Materials

The performance of any ball or roller bearing depends on the characteristics of the selected alloys and their heat treatment. Choosing a material with the correct hardness, corrosion resistance, and fatigue life ensures that a bearing will function reliably within a given application's operational and environmental parameters. Below we list some of the standard and more advanced alloys we work with, define material fatigue life, and share some useful information about our materials processing capabilities.

Standard and Advanced Bearing Materials

52100 chrome steel, 440C stainless steel, and M50 tool steel are the most common materials used in rolling element bearings, as they are suitable for most applications. Extreme operating conditions often require the use of more advanced alloys such as BG42®, M50 NiL, and Cobalt-based alloys. Although cost considerations occasionally override longevity, the expense involved in more frequent bearing replacement often justifies the higher initial costs of specifying longer-lasting specialty metals.

Table of Bearing Materials

HiTech purchases all products per AMS industry standards and/or NHBB product engineering standards.
* Consumable Electrode Vacuum Melted.
** Vacuum Induction Melted/Vacuum Arc Remelted.
‡ Pressure Electroslag Remelting.

Fatigue Life

Bearing steels possess specific characteristics that play a critical role in bearing performance. Choosing a material with the correct values for hardness, corrosion resistance, strength, fracture toughness and fatigue life ensures that a bearing will function reliably within an application’s operational and environmental parameters. During the material selection process, these characteristics are weighed against an application’s specific conditions of temperature, load and corrosiveness.

The most important result of material selection is a bearing’s longevity. Since different materials possess varying amounts of fatigue life, each alloy is assigned a life adjustment factor which is determined through empirical testing. This value provides a basis for calculating a dependable bearing-life estimate. The life adjustment factors for various bearing steels are listed in the section titled Load Ratings and Bearing Life.

Materials Processing

NHBB maintains exacting metallurgical control of all materials from the originating mill through all manufacturing processes. Materials are heat-treated and tempered in-house under controlled atmospheres to bring about the uniform grain structure and specific hardness appropriate for the intended application.

Materials Laboratory

Our Materials Laboratory is specifically designed and equipped to perform complex chemical, metallurgical and visual analyses of the many component parts in ball and roller bearings. Alloy composition is determined with X-ray diffraction spectrography and nondestructive test methods. Metallurgical studies are conducted with a metallograph, which performs microstructure photography at magnifications from 25 to 2000 times, and microhardness testers, which investigate surface effects and alloy homogeneity. The lab also utilizes a scan electron microscope (SEM) to inspect topographies of materials. The SEM has a magnification range that encompasses that of optical microscopy and extends it to the nanoscale.