JPH04337024A - Production of bearing steel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a bearing steel having superior rolling fatigue life in a relatively high temp. region by subjecting a steel having a composition containing specific weight percentages of components to heat treatment under specific conditions. CONSTITUTION:A steel which has a composition containing 0.1-0.7% C, <=2.0% Si, 1.0-17.0% Cr, and <=5.0% Ni or further containing one or more kinds among <=5.0% Mo, 0.01-1.0% Nb, and 0.01-1.0% V is subjected to preliminary carburizing, by which the carbon content in the surface layer is regulated to a range exceeding the eutectoid point and lower than the Acm transformation point. Subsequently, the surface layer is formed into a structure composed essentially of pearlite or bainite by means of air cooling and spheroidizing annealing is applied to the above to form the surface layer part into a [ferrite + spheroidal cementite] structure. Subsequently, carburizing treatment is made at 750-1000 deg.C, by which the carbon content in the surface is regulated to a range not lower than the Acm transformation point. Successively, the steel is subjected to hardening treatment from 900-750 deg.C and further to tempering treatment.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] This invention can be used not only at room temperature, but also at room temperature.
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing bearing steel that exhibits excellent rolling contact fatigue strength even at temperatures up to a relatively high temperature of 300°C.

0002

[Prior art and its issues] In recent years, as seen in measures to improve fuel efficiency in the automobile industry, there has been an increasing demand for lighter parts used in various machines and equipment, but especially in the case of power transmission parts. As the weight is reduced, the stress borne by the parts increases accordingly, so it is necessary to reduce the weight and at the same time increase the strength of the material.

By the way, it goes without saying that bearings used in power transmission systems need to have higher strength to match the miniaturization described above, but at the same time, especially for those used around the engine, It is also an important requirement that the lubricating oil has sufficient strength, that is, heat resistance, to withstand the temperature rise (120 to 300° C.) of the lubricating oil caused by high-speed rotation of the engine.

[0004] Here, the strength required for bearing materials is ``strength against surface peeling due to repeated rolling contact between balls or rollers and races (hereinafter referred to as ``rolling fatigue strength'').
”, which affects the life of the bearing. Therefore, among the bearings used in the power transmission parts of automobiles, etc., those used especially around the engine have a rating of 120~
It is necessary to exhibit a high rolling fatigue life even at a temperature of 300°C.

[0005] As a material for such bearings, quenched and tempered SUJ2 steel specified by JIS has been most frequently used. The heat resistance was not sufficient. In other words, for bearings made of SUJ2 steel, 120
When exposed to warm temperatures of ~300°C for a long time, the surface was tempered and softened, resulting in a significant reduction in rolling fatigue life.

[0006] In order to compensate for these drawbacks of SUJ2 steel,
It is necessary to make the material surface a metal structure with high softening resistance or to increase the surface hardness, and for this reason various ideas have been tried and many proposals have been made to the steel composition and surface treatment methods. Typical examples include a)
A proposal to increase the temper softening resistance by increasing the amount of Si in SUJ2 steel, thereby improving rolling fatigue life (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-255650), b) Carburizing high Cr low/medium carbon steel to reduce the surface layer A proposal to increase the surface hardness by dispersing and precipitating carbides in the area, thereby improving rolling fatigue life (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-1)
No. 07755), etc.

However, in the case of proposal a), S
There is a limit to improving the softening resistance by increasing the amount of i alone, and high S
Since the hardness decreases rapidly when the use temperature reaches 200° C. or higher even when the amount of i is used, no improvement in rolling fatigue life at 200° C. or higher could be expected.

In addition, in the case of proposal b), an increase in surface hardness and an improvement in softening resistance due to the precipitation of carbides can be expected, so the decrease in hardness in warm conditions is smaller than in proposal a). The effect of improving the rolling fatigue life was not sufficient, and it was not possible to achieve a noticeable improvement in the rolling fatigue life at temperatures up to about 300°C. This is considered to be due to the fact that in the material in which carbides are dispersed and precipitated using the method of proposal b), the precipitation form of carbides is not sufficiently suitable for improving the rolling fatigue life.

[0009] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a material that has significantly improved rolling contact fatigue strength compared to conventional materials and that is excellent even in the relatively high temperature range of 120 to 300°C. The objective was to provide a bearing steel that exhibits a rolling fatigue life.

