White Etch Areas:

Metallurgical Characterization
&
Atomistic Modeling
R. Scott Hyde, Ph.D.
Sr. Scientist, Timken Company
Wind Turbine Tribology Seminar
Argonne National Laboratory
October 2014

WHITE ETCH AREAS/CRACKING - INDUSTRY ISSUE

Growth of wind energy; size and capacity of wind
turbines continue to increase
Bearing designs and materials are pushed to untested
limits
Downtime is costly
(planned or unplanned)
20-year life desired; gear and bearing
replacement 1 to 2 years
Cycle continues if problem is not solved

MICROSTRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS - TERMINOLOGY

Dark Etching Areas

Dark Tint
Dark Line
Dark Etching Regions
(DER)
Dark Needles
Dark Etching Bands

White Bands

80 or 30 Degree Bands
White Etch Areas (WEA)
White Etching Alterations
(WEA)
Light Etching Areas
Light Etching Region
Bright Etching Regions
(BER)
High/Low Angle Bands
Steep/Flat White Band

Butterfly

Stress Butterfly
White Etch Areas
White Etch Cracking

White Etch Areas (WEA)

Brittle Flaking
White Structure Flaking
White Band
Bright Etched Regions
irWEA

irregular white etch areas

inner ring white etch areas

White Etch Cracking

Axial Cracking
Radial Cracking

WHY

THE DARK AND WHITE ETCH CONNOTATIONS?

OUTLINE/AGENDA
Industry/Application Observations
Progression of events

Material Structure Characterization

Modeling - Molecular Dynamics

Page 5

INDUSTRY/APPLICATION OBSERVATIONS
Observed in
Bearings & Gears
CRBs, SRBs, TRBs (mainly inners)
Through hardened, bainitic, carburized

Applications
Engine alternator (accessory) bearings, wind gearbox
bearings, paper/cement mills

Factors influencing
Negative
Vibration, slip, clearance, electricity, additives,
preservatives, hydrogen
Positive
Interstitials, alloying elements, black oxide, mounting
temperature, operation time, carburized
Page 6

PROGRESSION

OF

EVENTS

Dynamic application conditions resulting in plastic instability

Changes in wind speed and direction

Periodic grid engagement and disengagement
Turbine braking
Less than ideal bearing selections/environments
Effects of dynamic conditions

Slide-to-roll ratio
Roller skewing/misalignment
Torque reversals
Shaft deflections
Changing load zones
Instantaneous loading

Continued application conditions steady state/dynamic

Microstructural alterations
Spalling/White Etch Cracking
Page 7

WEA DECONSTRUCTION & RECONSTRUCTION

Years
Hours

Characterization

Minutes
Seconds

Modeling

Microseconds
Nanoseconds
Picoseconds
Femtoseconds
A

nm

um

mm

Metallurgical Characterization

Multi-scale Metallurgical Characterization

meters

Un-aided
Bearing Raceway Spall

10-1

Light Microscopy
White Etching Area

10-3

SEM, FIB
White Etching Area

10-5
TEM, SAD

10-7

Carbide Dissolution

10-9

FIM, HRTEM,
Atom Probe

Nanocrystalline
Structure

Transformation of Vacancy Formation

Retained Austenite

WHITE ETCHING AREA

WEA SELECTIVE AREA DIFFRACTION

Top Fine Region

BCC+FCC
Middle Coarse Region

BCC
Bottom Fine Region

BCC

BCC

LEAP ANALYSIS - WEA

Carbon

Chromium

Iron

PROGRESSION

OF

WEA
Zone 0: Original base microstructure martensite, bainite

Zone 0

Zone 1

Zone 1: Shear band, crack, boundry localized plastic

deformation

Zone 2

Zone 2: Processed material Super saturated ferritic

nano-substructure

Zone 3

Zone 3: Relaxed Processed material (partially)

recrystallized super saturated ferritic
nano-structure, voids

Zone 0:
Bainite or martensite; 58-64 HRC, 10 um grain size, ferrite/martensite laths, primary and
transition-temper carbides
Zone 1:
Shear band, crack, boundary, etc; high aspect ratio, allow atom transfer, absorbs energy, shear
soft
Zone 2:
Processed material; extremely hard, supersaturated ferrite, nano-crystalline (5-10 nm)
substructure, no carbides
Zone 3:
Relaxed processed material; very hard, supersaturated ferrite, nano-crystalline (20-50 nm)
substructure, no carbides

