Why Industrial Bearings Fail: Analysis, Maintenance, and Prevention

ALIGNMENT

LEVELING OUR PROBLEMS

The Problem: Repeated Bearing Failures in a Lead Plant

I went to a lead plant in the north of India in the dead of the night, directly from the airport, to analyze multiple bearing failures in a Chinese-made centrifugal blower. The chief engineer was waiting for me at the site, because this was a dire emergency. But I received cold treatment on that hot summer night at the main entrance gate waiting for a security permit to enter the plant. The waiting was longer than the duration of my flight. For the next three days, however, I was virtually living in the plant.

As I was having a first look at the blower, I asked the plant manager for a case history, and I heard an interesting one.

History

After an unstinted run of about five years, on January 14, 2014, the non-drive-end (NDE) bearing on the blower was replaced. This was the beginning. In less than two months, both bearings on the blower had to be replaced. In April, the company had a planned shutdown, and the base bolts of the motor were changed, and the motor was overhauled. By May 10, both blower bearings had failed again. After their replacement, shaft alignment was carried out the next day, and the coupling gap was adjusted. From then on, bearing life was restricted to about 15–20 days. Alignment was carried out again on May 24, but that did not prevent bearing failure on May 29. In about 15 days, on June 15, both blower bearings had to be replaced again, which, of course, was followed by realignment and replacement of damaged coupling bushing and bolts. In fact, warning signals were coming from the vibration readings of the bearings within three days of bearing replacement. Interestingly, in one of the alignment jobs in May, the blower casing was lifted by 4 mm by adding shims at the blower base to achieve alignment instead of grinding the motor base. This was unusual.

Observations

The cause of this problem was a simple important action (which I will address later) that was ignored and taken for granted. It was further compounded by multiple mistakes. In this case, bearings were failing frequently, particularly on the drive end of the centrifugal blower (Figure 1.1). This Chinese-made blower had grease-lubricated deep-groove ball bearings (6316-C3-SKF; 80 mm inside diameter [ID], 170 mm outside diameter [OD]) with normal clearance (Figure 1.2). The simply supported blower was driven directly by a 355-kW motor at a speed of 2,975 rpm.

FIGURE 1.1 View of the blower.

FIGURE 1.2 Drive-end (DE) bearing positions.

Analysis

This was the situation when I entered the plant to make my analysis of the repeated failures. Though vibration readings were indicating misalignment and looseness of component parts, information about blower conditions prompted me to start with the blower problems.

One of the major problems with fans and blowers is high vibrations due to scaling. The blower discharge duct was modified by reducing its aperture width in April of 2014, soon after which the problem started escalating. The blower was operating at a discharge pressure of 14.4 kPa (versus a design pressure of 29.4 kPa), less than half its capacity. Low-load operation without design adjustments can play havoc with industrial fans and blowers.

Generally, fans and blowers create problems for their bearings rather than the other way around. So I had to rule out problems from the blower end. Then, systematically, I studied the bearing problems. So the blower failure was initially examined in terms of its failure modes that would eventually result in bearing failures—step by step looking at the most likely blower problems as follows:

1. Abrasion or corrosion of internal blower components

(machine)

2. Impeller imbalance due to material deposition and fouling

(material)

3. Unstable operation due to restriction of airflow

(method)

4. Inadequate structural support or mounting

(man)

5. Misalignment of power transmission components or bearings

(man)

6. Looseness of bearings, bolts, and/or couplings

(man)

7. Excessive vibration due to failing bearings and other failures

(measurement)

ABRASION OR CORROSION OF INTERNAL FAN COMPONENTS

Both abrasion and corrosion of internal parts occur in chemical plants, where fans and blowers are used for corrosive gases that steadily eat away the metal and/or wear it out. The loss of metal is not uniform. So the impeller loses its dynamic balance, and the machine starts vibrating. This would eventually have an effect on the bearings. However, I could not find any evidence of corrosion or abrasion of the blower components here, and thus imbalance was ruled out.

Impeller Imbalance Due to Material Deposition and Fouling

Fouling is one of the major causes of fan failure. As the fan sucks gas from a system, it also takes loose materials, dust, and so on along. Gas goes out, but the materials are deposited on the fan blades. This scaling is almost never uniform, and the fan becomes unbalanced. This is often indicated by high vibration readings. However, this blower did not show such high vibration readings pointing to imbalance. The casing and suction and discharge lines did show minor scaling deposits but not to the extent of fouling (Figure 1.3). So these possibilities were ruled out.

FIGURE 1.3 Mild scaling in the discharge line.

Unstable Operation Due to Restriction of Airflow

Unstable operation can result from operating certain types of fans at low airflow rates and from the interaction of multiple fans operating in parallel. In single-fan configurations, an aerodynamic phenomenon known as stall occurs at low airflow rates. The severity of this stall varies with fan type but is most severe in axial fans, forward-curved centrifugal fans, and backward-inclined centrifugal fans.

Fans pass through an unstable condition if they are operated below a certain pressure range. They literally starve. Most manufacturers provide curves in their manuals that show this range. Just as for pump curves, fan curves are simply graphs showing fan performance based on several interconnected parameters, such as fan volume, system static pressure, fan speed, and brake horsepower required to drive the fan under the stated conditions, as well as efficiency curves. In layperson terms, a fan curve is a graphic representation of exactly what a fan can do.

It was observed that this blower was operating at half its design pressure. High turndown is risky unless the system is so designed. To reach agreement on this vital point, we consulted the blower manual, but it did not furnish performance curves, unstable operational areas, or other fan characteristics.