0010

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, in order to achieve the above object, the present inventors focused on the effect of improving the surface hardness and softening resistance of bearing steel in which carbides were dispersed and precipitated in the surface layer by carburizing. , conducted extensive research in search of a more stable improvement measure for rolling fatigue life under relatively high temperatures of about 120 to 300°C.

[0011] By the way, in order to effectively precipitate and disperse carbides in the surface layer of steel by carburizing, in principle, it is necessary to disperse in advance the nuclei that will become carbide precipitation sites during carburizing in the structure before carburizing. There is a basic fact that we need to keep in mind. In other words, if the nuclei are not dispersed in the previous structure, carbide precipitation during carburization will occur preferentially at the austenite grain boundaries. Needless to say, when such precipitation of carbides at austenite grain boundaries occurs, the toughness required for mechanical structural parts is significantly degraded. Therefore, in order to ensure a high rolling contact fatigue life even in the temperature range of 120 to 300°C, it is necessary to prevent carbide precipitation at the austenite grain boundaries as much as possible, and to allow carbides to precipitate within the austenite grains. For this purpose, it is necessary to disperse nuclei, which serve as carbide precipitation sites, in the structure before carburizing.

[0012] The inventors of the present invention have conducted various investigations from this viewpoint and have discovered the following fact. (a) When precipitating carbides by carburizing, the nuclei that work most effectively as precipitation sites are those that have the same crystal structure as the carbide precipitated during carburizing, and it is important to select such nuclei as the nuclei. For example, if the carbide precipitated during carburizing is M3 C type, M3 C type is present in the previous structure.
By dispersing the carbide in the mold in advance, it becomes possible to uniformly precipitate the carbide within the grains by carburizing.

(b) By the way, the precipitation nuclei must not be dissolved into the matrix during carbide precipitation carburizing. When the core (carbide) dissolves into the matrix during carburization, precipitation of carbide due to carburization occurs preferentially at grain boundaries. For this reason, carbide precipitation carburizing needs to be carried out in a "temperature-time balance" in which the nuclei are not completely dissolved in the matrix.

(c) An example of the structure before carbide precipitation carburization that meets the above conditions is a spheroidized annealed structure. That is, the spheroidal carbides in the structure effectively act as insoluble and stable carbide precipitation nuclei during carbide precipitation carburization, and promote the precipitation of carbides having the same crystal structure. In order to achieve this spheroidized annealed structure in medium to low carbon steel, it is effective to carburize the steel in advance to make the surface highly carbonized and then perform spheroidization treatment.

(d) Therefore, after pre-carburizing medium to low carbon bearing steel to make the surface layer a structure consisting mainly of high carbon pearlite or bainite, this is subjected to spheroidizing annealing [ferrite + spheroidizing]. [carbide] structure, and then carbide precipitation carburization is carried out, carbides are finely dispersed and precipitated within the crystal grains on the steel surface, with the spheroidized carbides in the pre-carburized part serving as nuclei.
The surface hardness and annealing softening resistance of steel increased significantly to 120~
It exhibits excellent rolling fatigue life even at an operating temperature of 300°C.

The present invention was completed based on the above-mentioned findings, etc., and includes ``C: 0.1 to 0.7% (hereinafter, % representing the component ratio is expressed as weight %), Si: 2.0% or less, Cr: 1.0 ~ 17
．． 0%, Ni: 5.0% or less, or further Mo: 5.0% or less, Nb: 0.01-1
．． 0%, V: 0.01 to 1.0%, and the remainder consists of Fe and unavoidable impurities. Acm transformation point], then air cooled to make the surface layer a pearlite or bainite-based structure, followed by spheroidizing annealing to transform the surface layer into a [ferrite+
Spheroidized cementite] After forming a structure, 750 to 100
By carburizing in a temperature range of 0℃ to adjust the amount of carbon on the surface to above the Acm transformation point, followed by quenching from 900 to 750℃ and then tempering, "We have made it possible to provide industrially stable bearing steel that exhibits excellent rolling fatigue strength."
It has major characteristics.

In the above-mentioned method of the present invention, machining (cold forging, etc.) may be performed before the carbide precipitation carburizing after the spheroidizing annealing. This is because the structure after spheroidizing annealing is a [ferrite + spheroidized cementite] structure, which has excellent workability and is therefore very easy to shape.

