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Copyright © 1992 by ASME

High Nitrogen Martensitic Steels

A New Family of Martensitic Corrosion Resistant Steels
for Improved Aerospace Bearing Performance
WERNER TROJANS
Material Mechanics, Research and Development Center
FAG Kugelfischer Georg Schafer KGaA
LT-P-AC, Postfach 1260
D-8720 Schweinfurt, Germany

ABSTRACT

The need for greater reliablity of corro- well as mechanical properties and bearing per-
sion resistant bearings, especially in aero- formance.
space and aircraft applications, has led to
the development of 15 - 96 Cr-steels with 1 96 Mo. 2. STEELMAKING
A partial exchange of carbon by nitrogen
improves corrosion resistance, mechanical The adjusting of a nitrogen content up to
properties and bearing life as compared to 0.4 % in martensitic steels is impossible by
conventional stainless bearing steels. conventional melting practices. Following
Sievert's law this content is reached by ap-
KEYWORDS plying a pressure of up to 40 bar during the
remelting in a 20 ton electroslag remelting
Bearing steel, Corrosion resistance, Ni- furnace (PESR) [4].
trogen alloyed
3. TEST

1. INTRODUCTION 3.1 STEELS

In aircraft engine applications conven- Two different nitrogen alloyed steels

tional steels like SAE 52100, M50 and M50NiL were produced by PESR. The so called X15 had
are most widely used for bearings. These 0.15 96 C and 0.38 96 N, the so called X30 con-
steels offer a good fatigue life capability tained 0.33 96 C and 0.33 96 N. Table 1 compares
but no corrosion resistance. the chemical compositions of test steels.

As a consequence, unexpected corrosion is

one of the main reasons for the rejection of Cr V
bearings [1].

0.95 SAE 52100 * 1.5

If corrosion is expected, the steel AISI
440 C is applied. This steel offers a limited X 65 Cr13 0.68 12.9
corrosion resistance and a sufficient [2]
440 C 1.01 16.4 0.45
hardness of 58 HRC min. The fatigue life capa-
bility is reduced as compared to the other X 15 0.15 0.38 15.3 1.14 0.03
steels [3].
X 30 0.33 0.33 16.2 1.11 0.02
During recent years a new family of high M50 * 0.83 4.2 4.25 1.00
strength corrosion resistant steels was deve-
loped. The basis is a 15 96 Cr steel with 1 96
* = average analysis
Mo. A partial exchange of carbon by nitrogen
is the main difference to conventional steels.
TAB. 1: Chemical Composition of Test Steels
(Wt %), Main Elements
This paper gives an overwiev of the new
steels. Corrosion resistance is included as

Presented at the International Gas Turbine and Aeroengine Congress and Exposition
Cologne, Germany June 1-4, 1992

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 60
Typical microstructures in the as quen-
ched condition are presented in Fig. 1.
Steels like AISI 440 C and M 50 contain large 59
eutectic carbides. With decreasing carbon con-
tent, amount and size of these carbides can be
reduced, but they still are present. In
X 65 Cr 13 carbides of 10 - 15 pm size are
common. Both X-alloys are free of these large - 5 57
carbides.

56

55
380 400 420 440 460 480 500 520 540 560
Tempering Temperature (°C)

FIG. 2 Heat Treatment Behavior

Hot hardnesses of the X-steels, AISI

440 C and M 50 are compared in Fig. 3.
While the behavior of the low tempered steels
is similar up to 200 °C [392 °F], hot hardness
1. 40 C of X 15 remains relative high up to 350 °C
(662 °F), as it is known from the high tempe-
50mm
rature bearing steel M50.
FIG. 1 Carbides in Corrosion Resistant
Steels, as Hardened

3.2 RESPONSE TO HEAT TREATMENT

Steels like AISI 440 C and SAE 52100 are

known to reach 58 HRC min. In the low tempered
condition, M 50 a hardness of 60 HRC min. in
the high tempered condition.

As can be seen from Fig. 2a, X 30 reaches

the 58 HRC-goal in the low tempered condition,
while X 15 has to be tempered in the region of
450 °C (842 °F), Fig. 2b.

