Issue 78

M. Bronovets et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 78 (2026) 367-377; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.78.21

Increasing the wear resistance of rolling bearings by laser shock peening

M. Bronovets, P. Bukovskiy, I. Goryacheva Ishlinsky Institute for Problems in Mechanics of Russian Academy of Science (IPMech RAS), Moscow, Russia brnovets@ipmnet.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5423-1558 bukovskiypo@ipmnet.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7216-3085 goryache@ipmnet.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4769-5482 A. Vshivkov, E. Gachegova, A. Iziumova, R. Sabirov, O. Plekhov Institute of Continuous Media Mechanics of the Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Science (ICMM UB RAS), Russia

vshivkov.a@icmm.ru, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7667-455X gachegova.e@icmm.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6849-9889 fedorova@icmm.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1769-9175 sabirov.r@icmm.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9773-6561 poa@icmm.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0378-8249

Citation: Bronovets, M., Bukovskiy, P., Goryacheva I., Vshivkov, A., Gachegova, E., Iziumova, A., Sabirov, R., Plekhov, O., Increasing the wear resistance of rolling bearings by laser shock peening, Fracture and Structural Integrity, 78 (2026) 367-377.

A BSTRACT . Rolling bearings are among the most common components, used in virtually all branches of industry—from bicycles to space stations, including industrial and machinery equipment, automobiles, aircraft, rockets, and household appliances. Residual stresses and surface quality play a significant role in enhancing the tribological characteristics of friction pairs. Laser shock peening (LSP) is a promising method for residual stresses design, allowing for their magnitude and depth to be varied over a wide range. This study involved the LSP of friction pairs made from high-chromium bearing steel grade AISI 440- С (95 Х 18 Ш in Russia). The results demonstrate significant improvements in tribological characteristics under both dry and boundary friction conditions. LSP led to a change in the wear mechanism, which in turn reduces wear. K EYWORDS . Bearing steel, Laser shock peening, Rolling, Wear, Profilometry, Tribological testing.

Received: 02.07.2026 Accepted: 27.08.2026 Published: 15.09.2026 Issue: 10.2026

Copyright: © 2026 This is an open access article under the terms of the CC-BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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