Performance improvement of silicon nitride ball bearings by ion implantation. CRADA final report

The present report summarizes technical results of CRADA No. ORNL 92-128 with the Pratt and Whitney Division of United Technologies Corporation. The stated purpose of the program was to assess the 3effect of ion implantation on the rolling contact performance of engineering silicon nitride bearings, to determine by post-test analyses of the bearings the reasons for improved or reduced performance and the mechanisms of failure, if applicable, and to relate the overall results to basic property changes including but not limited to swelling, hardness, modulus, micromechanical properties, and surface morphology. Forty-two control samples were tested to an intended runout period of 60 h. It was possible to supply only six balls for ion implantation, but an extended test period goal of 150 h was used. The balls were implanted with C-ions at 150 keV to a fluence of 1.1 {times} 10{sup 17}/cm{sup 2}. The collection of samples had pre-existing defects called C-cracks in the surfaces. As a result, seven of the control samples had severe spalls before reaching the goal of 60 h for an unacceptable failure rate of 0.003/sample-h. None of the ion-implanted samples experienced engineering failure in 150 h of testing. Analytical techniques have been used to characterize ion implantation results, to characterize wear tracks, and to characterize microstructure and impurity content. In possible relation to C-cracks. It is encouraging that ion implantation can mitigate the C-crack failure mode. However, the practical implications are compromised by the fact that bearings with C-cracks would, in no case, be acceptable in engineering practice, as this type of defect was not anticipated when the program was designed. The most important reason for the use of ceramic bearings is energy efficiency