65

„60
0 100 200 300 400
Temperature [ °C]

`-'55 FIG. 3 Hot Hardness after 1 hour at

Temperature

-0 50
O
2 austenitized: 30 min
quenched : oil The maximum hardness of X15 remained con-
45
deep frozen: —80*C/1h stant after 1000 hrs at 400 °C (752 °F).

40 A further improvement in secondary harde-

900 950 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200 ning is brought about by adding elements like
Austenitizing Temperature ( ° C ) vanadium or niobium, Fig. 2b. More research
work will be done on the secondary hardening.

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 3.3 CORROSION RESISTANCE strength deformation Young's
mod.
Dynamic current density-potential measu- 0.2% -yield ultimate
rements of X-steels reveal a dinstinct drop of (MPa) (MPa) (%) (GPa)
the passive current density and a raise of the
break-through potential if compared to conven-
X 65 Cr 13 1280 1700 0.8
tional steel, Fig. 4.
1750 1750 0.2 220.6
440 C
1750 2055 1.5 215.4
treanment• X 15
1010.C. 30 min/ oil • (—MK'. 30 min)
1865 2170 3.9 218.3
MC • 150.C. 2 h/ air X 30
)00 • 200.C. 2 h/ air
XI3 450 "C, 3a 1 h/ air

440C TAB. 2: Tensile Properties of Corrosion

Resistant Steels (Average of 5)
_215 .

X30
•
200 403 600 900 1300 1200
POten1101 U in mV In compression all the steels exhibit a
yield strength in the range of 1870 to 2040
MPa and an ultimate strength between 2500 and
FIG. 4 Current Density-Potential Curves of
2650 MPa.
Corrosion Resistant Steels in a 1-n H2SO4
Solution
Impact energy tests of unnotched speci-
mens (4 x 10 mm cross section) are summerized
The superior resistance of X-steels against in fig. 6.
pitting corrosion is also demonstrated by salt Independent of test temperature, toughness of
spray testing according to DIN 500021 SS 440 C remains low. The X-steels and the
(35 °C (95 °F), 5 -°1 NaC1 in water) Fig. 5 X 65 Cr 13 increase in impact energy signifi-
shows X-15 and 440 C rings after 4 hrs in the cantly.
test chamber.
While the 440 C ring exhibits extensive corro-
sion, no indication could be seen on X-steel
rings. This was still true after 30 hrs of
test. 140

E 120

1 —I 100 p

...
X 30
X 65 Cr 13/
/ X 15
60
Z 6'
a 40
E 440 C
— 20
.
........
............ .
•

0 ,
-200 -100 0 100 200
Temperature [ 4 C]
FIG. 5 Test Rings after 4 h Salt Spray
(35 °C, 5 % NaC1 in water)
FIG. 6 Impact Energy Testing of Unnotched
Flat Specimens (Average of 5)
3.4 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

The results of tensile tests (average of As far as fracture toughness is concerned

the values for X-steels were found to be in
5 specimens) are given in Table 2.
The X-steels surpass the conventional corro- the same range as compared to other conventio-
sion resistant steels in strength and ductili- nal through hardening steels, 16 - 23 MPa ✓m.
ty.

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 3.5 BEARING TESTS
Interrupted Run
Bearing life testing was done under con-
ditions given in Table 3.

Test bearings: Angular Contact Ball Bearing

(bore diameter 25 mm)

