Papers by Author: Kazuhiko Hiraoka

Abstract: Crack formation by a rolling contact fatigue in a high carbon chromium bearing steel has been discussed. Newly developed method for preparing specimens including pre-existing voids enabled one to observe the early stage of fatigue crack formation. Many fatigue cracks were formed around the voids. The positions of crack formation and the direction of the cracks were consistent with those forecasted by finite element analysis. Fatigue crack formation was followed by formation of the WEAs.

Abstract: It is important to suppress grain coarsening during the carburizing treatment of automobile components such as gears and shafts so that high strength is maintained and heat treatment distortion is minimized. Two manufacturing methods are often used for the cost reduction. One is the increasing carburizing temperature. The other is the adoption of cold forging instead of hot forging. These methods are likely to result in grain coarsening in the case of conventional steels. It is well known that the key factors to control the grain growth are the initial austenite grain size and the volume and mean size of precipitates. In this study, the grain growth property of Ti-modified steel was investigated to confirm the influence of precipitates, and compared with those of Nb-modified and conventional steels. The influence of forging temperature on the grain growth property in a Ti-modified steel was also investigated.