Jim Fitch and Holly J. Borden
Proceedings: National Conference on Preventive and Predictive Maintenance. Also Maintenance Journal Australia
The best maintenance techniques for mechanical machinery are condition-based techniques. Condition-based maintenance is maintenance prescribed by the real-time needs of the machine according to changes in specific operation conditions. These conditions fall into two categories.
The first set of conditions are those that present a risk to a machine’s health if allowed to persist. These are operating and environmental conditions that precede failure, i.e., root causes of failure. They are not failure symptoms, which is after the fact. Examples of root cause conditions are misalignment, lubricant contamination, and overheating. The activity of detecting and correcting root cause conditions is referred to as proactive maintenance. Its singular purpose is to extend a machine’s operating life.