Hertzian Pressure: 2800 MPa

Rotating Speed: 12 000 rpm

Lubrication: Mobile Velocite No.2, 65°C

Calculated Life: 50 hrs acc. DIN/ISO 281

Test A: Continuos run, poor lubrication

FIG. 8 Overrolling Test with Intermittent
Salt Spray, 10 % of 440 C Rings Failed within
1 Cycle, 100 % within 4 Cycles. No Failure on
Test B: Interrupted run with
X-Steels after 8 Cycles (End of Test)
N x (4h salt spray + 24h run)
poor lubrication
In test C (EHD-condition) no failure
Continuos run, full lubrication occured on X 15 or X 30 rings after more than
Test C:
2000 hrs of continuous overrolling (test con-
(EHD) tinued). For the steels M 50 and SAE 52100 a
L10-life of 1300 hrs is considered a good re-
TAB. 3: Conditions for Bearing Life Tests, sult.
25 Rings per Serie
Tests A and B were runs under poor lubrication Wear resistance of the steels were tested
(i. e. partial metal to metal contact in the by running different combinations of rings and
rolling contact zone). Test C was done under balls without lubrication under a low Hertzian
full elasto-hydrodynamic condition (EHD, i. e. pressure. As can be taken from Fig. 9, X 15-
no metal to metal contact). rings wear less than M 50-rings.
In combination with silicon nitride balls, the
Inner rings of conventional and X-steels mass loss is as low as thin on dense
were tested against balls and outer rings made chromium-coated M 50-rings.
of steel 100 Cr 6 (SAE 52100). The inner ring
was designed to be the life limiting part. The 99
95 — BEARING Mgli ,
calculation of unfactored bearing life
— RACES TDC , ilIV .
(DIN ISO 281) amounted to 50 hrs for a 10 %- 90 5 r
80 COATED / /
failure probability (L10-life). ."/
./ CI/
70 ✓ /RACES X 5
o 60
The results clearly demonstrate the su-
perior performance of the N-alloyed steels as
2 50 —4.11. --
,r
,"-- CERAMIC BALLS
UNCOATED 6
, 13
111
iE 40
well in the continuous run, test A, Fig. 7, as / /
in the interrupted run with intermittent salt 30 CI / ■
V
V e
spraying, test B, Fig. 8. 20
/

10 /
0 /
5 /
RACES X15 BEAR NG M50
440C BALLS UNCOATED
UNCOATED
2

1
100 1000
WEAR MASS OF OR+IR+BALLS (mg)

FIG. 9 Mass Loss of Angular Contact Ball

Bearings after Operation as a Function of
Material Combination, Hertzian Pressure 865
MPa (125 KSI), Rotation: 500 rpm
Duration: 50 h, Lubrication: Dry

FIG. 7 L10-Life in Continuos Overrolling

under Poor Lubrication

L.

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4. DISCUSSION
The corrosion tests demonstrated a su-
perior corrosion resistance of the nitrogen
alloyed steels. Although the positive influen-
ce of nitrogen in austenitic stainless steels
has been used for a long time the mechanism is
not exactly known. An explanation could be:
a) A local corrosion around nitrides is
missing [4]. Nitrides, being precipitated
during heat treatment, contain less Cr and
Mo than carbides [5]. A higher amount of
these elements in the matrix increases
passivation and decreases corrosion.
b] Nitrogen atoms segregate at the surface and
form CrN. These Nitrides react - for
example - with water to ammoniak and
ammonium. Ions of ammonium raise the local
pH-value. This results in a lower corrosion
rate [6].
c] Nitrogen is reported to react with Mo. A
kind of film is built up [7]. Expecially in
the case of pitting corrosion, this film
prevents further metal dissolution and fa-
vours passivation.
The exellent performance of the new nitrogen
steels in the tensile test as well as in be-
aring life testing mainly is based on the ab-
sence of large carbides. These carbides act as
weak points [8] and stress raisers. In analogy
to the effect of hard inclusions, the local
stress could exceed the strength of the steel,
though the nominal load is relative low [9].
Very often carbides are the origin of cracks
and pittings in the raceway [3].
Furthermore, the absence of large carbi-
des favours a low operational noise of the be-
arings [10].
5. CONCLUSIONS
The results shown above demonstrate, that
the X-steels are ready for application. They
are already included in varios test programs
for bearings and linear motion systems.
In addition, more work is being performed
to improve the hot hardness feature of the
X 15 steel.
REFERENCES
[1] E. Steinhardt: Design and Beaviour of
Aero Engine Bearings, MTU Focus 2/1989
[2] FAG-Standard catalogue 241510/2DA: Life
calculation with regards to capacity
ratings, p. 573
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[8] R. Newman et. al.: Mechanism of Passiva-
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[11] A. Hirao, W. A. Kuhn: Kugellager aus
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