Wear 440-441 (2019) 203097

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Wear
journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/wear

The influence of different types of loading on false brinelling

Khosro Fallahnezhad *, Osama Brinji, Ajay Desai, Paul A. Meehan
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: An experimental and numerical study was developed to investigate the influence of radial load and the amplitude
False brinelling of rotational and lateral vibrations on false brinelling damage in railway cylindrical roller bearings. For this
Finite element objective, a novel false brinelling test-rig was designed and fabricated to conduct both linear vibration and
Fretting wear
rotational displacement tests. A reciprocating pin-on-cylinder wear test was also conducted to determine the
False brinelling test rig
Bearing damage
friction and wear coefficients of the bearing, under different frequencies. These experimental results where then
used to verify a developed finite element model for false brinelling of an individual roller.
The reciprocating wear test results show that the friction coefficient is almost constant and does not signifi­
cantly, change, by changing the frequency. The wear coefficient, however, can be estimated by an exponential
function of the frequency. The experimental and numerical results showed that reducing the bearing static radial
load and increasing the amplitude of linear and rotational vibration, intensifies the false brinelling damage. It
was also shown that by increasing the bearing radial load, the false brinelling wear profile changes from a U-
shape to W-shape.

1. Introduction
False brinelling is a type of fretting wear which occurs in the roller
bearings, due to intentional and unintentional linear or rotational vi­
brations. Similar to fretting wear, false brinelling is caused by oscilla­
tory, low amplitude sliding that occurs at the roller-raceway interface
[1,2]. This has been seen in several industrial applications, in which
intentional oscillations [3,4] or unintentional vibrating oscillations [5,
6] occurs. Typical circumstances when a bearing may experience false
brinelling are when the bearing is in transportation or when being stored
in an environment exposed to vibrations [2,7–9]. The previous experi­
mental studies, conducted on oscillating bearings [10,11], highlighted
the complexity of the degradation scenarios, due to the small area of
contact and small amplitude of oscillation, role of the rheology of third
body at the contact area and the influence of the system kinematics and
dynamics on the local behavior at contact surfaces. Therefore, to un­
derstand the wear process, the tribological analysis needs to be done at
the contact scale, to consider correct boundary conditions [4,12]. Over
the past decade, numerical tribology has become a powerful tool to
investigate contact issues and to simulate the wear process. Recently,
different numerical techniques, such as adaptive and explicit finite
element methods and discrete element simulations has been used to
investigate fretting wear processes including false brinelling [6,13,14].
Maruschak et al. [11] and Sotnykov et al. [15] investigated false
brinelling damage in a roller bearing used in a continuous billet-casting
machine (CBCM). They showed that the surfaces of the bearing races
were damaged, due to false brinelling caused by a dynamic loading.
They explained this mechanism by a multi-level description of defor­
mation and fracture processes that accompany the wear of a bearing’s
surface. They concluded that several complex deformation and friction
mechanisms at meso- and macro-levels contribute in the wear process.
Massi et al. [12], proposed a model to predict false brinelling. They
analyzed the influence of the aircraft engines vibrations on the contact
stresses of rolling bearings of the bleed system valves. However, their FE
model, just predicted the stress distribution at the contact area between
ball and race rather than the wear damage, caused by imposed
vibrations.
The approaches that have been used to simulate fretting wear can be
used to model false brinelling, such as in Refs. [16–18]. McColl et al.
[19,20] presented a finite element model to simulate fretting wear in a
pin-on-disc set up, based on Archard’s equation [21]. This model has
been used to simulate fretting wear in different applications [20,22–25].
Fouvry proposed that, using the accumulated friction energy dissipated
through the interface the wear volume can be estimated. This can be
calculated by integrating the friction work in the wear analysis, [26]. He
showed the linear relation between wear volume and dissipated energy