PLASTIC INSTABILITY POSSIBLE SOURCES

Zone 1: Shear band, crack, boundary, etc;

absorbs energy, high aspect ratio, allow atom transfer,

shear soft

Adiabatic Shear Bands

Deformed
Transformed

Cracks

Fatigue cracks
Inclusion interfaces

Metallurgical Boundaries
2nd Phase Particles
Twins
Grains

PLASTIC INSTABILITY
SHEAR BANDS

Cycle 1000

Cycles 10002000

Cycle 2001

Cycles 2000+
WEC

Dynamic
Event

Nominal
Loading

Dynamic
Event

Nominal
Loading

Page 16

PLASTIC INSTABILITY - CRACKING

Crack

WEC

PLASTIC INSTABILITY - 2ND PHASE PARTICLES

Carbide

Carbide
Interface

PLASTIC INSTABILITY - INCLUSIONS

Aleksandro Grabulov, Ph.D. thesis, Fundamentals of Rolling Contact Fatigue, TU Delft, 2010
19

FORMATION

OF

BUTTERFLY - FEATURES

Aleksandro Grabulov, Ph.D. thesis, Fundamentals of Rolling Contact Fatigue, TU Delft, 2010
20

Modeling Diffusive Molecular Dynamics

SCOPE OF SIMULATIONS
Experiments

Multi-scale
simulation

23

DIFFUSIVE MD (I)

24

Capture diffusive timescale

Passes through trillions of
energy barriers
No catalog event required
Gaussian variation coupled
with diffusion.
Degrees of freedom per atomic
site (5): Position (3) + Gaussian
width (1) + occupation
probability (1)
Minimize free energy
Evolution of occ. prob. due to
diffusion master equation

MODELING SCOPE
Dislocation density (1016/m2 to 1017/m2)
Dislocation-Carbon interaction
Dislocation annihilation
Carbide dissolution
Mechanism of carbon & dislocation transport
Void nucleation
Hydrogen role
Free energy

final state
initial state

Reaction coordinate
25

SAMPLE PREPARATION
!

z
y
Localized!!
Shear!&!Compression!

2 by 2 by 2 of Unit cell
Samples are consisted 13 by 13 by 80
unit cells
Samples are under compression and
cyclic shear
Initially the compression and shear
are localized
Carbon atoms are inserted in
interstitial sites randomly
26

Initial Configuration

0.0% C & 5% NORMAL COMPRESSION

27

FORMATION OF GRAINS

Formation of nano-grain: 0.0 % C, 5.0% normal compression

28

FORMATION OF GRAINS

Formation of nano-grain: 0.5 % C, 5.0% hydrostatic compression

29

0.5 WT% & 3% COMPRESSION

30

PROCESSED ZONE (I)

(a)!
0%

(b)!
-1%

(c)!
-2%

(d)!
-3%

Formation of new grain orientation

31

(e)!
-4%

(f)!
-5%

CEMENTITE-FERRITE ORIENTATION
Bagaryatsky Orientation
Relationships in Pearlite:

[100]C
[ 010]C
[ 001]C

111
112
110

F
F
F
a) Phase map b) Orientation
image map in Pearlite Colony
Nakada et al. Scripta Materialia
2009

32

CEMENTITE-FERRITE INTERFACE

33

Ferrite

Cementite

[111]

[100]

Ferrite

[111]

SHEAR CEMENTITE-FERRITE INTERFACE

Plastic deformation happens as a result of Cementite and Ferrite slipping at the

interface
No major microstructural evolution in Cementite
34

PARTICLE ANALYSIS
Undeformed

3D

OF

CEMENTITE
90% Reduction

66% Reduction
RD

LD

RD

LD

CEMENTITE AREA ANALYSIS

Cementite Area (mm2)

450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0

Analysis performed
on 1500mm2 area

No deformation

66% reduction

90% reduction

Deformation caused progressive carbide dissolution

CEMENTITE DISSOLUTION
Un-deformed
Cementite Length/Width

66% Reduction
Cementite L/W

90% Reduction
Cementite L/W

Analysis performed
on 1500mm2 area

Counts

Counts

Counts

Breakdown of cementite lamellae was evident by decrease in the counts of

high length/width at 66% with subsequent increase in the equiaxed
particles. The dissolution caused further decrease in the cementite particle
counts at 90% deformation.

MODEL CRACK AS A FRANK READ

SOURCE
Objective:
Subject the ferrite/cementite
interface with many
dislocations
Means:
Use fracture inside matrix as a
source for generating
dislocations
Challenges:
Very large system - 1.4 M
atoms
Free surface is require
38

INITIAL CONFIGURATION (I)

Remove a row atoms to define the
crack

39

MODE I FRACTURE OF FERRITE

40

CEMENTITE-FERRITE INTERFACE
Cementite

Ferrite

Cementite

2.4 M atoms

[001]
41

[110]

[001]

OPTIMAL METALLURGICAL SOLUTION

FOR WEA & WEC

Bearing Heat Treat

Steel Grade

Steel Quality (Cleanliness)

Improve
Bearing
Performance

Eliminate
Plastic
Instability

Bearing Design

Eliminate
Dislocation
Generation &
Carbide
Dissolution

Eliminate
Void
Formation &
Cracking

Eliminate
Processed
Material

Page 42

Thank You!
Questions?