Several industrial applications require bearings to work under slow oscillating motions and very high contact pressures (aircraft actuators, wind turbine, robotic arms, etc.). Hence, a boundary lubrication regime predominates. However, grease provides the lubrication essential to assure bearing integrity. In this study, the mechanisms involved in protecting the contact surfaces are investigated. High loaded oscillating movements have been applied on a commercial greased deep groove ball bearing. The morphology of its contact was observed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), revealing superficial transformations. Further, with an extreme surface X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, three cross-sections made by a nanomachining process (FIB) were investigated using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The analyses revealed a modified layer at the contacts generated by grease interactions.

在一些工业应用中，轴承需要在缓慢的振荡运动和非常高的接触压力下工作（飞机执行器，风力涡轮机，机械臂等）。因此，边界润滑方式占主导。但是，油脂提供了确保轴承完整性必不可少的润滑。在这项研究中，研究了保护接触表面的机制。高负荷的摆动运动已应用于商用油脂润滑的深沟球轴承。使用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）观察了其接触的形态，揭示了表面转化。此外，利用极端表面X射线光电子能谱（XPS）分析，使用透射电子显微镜（TEM）研究了由纳米加工（FIB）制成的三个横截面。