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: k.fallahnezhad@uq.edu.au (K. Fallahnezhad), o.brinji@uq.edu.au (O. Brinji), a.desai@uq.edu.au (A. Desai), meehan@uq.edu.au (P.A. Meehan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2019.203097
Received 23 July 2019; Received in revised form 8 October 2019; Accepted 18 October 2019
Available online 23 October 2019
0043-1648/© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
K. Fallahnezhad et al. Wear 440-441 (2019) 203097

trains. A false brinelling monitoring system was designed and installed

to record the vibration and rotational motion of the bearing, during the
train’s transportation and used as input for a 2D FE model. It was found
that the wear profile is highly dependent on the accumulated slip of the
contact area, over the process of false brinelling. Based on the FE results,
for a railway bearing, under the transportation condition, they showed
that the existence of stick-slip regions in the contact area causes the
development of W shape wear marks along the lateral and axial direc­
tion of the bearing depending on the amplitude of the normal load and
vibration. The W-shape marks have been seen in the false brinelling
marks of a damaged bearing, along the axial direction.
At present, no research has systematically investigated, both
numerically and experimentally the influence of external parameters,
such as amplitudes of radial force, vibration and rotational displacement
on the occurrence and severity of the false brinelling wear in a cylin­
drical bearing. To address this, in this study, a false brinelling experi­
mental test rig was developed to simulate false brinelling of a cylindrical
Fig. 1. Cylindrical bearing and its local directions.
roller bearing, during transportation. A set of reciprocating pin-on-
cylinder wear test was performed to determine the frictional and wear
coefficients of the bearing alloy, for different frequencies. Moreover, a
and proved that, different parameters, such as contact profile, amplitude
3D FE model was developed and used to simulate false brinelling caused
and frequency of sliding, and normal force can influence the slope of this
by vibration and rotational displacement. The experimental and
linear relation [27]. They also showed that the abrasive wear process
modelling results were used to investigate the influence of lateral and
requires the existence of oxygen at the interface of contact elements.
rotational vibrations, and radial force, on the false brinelling wear
F. Schwack et al. [14] developed an experimental and finite element
damage.
study to investigate false brinelling in a wind turbine ball bearing. In
their model, the frictional work density was considered as an indicator
2. Methodology
to estimate false brinelling damage. It was concluded that the bearing
geometry has a major impact on the occurrence of false brinelling
In this study, the sample is a railway cylindrical bearing (Fig. 1).
damage. Moreover reduction of the oscillation amplitude and friction
Based on the results of the authors’ previous work [6], the bearing was
coefficient (using grease) can effectively reduce the false brinelling
under a three dimensional vibration and rotational oscillating
damage.
displacement, during the train transportation. The bearing was tested
In the authors’ previous work [6], a field monitoring and modelling
under rotational and lateral vibrations (see Fig. 1) as these vibrations
study was performed to investigate and predict false brinelling in a cy­
were found to be the main cause of false brinelling wear damage pre­
lindrical bearing of a train bogie, during the transportation of new
viously [6].

Fig. 2. (a) Housing and the loading system (b) Exploded view of the housing and the loading system (c) simplified free body diagram showing forces acting on the
shaft and sample bearings.

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K. Fallahnezhad et al.
Fig. 3. Schematic view of the false brinelling test-rig.
The methodology of the false brinelling experimental tests, including
the test-rig design, is described in the first part of this section. In the
second part, the methodology of determination of wear coefficient
(using a set of reciprocating wear test) is detailed (all the experiments in
this study were performed in dry condition). Thirdly, the methodology
of developing the 3D FE model is explained.
2.1. False brinelling test-rig
The false brinelling testrig equipment and methodology will be
described in the following.
2.1.1. False brinelling testrig equipment
The false brinelling test rig, includes three main parts:
� Housing and loading system to hold the bearing and apply radial
load.
� Shaker table to provide required vibrations and rotational
displacement
� Monitoring system, including accelerometers, load cell, encoder and
data acquisition system to monitor and record the experiment’s
outputs.
Fig. 4. Encoder’s set-up (a) side view (b) front view.
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Wear 440-441 (2019) 203097
The housing, shaft and loading system were designed and fabricated
to hold the bearing and apply the required radial force (Fig. 2a). As is
shown in Fig. 2b, the test can be conducted for four bearings, at the same
time. The loading system consists of a load screw, load bars and two side
rods (Fig. 2b). By tightening the load screw, side rods will apply the
required radial force to two side-bearings covered by bushes, at two ends
of the shaft. Fig. 2c is the simplified free body diagram showing forces
acting on the shaft and sample bearings. In this diagram, Ftot is the total
load applied by the middle load screw, Fside1 and FSide2 represent the
forces applied by the side rods to the two sides of the shaft and F1 and F2
are the radial (normal) forces applied to the bearings. In this study, just
one bearing was tested at each experiment. A load cell is installed be­
tween the load screw and the bottom load bar to measure the applied
radial load.
To provide the required vibration of the false brinelling test, an EDP
Series Electro Dynamic Platform Shaker (Controlled Vibration EDP-
1818) is used which has the load capacity of 900 N and can provide
the frequency range of 5 Hz to 2 kHz. The platform is supported by four
actuator (ED Shakers with neodymium permanent magnet structures).
Actuators of the shaker platform are powered by two DSi-1000 class A/B
power amplifiers with the input signal of 1.5 Vrms (analog) and
maximum output power of 1400 Wrms. Amplifiers are controlled by a
K. Fallahnezhad et al. Wear 440-441 (2019) 203097

