By Jim Fitch
Proceedings of the International Conference on Condition Monitoring, University of Wales Swansea
The analysis of power train lubricants for the purpose of detecting faults and abnormal wear patterns is a well developed practiced in mobile equipment applications. However, these same techniques don’t always transfer successfully into stationary equipment applications for many users. In recent years new approaches and techniques have been perfected to substantially improve the detection of incipient and developing faults in bearings and gear units using wear debris analysis. The approach is more systemic as opposed to the application of any singular new or emerging technology. It begins with improvements in the sampling process to enrich the data and proceeds through the use of tactics that strengthen the signal-to-noise ratio. After detection is confirmed, the final analytical phase involves wear particle identification using both classic and advanced techniques. Key Words: wear debris analysis, spectroscopy, wear particles, ferrography, fault detection, predictive maintenance, tribology, wear particle identification, oil analysis, condition monitoring, elemental analysis, ferrous density, microscopic analysis, ferrometrics.