The work aims to explore the influence rule of steel bead damage on the surface roughness and hardness of bearing rings under strengthened grinding process. Single variable method was used to change the steel bead’s cycle index and 11 bearing ring workpieces were respectively processed by strengthened grinding. The surface morphology, roughness, hardness and cross sectional morphology of workpiece specimens and steel bead were tested by field emission scanning electron microscopy respectively, roughness measuring instrument and Rockwell hardness apparatus. Then the relationship between surface roughness and hardness of workpiece and damage of steel bead was analyzed. The steel bead damage evolved from micro-pitting to up-warping and loosened damage with the increase of recycle index of steel bead when the technological conditions kept unchanged and the surface roughness and hardness increment of workpieces also declined. Within 150 cycles, the surface damage of steel bead was mainly micro-pitting corrosion with minor damage and the thickness of strengthened layer, the average surface roughness and hardness of the workpiece obtained from the processing are over 50 μm, 1.2~1.6 μm and 1~1.3HRC respectively. After over 150 cycles, the steel bead damage evolved from upturned microparticles and thin sheets to loosened surface defects with further damage. Furthermore, the thickness of the workpiece strengthened layer obtained by machining was less than 50 μm and the average surface roughness decreased linearly from 1.2 μm to 1.0 μm, while the surface hardness increment was between 0.06HRC and 0.6HRC. The steel bead recycle index should not be more than 150 times under the condition of this experiment. Otherwise, the increment of surface roughness and hardness on processed workpieces decreases obviously.