1、Contact fatigue strength

Under the action of cyclic loads, bearings are prone to fatigue damage on the contact surface, such as cracking and peeling, which is an important form of bearing failure. Therefore, in order to improve the service life of bearings, bearing steel must have high contact fatigue strength.

2、 Wear resistance performance

During the bearing task, not only rolling friction but also sliding friction occurs between the ring, rolling elements, and support frame, resulting in continuous wear of the bearing components. In order to increase the wear of bearing components, maintain the stability of bearing accuracy, and extend the service life, bearing steel should have good wear resistance.

3、Hardness

Hardness is one of the important qualities of bearing quality, which indirectly affects contact fatigue strength, wear resistance, and elastic limit. The hardness of bearing steel under certain operating conditions should reach HRC61~65, which enables the bearing to achieve high contact fatigue strength and wear resistance.

4、Rust prevention performance

In order to avoid corrosion and rust of bearing parts and finished products during processing, storage, and use, it is requested that bearing steel should have good rust prevention performance.

5、Processing performance

In the consumption process of bearing parts, they need to go through many cold and hot processing procedures. In order to meet the requirements of small quantities, high efficiency, and high quality, bearing steel should have good processing performance. For example, cold and hot forming performance, cutting performance, hardenability, etc.

In addition to the basic requirements mentioned above, bearing steel should also meet the requirements of appropriate chemical composition, average external structure, minimal non-metallic impurities, compliance with specifications for external surface defects, and the decarburization layer on the surface not exceeding the regular concentration.