Lube-Tech PUBLISHED BY LUBE: THE EUROPEAN LUBRICANTS INDUSTRY MAGAZINE Figure 3: Released hydrogen penetrates steal


Under load and, critically, under the influence of stray electrical currents (which are common in electrically driven machines), these hydrogen ions are driven into the steel. Once inside, the hydrogen ions pair with electrons to form atomic hydrogen (H), a form that is small enough to infiltrate grain boundaries, dislocations, and other microstructural weaknesses.


The presence of atomic hydrogen is especially dangerous in high-carbon steels, such as those used in rolling element bearings; it can react with free or loosely bound carbon to form methane gas (CH4


Figure 4: Hydrogen transforms into atomic state


No.159 page 3


spontaneously form on the contact surface. This film has low shear strength, resists oxidation, and does not accumulate dislocations.


). Because methane molecules are much larger


and more volatile than atomic hydrogen, they exert pressure within the steel’s microstructure. This leads to localised stress intensification and, eventually, the propagation of cracks. These cracks initiate from below the surface, following grain boundaries or stress paths, and they eventually manifest as White Etching Cracks. The surrounding material, depleted of carbon and subjected to plastic deformation, transforms into the nanocrystalline, decarburised phase that we identify as a White Etching Area (WEA).


Garkunov didn’t stop there. His second idea was the “wearlessness effect”. Under certain friction conditions—particularly where sliding occurs between dissimilar metals or when specific ionically active elements are present—a protective metallic film can


Figure 5: Hydrogen binds with carbon and forms large methane molecules


Figure 6: Localised stress intensification and propagation of cracks


LUBE MAGAZINE NO.188 AUGUST 2025


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