Fig. 5. (a) Schematic view of the normal vibration set-up (b) schematic view of the lateral vibration set-up (c) Actual lateral vibration set-up.

Fig. 6. (a) Schematic view of the rotational vibration set-up (b) Actual rotational vibration test set-up.

two channel signal generator (Rigol’s DG-1022) that can be used to different standard wave forms, such as Sine, Square, Ramp, Triangle,
control both amplifiers simultaneously (Fig. 3). This signal generator has Pulse and Noise.
a sample rate of 1000 MS/s, resolution of 1μHz and can produce A programmable digital encoder (with the resolution freely

Fig. 7. (a) FAG NU1018 cylindrical roller bearing (b) inner race, press fitted to the shaft.

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K. Fallahnezhad et al. Wear 440-441 (2019) 203097

Table 1
The parameters of the lateral vibration test.
Test Frequency Static Amplitude of Test
Number load acceleration duration

1 24 80 kg 2g 192 h
2 24 80 kg 1g 192 h
3 19 300 kg 0.6 g 72 h
4 19 300 kg 0.6 g 168 h

Table 2
The parameters of the rotational vibration test.
Test Number Frequency Static load Amplitude of rotation Test duration

1 14 80 kg 0.3�
240 h
2 14 170 kg 0.1� 240 h
3 14 115 kg 0.1� 240 h
4 15 250 kg 0.2� 72 h