Next, the reason why the chemical composition of the applied steel and its treatment conditions are limited as described above in the present invention will be explained. A) Chemical composition of steel C C has the effect of ensuring the hardness of steel, but if its content is less than 0.1%, the strength of the core will be insufficient and the performance as a bearing steel cannot be ensured. It disappears. On the other hand, if the C content exceeds 0.7%, the toughness of the core of the material will be significantly impaired, making it impossible to ensure the desired performance as a bearing steel. In particular, the present invention incorporates a surface hardening means that strengthens the surface of steel by precipitation of carbides, but when surface hardening is performed, it is necessary to compensate for the significantly reduced surface toughness due to hardening with the toughness of the core. Therefore, it is very important to ensure sufficient toughness in the core, and therefore, careful attention must be paid to the upper limit of the C content. Therefore, the C content is 0.
1~0. %.

Si Si forms a solid solution in the martensite of the base structure and has the effect of toughening the martensite, thereby improving the rolling contact fatigue strength. However, on the other hand, it also has the effect of making it difficult for carbides to precipitate during carbide precipitation carburizing, and if Si is contained in an amount exceeding 2.0%, carbides may not precipitate. Therefore, the Si content is 2.
It was set at 0% or less.

Cr Cr is a carbide precipitation element and has the effect of accelerating the precipitation reaction during carbide precipitation carburizing, but when its content is 1.0
If it is less than %, the promoting effect of the carbide precipitation reaction is insufficient, and the spheroidized carbide that is the nucleus will aggregate and coarsen during the carburizing process, making it impossible to obtain a carbide-dispersed structure that contributes to improving rolling fatigue strength. On the other hand, even if the Cr content exceeds 17.0%, the effect of the above action will be saturated, resulting in an economic disadvantage. Therefore, the Cr content is 1.
It was set at 0 to 17.0%.

[0021] Ni Ni, like Si, also has the effect of forming a solid solution in the martensite of the base structure and toughening it, and through this effect it exhibits the effect of improving rolling contact fatigue strength. It also has the effect of making it difficult for carbides to precipitate during carbide precipitation carburizing. In particular, if the Ni content exceeds 5.0%, carbide precipitation will be insufficient, so the Ni content should be 5.0%.
．． It was set at 0% or less.

Mo Mo, like Ni and Si, has the effect of solid solution in martensite, which is the base structure, to strengthen it, and also has the effect of accelerating the carbide precipitation reaction in the carburized area, although it is not as strong as Cr. may be included if necessary, but 5
．． Even if Mo content exceeds 0%, the effect of improving rolling fatigue due to base toughening will be saturated, so the Mo content should be set at 5.
It was set as 0% or less.

Nb and V Both Nb and V combine with C during carburizing to form a special MC type carbide, which disperses and precipitates together with Fe and Cr carbides and has the effect of improving rolling fatigue life. One or two types may be added if necessary, but the content of both is 0.
If the content is less than 1.0%, the desired effect due to the above action cannot be obtained, while if the content exceeds 1.0%, the effect of improving rolling fatigue life will be saturated. Therefore, the contents of Nb and V were determined to be 0.01 to 1.0%, respectively.

B) Pre-treatment (pre-carburizing, spheroidizing annealing treatment, etc.) In order to finely disperse spheroidized carbides by carbide precipitation carburizing, a pre-structure in which carbide precipitation nuclei exist is required. Pre-carburizing is an indispensable process for increasing the carbon content of the surface layer of steel and creating a base for forming precipitation nuclei.

The reason why the C content in the steel surface layer is adjusted to a value exceeding the eutectoid point by pre-carburizing is to keep the precipitate nuclei stable even during carbide precipitation carburizing. If the amount is too high, the precipitation nuclei will disappear during carbide precipitation carburizing, making it difficult to finely disperse and precipitate carbides. On the other hand, the reason why the amount of C in the steel surface layer, which increases due to the pre-carburizing, is kept below the Acm transformation point is to prevent carbides from precipitating during this treatment. That is, since the precipitation of carbides suitable as precipitation nuclei is performed in the next process, spheroidizing annealing, it is important to increase the amount of solid solution C on the surface in preparation for this preliminary carburizing treatment.

[0026] Air cooling after preliminary carburizing is necessary to make the carburized part have a structure mainly composed of pearlite or bainite, and to uniformly disperse carbides within the crystal grains in the next process, spheroidizing annealing. Note that the cooling rate in this case is not particularly limited.

As described above, the spheroidizing annealing treatment is carried out in order to obtain a structure in which suitable carbides, which serve as precipitation nuclei during carbide precipitation carburizing, are uniformly dispersed, that is, a [ferrite + spheroidized cementite] structure. Note that there are two methods for spheroidizing annealing: a constant temperature holding method and a slow cooling method, but since the carbide obtained by either method remains the same as a precipitation nucleus, there is no need to specify the treatment method.

