Deuterium penetration into the bulk of a steel ball of a ball bearing due to its rotation in vacuum

The experiments were performed to study a phenomenon of mechanically stimulated solution of adatoms into the bulk under friction. A ball bearing with carbon chromium steel balls of 3.97 mm diameter was used for testing. An axial load of Ls34 N was applied per ball. After degassing the ball bearing performed a total of 23.8=103 revolutions at ns196 rpm at deuterium pressure ps5=10y2 Torr. The same ball bearing was kept in the chamber without motion as a reference. The SIMS depth profiling of the contact surface areas of the ball shows that deuterium concentration has the highest value of C0s1.3=1018 atoms cmy3 at a depth of 0.1 mm from the surface. Then, it decreases to a background value of C1s6.5=1016 atoms cmy3 at a depth less than 0.55 mm. For the reference ball, a considerable deuterium concentration was observed only on the surface. These results are in a good agreement with recent computer simulation of the phenomenon. q1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.