programmable from 1 to 10,000) is installed at the end of the shaft

(Fig. 4) to measure the relative rotational displacement between the
shaft and housing (which is equal to the relative displacement between
the bearing inner and outer races).
A Labview code was written to read the encoder pulses and convert
them to the rotational angle of the shaft. Based on the written Labview
code, the precision of the encoder in this application was 0.009� . This
code also displays the accelerometer and load-cell outputs.
The false brinelling test rig is able to provide both lateral and normal
vibrations, depending on how the housing is mounted to the shaker
platform. Fig. 5, schematically shows the differences between lateral
and normal vibration set-ups. Fig. 5c shows the lateral vibration set-up.
The shaker table was also used to provide rotational displacement. In
this design, vertical and horizontal links convert the linear vertical vi­
bration in the shaker platform to the rotational vibration in the shaft
(Fig. 6 (a) and (b)).
2.1.2. False brinelling testrig procedure
The false brinelling test-rig was used to conduct lateral and rota­
tional vibration tests. The bearing that was used in the false brinelling
tests was a FAG NU1018 cylindrical roller bearing (Fig. 7 a). Before
starting the test, the shaft was press-fitted into the bearing inner race by
placing it in a freezer to cool for 3 h. The bearing’s inner races were
washed with a degreaser to remove any dirt and oil and placed in an
oven and heated up to 100 � C. Then, the shaft was press fitted in to the
inner race. (Fig. 7b).
The shaft and the bearings were held by the housing and the required
radial load was applied by the loading system. According to the field
measurement data, recorded during the train transportation [6], the
maximum lateral acceleration and rotational displacement, were 0.1g
and 0.03� , during the sea transportation and 0.5g and 0.6� , during the
road transportation, respectively. The road and sea transportation
duration were, 20 h and 14 days, respectively. However, for the moni­
tored transportation and the recorded circumstances, no damage was
reported on the bearing. Hence, to create the false brinelling damage, on
the bearing, so as to reduce the experiment time, the parameters were
intensified. The exact static normal load applied to the bearing, during
the shipping process was unknown. Hence, the simulation was per­
formed for a range of normal loads. The static loads were chosen within
the estimated range of the load that is being applied to the bearing,
based on its application in the train. Tables 1 and 2 show test parameters
for different lateral vibration and rotational displacement cases.
After each test, the false brinelling wear marks on the inner race
surface were measured using a stylus Taylor Hobson Talysurf i5 surface
profiler. The maximum wear depth of each case was defined and used as
an indicator of false brinelling damage to compare with the other cases.
Fig. 8. (a) Reciprocating pin-on-cylinder set-up.
2.2. Experimental determination of wear coefficient
A set of reciprocating wear tests were performed to determine the
wear and friction coefficients of the bearing steel alloy, within a range of
frequencies. These tests were performed using Bruker’s UMT TriboLab.
As it can be seen in Fig. 8, the test was a pin-on-cylinder test, using a
similar bearing material to that of the train bearing with the same
hardness. The material is 52100 high carbon bearing quality steel
(ASTM A295) [28] with the Vickers Hardness of 848 [HV], elastic
modulus of 230 GPa and Poisson’s ratio of 0.3. The chemical composi­
tion of this steel is shown in Table 3. In this test, the cylinder was fixed
and the normal load and tangential displacement were applied to the
pin. The test was performed for different frequencies of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8,
10 Hz. Due to the limitation of the testing machine, the pin on cylinder
tests could not be performed, at higher frequencies.
The applied normal load for different tests was 4 kg that was
equivalent to 464 MPa (max Hertzian pressure) based on local contact
radii of 5 mm. The friction coefficient time histories were determined for
all cases directly from the apparatus based on the measured vertical and
lateral loading. The wear coefficient α was determined from the exper­
P
imental wear volume Vw and measured accumulated frictional energy
Ed according to (Eq. (1)) [26],
X X X
Vw ¼ α Ed ¼ α ðFT � dÞ→hw ¼ α ðμ � P � dÞ (1)
where, FT is the lateral force, α is energy wear coefficient, d is the relative
displacement at the contact area, hw is the wear depth, μ is the friction
P
coefficient, P is the contact pressure and Ed is the accumulated fric­
tional energy. In particular, the area under the graph of the measured
lateral force versus lateral displacement using a summation of all test
cycles was measured as the dissipated frictional energy. The volume of
the wear profiles were measured using a stylus profilometer (Talysurf I
series 5). Before the measurement, the surfaces of the samples were
cleaned to remove any oil and dirt.
The wear coefficients of different cases (with different frequencies)
were used to propose an equation (using regression) to estimate the wear
coefficient, as a function of frequency.

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K. Fallahnezhad et al. Wear 440-441 (2019) 203097

Table 3
Chemical composition of material (mass %).
C Mn P S Si Ni Cr Cu Mo

0.93–1.05 0.25–0.45 0.025 0.015 0.15–0.35 0.25 1.35–1.60 0.30 0.1

Fig. 9. 2D bearing model (a) lateral vibration loading structure (b) rotational vibration loading structure (c) meshing structure.

2.3. Finite element (FE) model for false brinelling
A 2D FE model was developed to find the load distribution in the
bearing. These results where then used in a 3D FE model to simulate the
false brinelling process between the critical rollers and inner race.
2.3.1. 2D bearing model
A 2D FE model of the bearing was developed to find the radial load,
applied to each roller, under the test conditions. In this model, the outer
surface of the outer race was fixed to have no motion. The radial load
was applied to the centre of the inner race which is coupled to the inner
surface (Fig. 9 (a)). In this figure, FN is the normal static load and Wsh is
the shaft’s weight (Fig. 9 (a)). Fig. 9 (c) shows the meshing structure of
the model. The outer radius The outer radius of the inner race is
51.5 mm, the radius of the roller is 6 mm, the radius of the outer race is
70 mm and the bearing clearance is 0.07 mm [6].

Fig. 10. 3D FE model and its meshing structure.

