Galling Wear on a Steel Inner Cone of a Roller-Bearing Assembly

When a roller-bearing assembly was removed from an aircraft for inspection after a short time in service, several areas of apparent galling were noticed around the inside surface of the inner cone of the bearing. These areas were roughly circular spots of built-up metal. The bearing had not seized, and there was no evidence of heat discoloration in the galled areas. The inner cone, made of modified 4720 steel and carburized for wear resistance, rode on an AISI type 630 (17-4 PH) stainless steel spacer. Consequently, it was desirable to determine whether the galled spots contained any stainless steel from the spacer. Other items for investigation were the nature of the bond between the galled spot and the inner cone and any evidence of overtempering or rehardening resulting from localized overheating. Analysis (visual inspection, electron probe x-ray microanalysis, microscopic examination, and hardness testing) supported the conclusions that galling had been caused by a combination of local overload and abnormal vibration of mating parts of the roller-bearing assembly. No recommendations were made.