Discovery of white etching areas in high nitrogen bearing steel X30CrMoN15-1: A novel finding in rolling contact fatigue analysis

White etching areas (WEA) and white etching cracks (WEC) are frequently linked to premature bearing failure in conventional high carbon bearing steels like 100Cr6 (SAE 52100). In contrast, no WEA/WEC has yet been reported for the high nitrogen bearing steel X30CrMoN15-1 (SAE AMS 5898). Thus, the present study proves for the first time that X30CrMoN15-1 is also susceptible to develop WEA/WEC under rolling contact fatigue (RCF) when pre-charged with hydrogen. RCF tests conducted in parallel without hydrogen pre-charging resulted in RCF damage only, which identifies hydrogen as an active agent for WEA/WEC formation in X30CrMoN15-1. These findings correspond to the fact that hydrogen diffusion during RCF is often considered to cause or accelerate the formation of WEA/WEC. Additionally, it is observed that the M₂(C, N) and M₂₃C₆ precipitates of the martensitic microstructure of the X30CrMoN15-1 do not entirely decompose during the WEA formation process as observed for M₃C precipitates in 100Cr6. In conclusion, the results for X30CrMoN15-1 strongly suggest that the formation of WEA is driven by a hydrogen-activated local severe plastic deformation process, which initiates continuous dynamic recrystallisation, leading to the characteristic nano-ferritic grains observed in WEA. Also, the highly stable and self-regenerating passive chromium-oxide layer of X30CrMoN15-1 mitigates the risk of WEA/WEC failure during typical RCF operation by hindering the formation and adsorption of ionic hydrogen. Hence, this study emphasises the importance of protecting the base material against hydrogen ingress to delay WEA/WEC formation.