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K. Fallahnezhad et al. Wear 440-441 (2019) 203097

Table 4 To reduce the computational cost, the model was developed for a half
The results of the lateral vibration test. single roller and a small part of the inner race. In this model, the small
Test Frequency Static Amplitude Test Wear Wear curvature along the inner race axis (Y-direction in Fig. 1) is considered in
Number load of duration depth profile the model (the curvature is 0.0005 mm-1). Fig. 10 shows the meshing
acceleration structure used in this model. The small contact patch of the inner race
1 24 80 kg 2g 192 h 6 μm U- and roller are meshed with small structured break elements. These el­
shape ements need to be small enough (5 μm) to appropriately model the
2 24 80 kg 1g 192 h 2.7 μm U- contact pressure and relative displacement, at the contact area. The rest
shape
3 19 300 kg 0.6 g 72 h NA
of the model was meshed by tetrahedral elements which allows
4 19 300 kg 0.6 g 168 h NA increased element sizes away from the contact area [14]. The modelling
process includes two parts. The normal load (obtained from the FE 2D)
model is applied to the roller, in the initial part. In the second part, the
2.3.2. Three dimensional FE model oscillating displacement/loading was applied. For the lateral vibration
A 3D FE model was developed to simulate false brinelling caused by case, according to the dynamic model presented in the authors’ previous
lateral vibration and rotational displacement. To model false brinelling, work, the lateral load applied to the roller is equal to the roller’s mass
a FORTRAN code that was presented in the authors’ previous work [6] times vibration (acceleration) amplitude [6].
was used in the false brinelling 3D FE model. This code updates the A python code is developed to calculate and extract the accumulated
vertical position of each contact node (using Equation (1)) and accord­ wear depth, for all nodes of the contact patch of the three dimensional
ingly the contact stress of it, at each time increment. The new values are FE model. This can provide a three dimensional profile of the wear
used to calculate the wear depth of each node, at the new time increment profile.
[6]. The algorithm of the FORTRAN code and the algorithm of inter­
action between the ABAQUS/CAE and the UMESHMOTION Code were 3. Results and discussions
presented in the authors’ previous work [6]. The assumption in this
simulation is that the wear depth has a linear behaviour versus the In the first part of this section, the results of the false brinelling tests
number of wear cycles [6]. are presented. In the second part, friction and wear coefficients are

Fig. 11. The wear marks of the first specimen of the lateral vibration test.

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K. Fallahnezhad et al. Wear 440-441 (2019) 203097

Fig. 12. The wear marks of the first specimen of the rotational vibration test.

determined, based on the reciprocating wear tests results. In the last vibrations, and normal load on the false brinelling damage.
part, the 3d FE model is verified by the experimental results. This model
was then used to investigate the influence of the lateral and rotational

Fig. 13. The wear marks of the second specimen of the rotational vibration test.

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K. Fallahnezhad et al. Wear 440-441 (2019) 203097

Table 5
The results of the rotational experiments.
Test Number Frequency Static load Amplitude of rotation The distance of the rotation Test duration Maximum wear depth Wear profile

1 14 80 kg 0.3�
0.27 mm 240 h 2.5 μm U-shape
2 14 170 kg 0.1� 0.09 mm 240 h 1.9 μm W-shape
3 14 115 kg 0.1� 0.09 mm 240 h 1.6 μm W-shape
4 15 250 kg 0.2� 0.18 mm 72 h NA NA

3.1. Experimental tests
For the two last cases of the lateral vibration test (Table 4), no sig­
nificant wear mark was seen. Although the trace of the marks could be
seen, visually, profilometer measurements showed that the wear depth
is within the surface roughness range and therefore is not measureable.
However, for the Tests 1 and 2, the surfaces of the bearing’s races were
significantly damaged. Fig. 11 shows the wear marks on the inner race
surface, in the positions of the two critical rollers, for Test 1. These two
rollers were burdened with the largest portions of the static load and
were under the maximum lateral vibration.
The profilometery results show that the marks have the U-shape
profile, along the lateral direction (the direction of vibration). Table 4
represents the maximum wear depth of each lateral vibration test. The
lateral false brinelling tests, in this study, are force controlled and the
relative displacements (slip) between the rollers and races are not
measured (it is very difficult/impossible to measure the lateral relative
displacement, due to the very small amplitude of relative displacement
and having no access to the contact area, during the experiment).
However, this value is determined using the FE model that will be pre­
sented in the next sections.
It can be seen from the experimental results, in Table 4 that by
reducing the static load and increasing the acceleration, the false brin­
elling damage increases.
Fig. 12 shows the wear marks, in the position of the two critical
rollers for the first specimen of the rotational tests. These two bearings
burden the largest portions of the static load.
It can be found from the profilometery results that the false brinelling
wear marks of this case have U-shape profiles along the bearing lateral
direction (X-axis). The maximum wear depth of this specimen was
2.5 μm. The wear non-central marks may indicate that there has been
some misalignment during assembly.
Fig. 13 shows the results of the second specimen of the rotational
test. The profilometery results are related to the position of the two most

