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Acta Metall Sin  2026, Vol. 62 Issue (3): 467-476    DOI: 10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00300
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Nanoscale Carbide Precipitates and Residual Stress Evolution in Cryogenically Treated M50 Aeroengine Bearing Steel Investigated Using Advanced Neutron Methods
CAO Yanfei1, ZHANG Xiao1, LIU Hongwei1, WANG Leitao1, KE Yubin2,3, HE Lunhua2,3, XIE Zhenhua2,3, WANG Pei1(), LI Dianzhong1()
1.Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
2.Spallation Neutron Source Science Center, Dongguan 523803, China
3.Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Cite this article: 

CAO Yanfei, ZHANG Xiao, LIU Hongwei, WANG Leitao, KE Yubin, HE Lunhua, XIE Zhenhua, WANG Pei, LI Dianzhong. Nanoscale Carbide Precipitates and Residual Stress Evolution in Cryogenically Treated M50 Aeroengine Bearing Steel Investigated Using Advanced Neutron Methods. Acta Metall Sin, 2026, 62(3): 467-476.

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Abstract  

Aeroengine bearings, often referred to as the “joints” of the critical aeroengine components, are essential to engine performance, operating under extreme conditions of high temperatures, rapid rotation, and heavy mechanical loads. M50 high-carbon, high-alloy steel, renowned for its exceptional high-temperature stability, hardness, wear resistance, and fatigue resistance, has long been the material of choice for aerospace bearings. Although advances in purification, homogenization, and grain refinement have improved the fatigue life of M50 steel, challenges remain. Notably, microstructural heterogeneities within the matrix, such as coarse carbides, can act as crack initiators under cyclic loading, highlighting the need for advanced microstructural control strategies. This study systematically investigates the evolution of nanoscale carbides in M50 bearing steel during a novel treatment process combining quenching, direct cryogenic treatment, and subsequent tempering, as well as the evolution of residual stress under service conditions. The analyses employed the following methods: small angle neutron scattering and general purpose powder diffraction at the China Spallation Neutron Source, complemented by aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and residual stress profiling using the contour method. The results demonstrate that elliptical and rod-shaped nanoscale carbides are predominant in the cryogenically treated M50 steel. After tempering, the density of rod-shaped nanoscale carbides increases while the average size decreases, enhancing secondary hardening through the strengthening of carbide dispersion. Remarkably, atomically thin lamellar carbides, with a face-centered cubic structure and bulk enrichment in elements C, Cr, Mo, and V, were identified as precursors to geometrically anisotropic carbides. This novel treatment promotes finer, more uniformly distributed nanoscale carbides comparing to the typical tempering after cryogenically treated microstructure, synergistically improving fatigue strength and hardness while ensuring uniform residual stress distribution in bearing rings. The residual stresses in aeroengine bearing rings under precision and fine grinding conditions are comparable and remain at low levels. Under various service conditions, comparisons between domestically developed and imported bearing rings reveal that after service, transverse residual stress shifts from compressive to tensile, with domestically developed bearings exhibiting residual stress states similar to imported bearings.

Key words:  bearing steel      nanoscale carbide      small angle neutron scattering      residual stress      general purpose powder diffraction     
Received:  27 August 2024     
ZTFLH:  TG142.1  
Fund: National Natural Science Foundation of China(52031013);National Natural Science Foundation of China(52321001);National Natural Science Foundation of China(52201150)
Corresponding Authors:  WANG Pei, professor, Tel: (024)83970106, E-mail: pwang@imr.ac.cn;
LI Dianzhong, professor, Tel: (024)83970106, E-mail: dzli@imr.ac.cn

URL: 

https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/10.11900/0412.1961.2024.00300     OR     https://www.ams.org.cn/EN/Y2026/V62/I3/467

Fig.1  Schematic of residual stress testing for bearing ring (TD—tangent direction, LD—longitudinal direction, ND—normal direction)
Fig.2  Two-dimensional small angle neutron scattering (SANS) patterns of the cryogenic (a) and tempered (b) M50 steel samples (Qx —scattering vector modulus along the x-axis, Qy —scattering vector modulus along the y-axis. I—integral intensity)
Fig.3  Experimental measured and model-fitted SANS curves of the cryogenic (a) and tempered (b) M50 steel samples (Q—scattering vector modulus)
Fig.4  Bright-field TEM (a, c) and HRTEM (b, d) images showing the ellipsoid (a, b) and rod-like (c, d) nanoscale carbides in cryogenic M50 steel samples, and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns of circle areas in Figs.4a (e) and c (f) (M—matrix)
Fig.5  Volume fractions of nanoscale carbides with different sizes in cryogenic and tempered M50 steel samples
Fig.6  Atomic-resolution HAADF-STEM image of a lamellar carbide with a thickness of a few atomic layers in tempered M50 steel sample (a) and corresponding EDS elemental mappings for Fe (b), C (c), V (d), Cr (e), and Mo (f)
Fig.7  Residual stress (a) and lattice strain (b) distribu-tions in the M50 bearing ring under different processing conditions
Fig.8  Residual stress distributions of M50 bearing ring measured by contour method
(a) finite element simulation result
(b) residual stresses along lines 1-3 in Fig.8a
Fig.9  Residual stress (a) and lattice strain (b) distributions of the M50 bearing rings in as received, short-time serviced, long-time serviced, and imported serviced states
Fig.10  Schematics of finely dispersed carbides (a) and coarse carbides (b) affecting residual stress (The two sequences represent post-temper deep cryogenic treatment and pre-temper deep cryogenic treatment, respectively. The fine and uniform distribution of carbides results in smaller fluctuations in residual stresses in the former process, adopted in this research)
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