled or spheroidized. The
hot-rolled structure is predominantly pearlitic with proeutectoid cementite at the grain
boundaries. The spheroidized microstructure is carbide within a ferrite matrix (Figure 2).
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aT2272020 Heat Treatment of AISI 52100 For Bearing Applications | Gear Solutions Magazine Your Resource tothe Gear Industy
Figure 2: Typical as-received microstructure of AISI 52100. Left: Hot-rolled; Right: Spheroidized 2}.
As is typical for through-hardening steels, the normal sequence for hardening is
austenitization, quenching, and tempering.
During austenitization, it is necessary to dissolve the carbides to obtain a fully austenitic
microstructure. Under equilibrium conditions, AISI 52100 becomes fully austenitic in excess
of 900°C; however, in practice, it is usually found that temperatures of 1,040°C for 20
minutes are necessary to dissolve the cementite [1]. The kinetics of carbide dissolution is
shown in Figure 3.
% Cementite Dissolved
oO 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time in Minutes
Figure 3: Kinetics of carbide dissolution in AISI 52100 with a spheroidized beginning microstructure [3]. Residual
carbides help improve the resistance of the steel to wear, Some chromium is absorbed by
the carbides, so there is reduced chromium in the austenite matrix. Further, carbon is also
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absorbed by the carbides, so the matrix of the austenite is depleted in carbon. This results
in a higher Martensite start temperature. As higher austenitization temperatures are used,
more carbides go into solution with a decrease in the Martensite start temperature (Figure
250
225
200
175
150
125
Martensite Start Temperature, °C
100
800 880 900 950 1000 1050 1100
Austenitizing Temperature, "C
4). Figure 4: Change in Martensite start temperature as a function of austenitizing temperature [4]. This
reduces the hardenability of the steel
Quenching from the austenitizing temperature results in a microstructure that is
predominantly Martensite, retained austenite and cementite that failed to dissolve during
austenitization. The retained austenite depends on the austenitizing temperature and the
final temperature. Martempering increases the percent of retained austenite. AISI 52100 is
a medium hardenability alloy. Fast quenching is necessary to achieve a martensitic structure
without non-Martensitic transformations of pearlite and bainite, The time-temperature-
transformation curve of AISI 52100 is shown in Figure 5.
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800
700 =
600
ic
3
&
8
Temperature,
S
weer rerre
100
1 10 100 1000 10000
me, Seconds
Figure 5: Time-temperature-transformation curve of AISI §21004.
Distortion control is critical for bearings. Martempering is often used to control distortion,
with temperatures of the quench oil exceeding 120°C [5]. With low distortion, reduced
grinding stock is necessary. Proper control of agitation is absolutely necessary to reduce
distortion [6].
The retained austenite present in the steel after quenching can be reduced by cryogenic
treatments to convert to Martensite, However, this can lead to micro-cracking, with a
decrease in toughness and fatigue [7-8]. To minimize the occurrence of micro-cracking, the
parts are washed and rinsed in cold water at approximately 15-20°C. This colder rinse
reduces the amount of retained austenite
Tempering is normally conducted at low temperatures, typically at about 160°C. This leads
to the decomposition of the retained austenite, and the precipitation of transitional carbides
from the Martensite, and the formation of tempered Martensite. The hardness after
tempering is shown in Figure 6.
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Hardness, HRC
ee ase ea
° 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Tempering Temperature, °C
Figure 6: Hardness after quenching from 840°C, from a fully martensitic mirostructure [4]. During
tempering and the reduction of retained austenite and the precipitation of transitional
carbides, dimensional changes will occur, These changes are illustrated in Figure 7.
0.30
0.20
0.10
Size Change, mm
0.00
-0.40
° 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Tempering Temperature, *C
Figure 7: Size changes in AISI 52100 after oll quenching from 840°C. This is applicable to @ 100mm long bar
with a diameter of 23 mm. Tempering time is 45 minutes (9) These
changes in dimension affect clearances, as well as the resulting shape after tempering.
These dimensional changes also limit the maximum temperatures of the bearings.
Conclusion
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This short article on the heat treatment of AISI 52100 is by no means comprehensive, but
illustrates the complexity of the manufacture of a component that is often taken for
granted.
REFERENCES
1. C. A. Stickels, “Carbide refining heat treatment for 52100 bearing steels,” Metallurgical
Trans., vol. 5, pp. 865-874, 1974.
2. H. K, D. H. Bhadeshia, “Steels for Bearings,” Progress in Materials Science, vol. 57, pp.
268-435, 2012.
3. M. Guillot and G. Dudragne, “Optimization of the thermal treatment of a roller bearing
ste! 100Cr6,” Memoires Etudes Scientifiques Rev. Metallurgy, vol. 79, p. 493, 1982.
4. P.M, Unterweiser, H. E. Boyer and J. J. Kubbs, Eds., Heat Treaters Guide, Metals Park,
OH: American Society for Metals, 1982.
5. D. S, MacKenzie, “Metallurgical Aspects of Distortion and Residual Stresses in Heat
Treated Parts," in 23rd IFHTSE Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering Congress, April
18-21, Savannah, GA, 2016.
6. H.-W. Zoch, “From Single Production Step to Entire Process Chain - the Global Approach
of Distortion Engineering,” in IDE 2005, Bremen, Germany, 2005.
7. F. Hengerer, W. Nierlich, J. Volkmuth and H. Nutzel, “Dimensional Stability of high carbon
bearing steels,” Ball Bearing Journal, vol. 231, pp. 26-31, 1988
8. A. Kroon and H. Nutzel, “Bearing Steel Development,” Ball Bearing Journal, vol. 234, pp
40-47, 1989.
9. S. Steel, The Black Book 1984, Groteborg, Sweden: SKF Steel, 1984.
D. Scott MacKenzie, Ph.D., FASM
is a senior research scientist of metallurgy at Houghton International, Inc., a global metalworking fluids
supplier based in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Go online to www.houghtonintl.com,
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