Fig. 14. Reciprocating wear test results for the test with the frequency of 1 Hz (a) friction coefficient versus time (b) Frictional force versus lateral displacement (c)
wear volume profile (d) wear coefficient versus frequency. Using this equation (Fig. 14d), the wear coefficient of the lateral vibration test (frequency of 24 Hz) and
rotational vibration test (frequency of 15 Hz) were estimated to be 2.1E-15 Pa-1 and 7.3E-15 Pa-1, respectively.

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K. Fallahnezhad et al.
Fig. 15. Comparison between the experimental and FE false brinelling wear profiles, for the first specimen of the lateral vibration test.
critical rollers (on the inner race surface).
The profilometery results showed that the false brinelling marks had
W-shape profiles, for the second and third rotational tests. Such a profile
shape was also seen for the marks of the third specimen of the rotational
test. This profile shape is due to the existence of the stick and slip areas
in the contact patch which has been reported in previous studies [6,27].
Table 5 represents the maximum wear depth for different rotational
displacement tests. The distance of the rotation, in this table, represents
the distance of the rotation, on the outer surface of the inner race.
Table 5 shows that the amplitude of the rotational displacement
plays an important role in the false brinelling damage intensity. It can
also be seen that by increasing the radial load, the wear profile shape
changes from U-shape to W-shape. Such a behavior has been reported in
previous studies who have investigated shape of the fretting wear pro­
files in different applications [27]. The reason of this behavior will be
explained in Section 3.3.
3.2. Determination of wear coefficient
The friction coefficient for all cases of the reciprocating wear test was
Fig. 16. Comparison between the experimental and FE false brinelling wear profiles, for the first specimen of the rotational vibration test.
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Wear 440-441 (2019) 203097
the same and about 0.6. Fig. 14a shows the friction coefficient for the
test with the frequency of 1 Hz. The accumulated frictional energy of the
reciprocating wear test were calculated for each case. Fig. 14b shows the
lateral force-lateral displacement graph, by which the accumulated
frictional energy was calculated. Fig. 14d represents the variation of the
wear coefficient by changing frequency. The trend of the wear coeffi­
cient can be well approximated with an exponential function of fre­
quency. This trend has been previously reported by other researchers
[27,29]. This can be explained based on the influence of contact tem­
perature on the debris ejection. At higher frequencies, the contact
temperature will be significantly increased. At lower frequencies, debris
is ejected from the contact, but at higher frequencies the debris is
retained in the contact area (adhered debris bed), due to the high tem­
perature at the interface, and results in a reduction in wear rate [29,30].
The influence of the frequency on the wear coefficient can also be
explained by the formation of the oxide debris. The increase in fre­
quency will reduce the time between asperity interactions in the contact,
which will serve to limit oxygen penetration into the interface and
accordingly limits the oxidation process which in turn reduces the wear
rate [29,31].
K. Fallahnezhad et al. Wear 440-441 (2019) 203097

Fig. 17. Comparison between the experimental and FE false brinelling wear profiles, for the second specimen of the rotational vibration test.

Table 6 Table 7
Test parameters of each wear mark, for the rotational vibration specimens. Test parameters of each wear mark, for the lateral vibration specimens.
Case Static load on the roller Amplitude of rotation Case Static load on the roller Amplitude of acceleration

