抄録
Bearings used for automotive powertrains sometimes suffer flaking damage that unexpectedly shortens their life due to peculiar microstructural changes at their subsurface. The results of our previous studies have indicated that this type of flaking is a kind of hydrogen embrittlement caused by the diffusion of hydrogen into the steel due to the decomposition of the lubricant by tribochemical reactions during rolling contact. In this study, the influence of micro-slip that occurs in the contact area was investigated as one of the factors influencing the amount of hydrogen diffusion and accelerating the flaking induced by hydrogen embrittlement.
