Study on Oxygen Content, Inclusions and Fatigue Properties of Bearing Steels Produced by Different Processes
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Graphical Abstract
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Abstract
The metallurgical properties and fatigue life of bearing steel processed by electric furnace (EAF), ladle refining (LF-VD), continous casting (CC) and electroslag remelting (ESR) have been investigated. The main results obtained are as follows: (1) Due to low oxygen content and dispersion inclusions in steel, the fatigue Life of LF-VD-IC or CC is three times as high as that of EAF steel; (2) The oxygen content in steel produced by CC process is about 9.0×10-6, the carbon segregation (C/C0) is from 0.92 to 1.10 and the fatigue life of CC steel is equal to that of ladle refining ingot casting steel; (3) Although the amount of inclusion and oxygen in ESR steel is higher than that of LF-VD-IC or CC steel, the fatigue life of ESR steel is higher than that of the latter because of its fine and well dispersed inclusions.
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