Test 1- mark 1 130 0.3� Test 1- mark 1 150 2g

Test 1- mark 2 63 0.3�
Test 2- mark 1 252 0.1�
Test 2- mark 2 237 0.1�
Test 3- mark 1 205 0.1�
Test 3- mark 2 175 0.1�
3.3. Finite element model
In the first part of this section, the FE results are compared to the
experimental results to verify the FE model. In the second part, the in­
fluence of the variation of radial force and the amplitude of lateral and
rotational vibrations on the false brinelling wear damage is investigated.
3.3.1. Verification
Figs. 15–17 show three different cases, for which the experimental
and modelled false brinelling wear profiles are compared. In the 2D
cross section graphs, the FE profile is laterally shifted to better compare
with the experiment wear profile.
These figures confirm that the 3D FE model can predict the shape of
the wear profile. Fig. 17 shows that the shape of the wear profile, along
the X-axis can be well-predicted by the FE model, when the wear mark
has a W-shape profile. According to Equation (1), the wear depth is
depended on the contact pressure and the relative displacement (slip), at
the contact area. When the tangential load is significantly smaller
compared to the normal load, the magnitude of slip is zero at the middle
part of the contact surface, where the contact pressure is largest, and as a
result, the surface is divided into stick and slip areas. The existence of the
stick and slip areas, at the interface can result in the creation of the W
shape wear profile [6,26].
However, Fig. 17 shows that the wear depth is insignificant, in the
middle of the experimental wear profile, along the Y-axis which is not
predicted by FE model. This is likely, due to the lack of oxygen con­
centration, in the middle part (along Y-axis) [27]. The Finite element
model is not able to include the oxygen concentration variable, in the
modelling process.
3D Finite element model were used to determine the maximum wear
depth for the critical rollers of each case. Tables 6 and 7 show the radial
Test 1- mark 2 110 2g
Test 2- mark 1 150 1g
Test 2- mark 2 110 1g
force, lateral vibration and rotational displacement of each mark, based
on the position of the rollers, during the test. These parameters were
used as an input in the FE model to simulate false brinelling, for each
case. Fig. 18 compares the maximum wear depth of experimental
specimens and the FE model.
It can be seen that the FE model can predict the trend of the wear
damage caused by different radial loads and lateral and rotational vi­
brations to within 85% error. This error can be mainly due to simplifi­
cations and assumptions that were made to determine the wear
coefficient. In this study, the assumption is that changing the wear co­
efficient is not dependent on the contact pressure. This assumption has
been made by many researchers, before [19,24,26,32,33]. However,
based on the Fouvry’s results [27], wear coefficient can be a function of
the contact pressure and contact profile. In this study, the same wear
coefficient was used for different normal pressures. Moreover, due to the
wear tester’s limitations, the reciprocating wear test could be performed
for the frequencies up to 10 Hz and the wear coefficient of the lateral
vibration test (frequency of 24 Hz) and rotational vibration test (fre­
quency of 15 Hz) were estimated using the proposed equation, based on
the reciprocating wear test. This can also be another source of error.
3.3.2. Sensitivity analysis of static load and vibration levels on false
brinelling
The FE model was used to investigate the influence of the radial force
and amplitude of the lateral and rotational vibrations on the wear
damage of false brinelling. The maximum wear depth of each case is
presented as the representative of the false brinelling wear damage. It
should be noted that the radial (normal) load in this section, refers to the
normal load that is applied to the bearing ie set of rollers. Fig. 19a shows
the maximum wear depth versus normal load for two different ampli­
tudes of lateral vibration. Fig. 19b shows the wear depth versus lateral
vibration, for two different normal loads of 80 and 120 kg. Fig. 19c

11
K. Fallahnezhad et al. Wear 440-441 (2019) 203097

Fig. 18. Comparison between the experimental and modelling maximum wear depth, for the rotational and lateral vibration cases.

Fig. 19. (a) Wear depth versus Normal load (b) wear depth versus lateral vibration (c) wear depth versus rotational displacement.

shows the maximum wear depth versus lateral vibration (acceleration),
for two different normal loads (applied to the bearing).
Fig. 19a shows that by increasing the normal load, in a constant
amplitude of vibration, the wear depth, nonlinearly, reduces. This
reduction is particularly significant, when the bearing static normal load
is less than 100 kg. Where by increasing the normal load from 10 kg to
80 kg the wear depth reduces by 51%, when the lateral vibration is 2 g.
This change can be explained based on the role of normal pressure and
relative displacement on the magnitude of the wear depth. Equation (1)
shows that the wear depth has a direct relation with the normal pressure
and the relative displacement. Fig. 20 shows the maximum contact
pressure and maximum accumulated slip (relative displacement) in the
contact area, versus normal load, for one cycle of fretting wear, under
the lateral vibration of 2 g, in the position of the critical roller. According
to Fig. 20, it can be seen that the normal pressure increases (by power of
0.38), by increasing the normal load. However, by increasing the normal
load, there is a substantial reduction in the amplitude of the relative
displacement (by power of 0.95) which overcomes the effect of normal
load increases and in turn reduces the wear depth.
Fig. 19b shows that increasing the lateral vibration, while the
bearing is under the constant radial load, increases the wear depth. This
increase is more significant for smaller normal loads. Where, increasing
the lateral vibration from 1.5 g to 2 g, increases the wear depth by 64%,
when the bearing is under the normal load of 80 kg. In this case,
increasing the lateral vibration, increases the lateral force, and accord­
ingly the lateral slip, under the constant normal pressure which in­
creases the wear depth, based on Equation (1). Fig. 19c shows that
increasing the rotational displacement, significantly increases the wear
depth. Increasing the rotational displacement from 0.42 to 0.6� , in­
creases the wear depth by 82%. This is because increasing the rotational

