NSK’S ES1 stainless steel outperforms conventional stainless bearing steels in corrosion resistance and fatigue performance

Citation

(2010), "NSK’S ES1 stainless steel outperforms conventional stainless bearing steels in corrosion resistance and fatigue performance", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 57 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2010.12857cad.001

NSK’S ES1 stainless steel outperforms conventional stainless bearing steels in corrosion resistance and fatigue performance

Article Type: New materials and equipment From: Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Volume 57, Issue 3

NSK has developed excellent stainless steel (ES1) for use in high-humidity, chemical, and hygienic environments, where corrosion can impair the reliable long-term operating life of rolling bearings (Figure 1). ES1 provides superior corrosion resistance and rolling contact fatigue life to conventional AISI 440C steel in wet and aggressive environments. This improvement helps to reduce maintenance, downtime, and replacement bearing costs.

Figure 1 NSK ES1 bearings

Until the development of ES1, AISI 440C had been the general choice for use in bearing applications where corrosion resistance was a primary concern. Because the steel contains coarse eutectic carbides which act as crack initiators under rolling contact stress, the performance of AISI 440C had not always proven satisfactory.

ES1 steel, has no eutectic carbides, but consists of fine carbides, nitrides, and strong martensite, resulting in improved resistance to corrosion and fatigue. ES1 also has optimum nitrogen content and lower carbon content to suppress the eutectic carbides generated in conventional steelmaking process. The operating benefits of this new material specification have been proven following extensive testing by NSK. ES1 outperformed other stainless steels in a 5 percent aqueous sodium chloride immersion test, a salt-water spray test, 5-N sulphuric acid and 5-N hydrochloride solution immersion tests and during life tests in water.

In the aqueous sodium chloride immersion test, test pieces of ES1, 13Cr stainless steel and AISI 440C were immersed in a 5 percent aqueous sodium chloride solution at room temperature for 8 h. Before immersion in the solution, all surfaces of the test pieces were polished, then passivation treatment was applied. The test revealed that the conventional AISI 440C and 13Cr stainless steels rusted, whereas ES1 did not. Similar results, were also recorded in the salt-water spray test, with both AISI 440C and 13Cr rusting considerably, while ES1 did not.

Additional performance advantages were recorded for ES1 in the water immersion test. The test bearings were 51305 thrust ball bearings with fluororesin cages and silicon nitride balls. They were subjected to a load of 980 N (maximum contact pressure: 1,470 MPa) and rotating speed of 1,000 rpm, until the bearing vibration level reached about five times its initial value. Under these conditions, the test results revealed that ES1 provides approximately five times longer life than AISI 440C.

Because bearings manufactured from stainless steel are routinely exposed to cleaning solutions of sulphuric and hydrochloric acids, a further corrosion test was undertaken. This evaluated the corrosion resistance of ES1, 13Cr stainless steel and AISI 440C in a 5-N aqueous sulphuric acid solution and 5-N hydrochloric acid solution. In the test, samples of each type of steel were immersed in the solutions at room temperature for 20 h. The amount of corrosion was then measured. This revealed that ES1 is superior to both conventional stainless steels in its resistance to both sulphuric and hydrochloric acids.

More information is available from: www.nsk.com