ROLLING ELEMENT BEARING, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING ROLLING ELEMENT BEARING

摘要

A rolling element bearing is provided with an inner race (12) and an outer race (11) having a circular path, and a plurality of balls (13) which come into contact with the outer race (11) and the inner race (12) and which are rollably disposed on the circular path. At least one bearing member, from among the outer race (11), inner race (12) and balls (13), is formed from a JIS standard SUJ2 material. The bearing member is subjected to quenching. The bearing member has rolling contact surfaces (11A, 12A, 13A) which are subjected to nitriding treatment. A standard rolling element bearing steel ball formed from a SUJ2 material and having a diameter of 19.05 mm is pressed into the bearing member at a load of 3.18 kN for 10 seconds, after which the load is removed and an indentation having a depth of 0.2 µm or less is formed on the bearing member. The hardness of the rolling contact surfaces (11A, 12A, 13A) are HRC 61.2 to HRC 63.3 on the Rockwell C scale. As a consequence, it is possible to obtain a rolling element bearing in which it is possible to prevent premature flaking caused by hydrogen embrittlement.