Inadequate Structural Support or Mounting

The blower foundation was double filled with a clear second layer of grout. When I tapped it with a hammer, the foundation at the drive-end (DE) bearing of the blower seemed hollow. This suggested that the base was not adequate to support the blower.

Misalignment of Power Transmission Components or Bearings

The blower was repeatedly aligned by the reverse-indicator method using dial gauges, but the vibration readings still indicated misalignment. When I saw the readings, I advised the plant manager to improve them. The next day, the machine was realigned, but the vibration analysis continued to indicate misalignment. Annoyingly, normal vibration readings can be misleading, because the indications can be the same for misalignment or imbalance. The recourse would be a phase analysis by the condition-monitoring team to determine the culprit. Hence, phase analysis was undertaken, which clearly indicated a phase shift suggesting significant misalignment. But where was it?

Looseness of Bearings, Bolts, and/or Couplings

I wanted a quick look at the pillow blocks or plummer blocks of the bearings, because some of them had been replaced along with the bearings. Vibration readings also indicated looseness. In the most recent incident, the pillow block bore was worn out. So, to correct this, the pillow block was built up and machined to suit the outer race (Figure 1.4). This was normal maintenance practice, but the activity did not provide a favorable picture of workmanship, as can be seen in Figure 1.5, which shows a bearing cover not sitting true and the bearing sitting to the side, effectively ensuring that the grease hole in the bearing missed the greasing line.

FIGURE 1.4 Machined bore of the pillow block.

FIGURE 1.5 Bearing cover not true, with the bearing sitting aside.

My apprehensions were proved to be correct when on the next day, during a trial, outer-race slip was still apparent, as indicated by the vibration analyzer. When the top cover of the pillow block was opened, it was apparent that mating was not good, with high lines on the surface. Apart from reducing the internal diameter, these high spots tend to pinch the bearing. In addition, the blower continued to show misalignment.

Excessive Vibration Due to Failing Bearings and Other Failures

Excessive vibration can spell disaster for fans and blowers—for that matter, for just about any rotary equipment. A few important causes for high vibrations are bearing failure, misalignment, and scaling or deposits on the impeller. This blower did have high vibration readings, and the condition-monitoring team had done a great job by forewarning about the situation. The proactive maintenance team also acted timely by changing the bearings and correcting misalignment and coupling defects. Misalignment was corrected repeatedly. But the machine continued to misbehave.

Drill Down Deeper

The preceding points were analyzed from the vantage point of overall fan condition, and fan problems were ruled out, so we called it a day at about 4 o’clock in the morning. A trial was planned for the next day after repair of the bearing pillow blocks and shaft alignment as indicated.

When the machine was started the next day, vibrations continued to be high, with predominant peaks indicating imbalance or misalignment. To rule out one or the other, phase analysis was taken up with a vibration analyzer. Phase analysis as well as personal feel clearly indicated misalignment. Vibration readings also indicated DE bearing outer-race slip and severe vane pass frequencies.

Next, the bearings were analyzed from the most common reasons for failure:

• Inadequate or excessive lubrication ( method )

• Excessive speed ( measurement )

• Vibration ( machine )

• Contamination ( material )

• Manufacturing defects ( material )

• Mounting practices ( man )

• Overloading ( method )

• Misalignment ( man )

Inadequate or Excessive Lubrication

Although the most common cause of bearing failure is inadequate lubrication, my industry experience has shown that nowadays bearings are taken much better care of in terms of lubrication. The failed bearings here also did not indicate inadequate or excessive lubrication, but I was doubtful that the grease used in the service was extreme-pressure (EP) grease, and the service required such a choice.

Under high pressure or shock loading, normal grease or all-purpose grease can be compressed to the extent that the lubricant film breaks, and the mating parts come into metal-to-metal contact, resulting in friction and wear. Greases are fortified with solid lubricants such as Teflon, graphite, and/or molybdenum disulfide to provide protection under heavy loadings. They bond to the contact areas of the metals and prevent metal-to-metal contact. In almost all applications, EP greases can be used in place of corresponding all-purpose (AP) or multipurpose (MP) greases. Thus, on my recommendation, the grease was changed to EP2 grease, and the operating temperature dropped by about 10°C.

Excessive Speed

A point often ignored, even by very experienced managers and engineers, is that there is a finite limit to the degree to which bearings can be lubricated by grease, a factor determined by the machine speed and the size of the bearing. Simple calculation shows that this bearing (6316) falls very close to the speed limits of grease lubrication. I suggested to the plant manager that the company might have to switch to oil lubrication or, at best, a lower-viscosity (National Lubricating Grease Institute [NLGI] grade) grease.

Lubricant oil or grease provides a thin film at the contact surfaces of the bearing to avoid metal-to-metal contact. The speed of the rolling elements, operating temperature, load, and oil viscosity (if it is grease base-oil viscosity) dictate the thickness of this film. Higher temperatures reduce the oil’s viscosity. Viscosity should be selected to maintain a safe minimum film thickness at the operating temperature, load, and speed.

EFFECT OF SPEED. Without delving deeply into the complex calculations involved in selecting the speed at the contact surfaces of the rolling elements, a simple approximate formula for Ndm is used. The bearing speed factor Ndm is usually used to determine the suitability of oil or grease for lubrication of the various types of bearings. Pitch diameter or median diameter of the bearing is the addition of its inside diameter (ID) and outside diameter (OD) in millimeters divided by 2. This pitch diameter is multiplied by the speed in revolutions per minute of the bearings.