By the way, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-69252 discloses that, when carburizing steel, preliminary carburizing is performed, and subsequent cooling creates a bainite, pearlite, or martensite structure in the surface layer. A proposal has been made to utilize the carbides in the martensite, or the carbides generated from the martensite during temperature rise, as precipitation nuclei during carbide precipitation carburizing. However, when the previous structure is pearlite, the carbides in the pearlite are in the form of flakes, so that sufficiently spheroidal carbides are not precipitated during the carbide precipitation carburizing process. Furthermore, when the pre-structure is made of bainite or martensite, the hardness becomes high, making it difficult to process the pre-structure, and both are unfavorable as means for producing bearing steel.

C) Carbide Precipitation Carburizing Process Carbide precipitation carburizing process precipitates further carbides into fine spherical shapes using the carbides generated in the previous spheroidizing annealing as nuclei, thereby increasing the hardness and softening resistance of the steel surface. Applied to improve rolling fatigue life. As mentioned above, it is necessary to increase the surface hardness in order to improve the rolling contact fatigue life, and for this purpose, in addition to the dispersed precipitation of carbides, the matrix is made of high carbon marten with a C content higher than the Acm transformation point. It needs to be a site. In order to obtain high carbon martensite, C
It is necessary to carburize in the austenite region where the solid solubility is high. However, if the carburizing temperature is less than 750°C, carburizing in the austenite region becomes impossible. On the other hand, when carburizing in a temperature range exceeding 1000°C, the spheroidized annealed carbides that form the nucleus of carbide precipitation disappear, so the carbides supplied by carburizing coarsen and precipitate at austenite grain boundaries, resulting in rolling contact fatigue. Deteriorates life strength. Therefore, the carburizing temperature was set at 750 to 1000°C.

[0030] Carburizing methods include solid method, salt bath method,
There is a gas method and an ion method, but it is not necessary to specify any method since the object of the present invention can be achieved by either method. Further, regarding the carburizing time, since the required concentration of the carbide dispersed layer varies depending on the product, it is necessary to select an appropriate time accordingly.

D) Quenching Treatment Quenching treatment is carried out to transform the matrix into high carbon martensite and increase the hardness of the carbide precipitate layer and the core. Here, when attempting to obtain high carbon martensite by quenching, generally the high temperature phase austenite tends to remain in the matrix. This is called retained austenite, and if a large amount remains, the dimensional stability of the bearing during driving will deteriorate, causing noise and seizure problems. The higher the quenching temperature, the more remains in the retained austenite. In particular, when quenching is performed from a temperature range exceeding 900°C, residual austenite increases rapidly, impairing the dimensional stability of the bearing. On the other hand, in order to make the matrix into high carbon martensite, it is necessary to quench from the austenite region, but the quenching temperature is 7.
If the temperature is less than 50°C, quenching from the austenite region becomes impossible. Therefore, the quenching temperature was set at 900 to 750°C.

E) Tempering Treatment Tempering is performed to impart toughness to the high carbon martensite produced by quenching. In this case, the tempering temperature is not particularly limited, but it is desirable to conduct the tempering at a temperature 50 to 100° C. higher than the operating temperature of the bearing.

Next, the effects of the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to Examples.

[Example] Steel having the composition shown in Table 1 was vacuum melted,
The obtained ingots were hot forged to produce round bars each having a diameter of 70 mm. Next, each round bar is machined to a diameter of 6 mm.
A disk-shaped test piece with a diameter of 0 mm and a thickness of 7 mm was prepared, and heat treated under the conditions shown in Table 2.

[0034]

[Table 1]

[0035]

[Table 2]

Next, the surface of each of the heat-treated test pieces was mirror-polished, and then a rolling contact fatigue test (thrust type) was conducted on each test piece. The test conditions were: contact stress: 560 kgf/mm2, oil temperature: 250°C, steel ball: 3/8'' properly finished bearing steel.

These results (L50 life) are also shown in Table 2. As is clear from the results shown in Table 2, steel materials manufactured according to the conditions specified in the present invention have a
It can be confirmed that the rolling fatigue life at a warm temperature of 0°C is significantly improved compared to the conventional products. This is because, prior to carbide precipitation carburizing, if a preliminary structure in which carbides are finely dispersed is formed by spheroidizing annealing from a base material in which the amount of C has been adjusted through preliminary carburizing, the carbides produced by the carbide precipitation carburizing process will become more spherical. It is thought that this resulted in uniform and fine dispersion, leading to a significant improvement in the rolling fatigue life in warm conditions.

