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This book deals with wear and performance testing of thin solid film lubrication and hard coatings in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV), a process which enables rapid accumulation of stress cycles compared with testing in oil at atmospheric pressure. The authors'lucid and authoritative narrative broadens readers'understanding of the benefits of UHV testing: a cleaner, shorter test is achieved in high vacuum, disturbance rejection by the deposition controller may be optimized for maximum fatigue life of the coating using rolling contact fatigue testing (RCF) in a high vacuum, and RCF testing in UHV conditions enables a faster study of deposition control parameters. In short, Rolling Contact Fatigue in a Vacuum is an indispensable resource for researchers and engineers concerned with thin film deposition, solar flat panel manufacturing, physical vapor deposition, MEMS manufacturing (for lubrication of MEMS), tribology in a range of industries, and automotive and marine wear coatings for engines and transmissions.

This book is intended for mechanicians, engineering mathematicians, and, generally for theoretically inclined mechanical engineers. It has its origin in my Master's Thesis (J 957), which I wrote under the supervision of Professor Dr. R. Timman of the Delft TH and Dr. Ir. A. D. de Pater of Netherlands Railways. I did not think that the surface of the problem had even been scratched, so I joined de Pater, who had by then become Professor in the Engineering Mechanics Lab. of the Delft TH, to write my Ph. D. Thesis on it. This thesis (1967) was weil received in railway circles, which is due more to de Pater's untiring promotion than to its merits. Still not satisfied, I feit that I needed more mathe­ matics, and I joined Professor Timman's group as an Associate Professor. This led to the present work. Many thanks are due to G. M. L. Gladwell, who thoroughly polished style and contents of the manuscript. Thanks are also due to my wife, herself an engineering mathematician, who read the manuscript through critically, and made many helpful comments, to G. F. M. Braat, who also read an criticised, and, in addition, drew the figures together with J. Schonewille, to Ms. A. V. M. de Wit, Ms. M. den Boef, and Ms. P. c. Wilting, who typed the manuscript, and to the Publishers, who waited patiently. Delft-Rotterdam, 17 July 1990. J. J.

In any rotating machinery system, the bearing has traditionally been a crit­ ical member of the entire system, since it is the component that permits the relative motion between the stationary and moving parts. Depending on the application, a number of different bearing types have been used, such as oil-lubricated hydrodynamic bearings, gas bearings, magnetic suspensions, rolling element bearings, etc. Hydrodynamic bearings can provide any desired load support, but they are limited in stiffness and the associated power loss may be quite large. Gas bearings are used for high-precision applications where the supported loads are relatively light, bearing power losses are very low, and the rotating speeds generally high. For super­ precision components where no frictional dissipation or bearing power loss can be tolerated, magnetic suspensions are employed; again, the load support requirements are very low. Rolling element bearings have been widely used for those applications that require greater bearing versatility, due to the requirements for high-load and high-stiffness characteristics, while allowing moderate power loss and permitting variable speeds. A study of the dynamic interaction of rolling elements is, therefore, the subject of this text. Texts covering the analysis and design methodology of rolling elements are very limited. Notable works include Analysis of Stresses and Deflections (Jones, 1946, Vols. I and II), Ball and Roller Bearings, Their Theory, Design and Application (Eschmann, Hasbargen, and Weigand, 1958), Ball and Roller Bearing Engineering (Palmgren, 1959, 3rd ed.), Advanced Bearing Technology (Bisson and Anderson, 1965), and Rolling Bearing Analysis (Harris, 1966).