By Jim Fitch
Practicing Oil Analysis Magazine
The analysis of powertrain lubricants for the purpose of detecting faults and abnormal wear patterns is a useful practice in mobile equipment applications. Unfortunately for many users, these techniques don’t always transfer successfully into stationary equipment applications. In recent years, new approaches and techniques have been advanced to improve the detection of incipient and developing faults in bearings and gear units using wear debris analysis.
As opposed to the application of any singular new or emerging technology, these new methods are more systematic and functional. It begins with improvements in the sampling process to enrich the data and proceeds through the use of specific strategies and tactics. After detection is confirmed, the final analytical phase involves wear particle identification using both classic and advanced techniques.
Like so many endeavors, success depends more on the quality of execution than the strength of the underlying technologies. This idea can be concluded from the fact that while a great deal of new knowledge and technology has been advanced, for the vast majority of industrial organizations employing wear debris analysis, little has changed in either their tools or approach.