[0038]

[Summary of Effects] As explained above, according to the present invention,
It solves the problem of conventional bearing steels, which is that rolling fatigue life decreases at operating temperatures of 120 to 300°C, and is excellent in a wide operating temperature range from room temperature to relatively high temperatures of 300°C. It has become possible to stably provide industrially a bearing steel that exhibits rolling fatigue life, and it has brought industrially useful effects, such as further improving the performance of bearings used at high temperatures such as in areas around automobile engines. It will be done.

Claims (4)

[Claims] [Claim 1] C: 0.1 to 0.7%, Si: 2.0% or less, C
Steel containing r: 1.0 to 17.0%, Ni: 5.0% or less, and the balance consisting of Fe and unavoidable impurities,
After pre-carburizing to adjust the carbon content in the surface layer to a range of [above the eutectoid point and less than the Acm transformation point], the surface layer is air-cooled to form a pearlite or bainite-based structure, and this is then subjected to spheroidizing annealing. After that, the surface layer is formed into a [ferrite + spheroidized cementite] structure, and then carburized in a temperature range of 750 to 1000°C to adjust the amount of carbon on the surface to above the Acm transformation point.
A method for producing bearing steel that exhibits excellent rolling contact fatigue strength even in a temperature range from room temperature to 300°C, characterized in that the steel is subsequently quenched at 900 to 750°C and then tempered. [Claim 2] Weight percentage: C: 0.1 to 0.7%, Si: 2.0% or less, Cr: 1.0 to 17.0%, Ni: 5.0% or less, Mo: 5 .0% or less, with the balance consisting of Fe and unavoidable impurities,
After pre-carburizing to adjust the carbon content in the surface layer to a range of [above the eutectoid point and less than the Acm transformation point], the surface layer is air-cooled to form a pearlite or bainite-based structure, and this is then subjected to spheroidizing annealing. After that, the surface layer is formed into a [ferrite + spheroidized cementite] structure, and then carburized in a temperature range of 750 to 1000°C to adjust the amount of carbon on the surface to above the Acm transformation point.
A method for producing bearing steel that exhibits excellent rolling contact fatigue strength even in a temperature range from room temperature to 300°C, characterized in that the steel is subsequently quenched at 900 to 750°C and then tempered. [Claim 3] C: 0.1 to 0.7%, Si: 2.0% or less, C
Contains r: 1.0 to 17.0%, Ni: 5.0% or less, and further contains Nb: 0.01 to 1.0%, V: 0.01 to 1.0
% or 2 with the balance consisting of Fe and unavoidable impurities, the steel is pre-carburized to adjust the carbon content in the surface layer to a range of [above the eutectoid point and below the Acm transformation point] and then air cooled. to make the surface layer a pearlite or bainite-based structure,
Subsequently, this was subjected to spheroidizing annealing to form the surface layer into a [ferrite + spheroidized cementite] structure, and then
It is characterized by carburizing in a temperature range of 00°C to adjust the amount of carbon on the surface to above the Acm transformation point, followed by quenching from 900 to 750°C, and then tempering.
A method for producing bearing steel that exhibits excellent rolling contact fatigue strength even in the temperature range from room temperature to 300°C. [Claim 4] Weight percentage: C: 0.1 to 0.7%, Si: 2.0% or less, Cr: 1.0 to 17.0%, Ni: 5.0% or less, Mo: 5 .0% or less, and further contains Nb: 0.01-1.0%, V: 0.01-1.0
% or 2 with the balance consisting of Fe and unavoidable impurities, the steel is pre-carburized to adjust the carbon content in the surface layer to a range of [above the eutectoid point and below the Acm transformation point] and then air cooled. to make the surface layer a pearlite or bainite-based structure,
Subsequently, this was subjected to spheroidizing annealing to form the surface layer into a [ferrite + spheroidized cementite] structure, and then
It is characterized by carburizing in a temperature range of 00°C to adjust the amount of carbon on the surface to above the Acm transformation point, followed by quenching from 900 to 750°C, and then tempering.
A method for producing bearing steel that exhibits excellent rolling contact fatigue strength even in the temperature range from room temperature to 300°C.