Abstract
It is important to investigate subsurface defects because they have a detrimental effect on the flaking failures occurring under rolling contact fatigue. In order to discuss the lives of bearings we need to investigate the relation between the defects and internal stress distribution in terms of mechanics. In this study, we calculated stress distributions around single inclusion and a pore using 3-D finite element analysis. When comparing the features of the pore and two kinds of inclusions we found that the stress concentration around the pore was extremely large and its effective volume, which is a size of the area affected by the concentration, was largest. However, outside the area whose distance is 2.3a (a: pore radius) from the center of the pore (or inclusion), there were no differences in stress distribution.