12
K. Fallahnezhad et al.
Fig. 20. Contact pressure and maximum accumulated slip (relative displacement) versus normal load for one cycle of fretting wear, under the lateral vibration of 2 g,
in the position of the critical roller.
displacement, increases the relative displacement between roller and
inner race, under the constant contact pressure, which increases the
wear depth, based on Equation (1).
4. Conclusion
In this study, a novel false brinelling test rig was used to recreate
false brinelling in a controlled laboratory environment. A set of recip­
rocation wear tests was developed to determine the wear and friction
coefficients at different excitation frequencies. The 3D FE model was
developed and verified with the experimental results, in terms of pre­
dicting the false brinelling wear profile shape and the maximum wear
depth. This model was then used to investigate the effect of the normal
load and vibration amplitudes on the false brinelling damage. The
graphs of maximum wear depth versus bearing radial load, lateral vi­
bration and rotational displacement were produced to show the influ­
ence of external parameters on the bearing false brinelling damage.
The reciprocating wear test results show that the friction coefficient
in this case was constant at about 0.6 for different vibration frequencies.
The wear coefficient, however, can be estimated by an exponential
function of the frequency. Using this function, the wear coefficient of the
false brinelling lateral vibration test (frequency of 24 Hz) and rotational
vibration test (frequency of 15 Hz) were estimated to be 2.1E-15 Pa-1
and 7.3E-15 Pa-1, respectively. This is due to the debris retention in the
contact area, caused by temperature increasing, at high frequencies.
Reduction of the oxygen penetration into the interface, at higher fre­
quencies, is another reason of wear coefficient reduction. This can limit
the formation of the oxide debris, at the interface and reduce the wear
rate [27,29–31].
Experimental and modelling results showed that increasing the
normal force, reduces the false brinelling wear depth. This reduction is
particularly significant, when the bearing static normal load is less than
100 kg. Where by increasing the normal load on the bearing from 10 kg
to 80 kg the maximum wear depth reduces by 51%, when the lateral
vibration is 2 g. Wear depth has a direct relation with the normal pres­
sure and the relative displacement. Normal pressure increases by
increasing the normal load. However, by increasing the normal load,
there is a substantial reduction in the amplitude of the relative
displacement which in turn reduces the wear depth. It was also shown
that increasing the lateral vibration and rotational displacement
significantly increases the false brinelling damage. Where, increasing
13
Wear 440-441 (2019) 203097
the lateral vibration from 1.5 g to 2 g, and increasing the totational
displacement from 0.42 to 0.6� , increased the maximum wear depth by
64% and 82%, respectively, when the bearing was under the normal
load of 80 kg. In this case, increasing the lateral vibration, increases the
lateral force, and accordingly the lateral slip, while the normal pressure
is constant which increases the wear depth. Experimental results showed
that by increasing the lateral vibration from 1g to 2g, when the bearing
was under the normal load of 80 kg, the maximum wear depth of the
inner race increased from 2.7 μm to 6 μm moreover, for the rotational
vibration test, by increasing the bearing normal load from 80 kg to
170 kg and decreasing the rotational displacement from 0.3 to 0.1� , the
maximum wear depth reduced from 2.5 to 1.6 μm (36%). This is because
increasing the rotational displacement, increases the relative displace­
ment between roller and inner race, under the constant contact pressure,
which increases the wear depth.
Acknowledgments
The authors greatly appreciate the financial support from the Rail
Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (funded jointly by partici­
pating rail organisations and the Australian Federal Government’s
Business Cooperative Research Centres Program) through Project
“Monitoring and Control of False Brinelling”.
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