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Machinery
Failure
Analysis
Handbook

Luiz Otvio Amaral Affonso

Houston, Texas

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Machinery Failure Analysis Handbook

Copyright 2006 by Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Gulf Publishing Company
2 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1020
Houston, TX 77046
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
Printed on acid-free paper.
Text design and composition by Ruth Maassen.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Affonso, Luiz Otvio Amaral.
Machinery failure analysis handbook / Luiz Otvio Amaral Affonso.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-933762-08-X (alk. paper)
1. MachineryMaintenance and repairHandbooks, manuals, etc.
2. Plant maintenanceHandbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title.
TS191.A34 2006
658.2'7dc22
2006027869

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John Mitchell once dedicated a book

to those professionals who, on a cold night,
would pack their instruments and travel
to a plant to decide if a hot piece
of machinery would last until dawn.
Modestly, I dedicate this one to the same
professionals, but thinking that many times
the machine did not survive the next day and the
same person had to find out what went wrong, so
that the mistake would not be made again.

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Contents

Preface

xi

PART I

Introduction to Failure Analysis

1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6

Fundamental Causes of Failures

Design Failures
Material Selection Deficiencies
Material Imperfections
Manufacturing Defects
Assembly and Installation Errors
Maintenance and Operation Errors
Conclusion

3
4
6
7
8
9
10
11

2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4

Failure Analysis Practice

Failure Analysis Objectives
How Far Should We Go?
Main Steps
Reports and Databases

13
13
14
17
22

3
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4

Failure Prevention Efforts

Types of Failures
Prevention of Failures
Machinery Monitoring and Anticipatory Action
Operators Role in Machinery Reliability

25
26
27
28
28

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PART II

Failure Modes

4
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5

Ductile and Brittle Fractures

Ductile Fracture Morphology
Ductile Fracture Mechanism
Brittle Fracture
Brittle Fracture Morphology
Brittle Fracture Mechanism

33
34
36
37
38
39

5
5.1
5.2
5.3

Fatigue Fractures
Fatigue Fracture Mechanism
Fatigue Fracture Surface Morphology
Factors That Influence Fatigue Strength

43
44
47
50

6
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4

Wear
Sliding Wear
Hard Particle Wear
Liquid Impingement Wear
Cavitation

55
55
71
78
80

7
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.6
7.7

Corrosion
Electrochemical Corrosion Mechanism
Uniform Corrosion
Corrosion Fatigue
Pitting Corrosion
Galvanic Corrosion
Corrosion Erosion
Stress Corrosion Cracking

83
84
86
89
91
92
94
95

8
8.1
8.2
8.3

Incrustation
Coke Deposition
Salt Deposition
Biological Incrustation

101
102
105
107

Electric Discharge Damage

109

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Contents

PART III

10
10.1
10.2
10.3
10.4

Machinery Component Failures

Shafts
Stresses Acting on a Shaft
Fatigue Failures
Shaft Wear
Shaft Distortion

117
119
121
123
124

Hydrodynamic Bearings
Operation of a Hydrodynamic Bearing
Hydrodynamic Bearing Construction
Hydrodynamic Bearing Failure Analysis
Fatigue Failures
Bearing Metal Wear
Corrosion
Effect of Hard Particles on Bearings
Effect of Lubrication
Effect of Temperature
Effect of Overloads
Assembly Deficiencies
Electrical Discharge Damage
Fabrication-related Failures
Design-related Failures

125
126
128
128
129
129
132
132
134
134
136
136
136
138
140

12
12.1
12.2
12.3
12.4
12.5

Antifriction Bearings
Antifriction Bearing Lubrication
Antifriction Bearing Design Life
Contact Patterns on Bearing Races
Antifriction Bearing Failure Analysis
Types of Failure

143
144
145
147
148
151

13
13.1
13.2
13.3
13.4

Mechanical Seals
How a Mechanical Seal Works
Seal Mechanical Design
Seal Hydrodynamic Design
PV

173
174
176
179
179

11
11.1
11.2
11.3
11.4
11.5
11.6
11.7
11.8
11.9
11.10
11.11
11.12
11.13
11.14

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13.5
13.6
13.7
13.8
13.9
13.10
13.11
13.12

Sealing System
Mechanical Seal Failure Analysis
Face Contact Patterns
Failure Mechanisms and Causes
Corrosion of Seal Components
Mechanical Damage
Thermal Damage
Design and Manufacturing Defects

182
184
185
186
186
190
201
203

14
14.1
14.2
14.3
14.4

Bolts
How a Bolt Works
Application of the Preload
Reusing Bolts
Bolt Failure

205
206
206
208
208

15
15.1
15.2
15.3

Gears
Gear Tooth Contact and Lubrication
Loads Acting on the Gear Teeth
Gear Failure

215
215
219
219

16
16.1
16.2

Reciprocating Compressor Valves

How a Compressor Valve Works
Valve Failure

229
230
231

17
17.1
17.2

Belt Transmissions
V Belts
Synchronized Belts

237
238
240

18
18.1
18.2
18.3
18.4

Couplings
Disc Coupling Couplings
Grid Couplings
Gear Couplings
Coupling Standardization

243
244
246
247
251

19
19.1
19.2

Turbomachinery Blades
How a Turbomachinery Blade Works
Blade Failure Analysis

253
253
254

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PART IV

20
20.1
20.2
20.3
20.4

Case Studies
Failure Analysis Examples
271
A Pump Failure Caused by Turbine Driver
Overspeed
271
Hydrogen Compressor Seal Failure
279
Vibration-induced Fatigue Failures of Identical
Reciprocating Compressors
282
A Gearbox Failure from the Electrical Discharge
Damage of a Bearing
288
Bibliography
Index

293
295

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Preface

Process industries are home to a huge number of machines, most of

them critical to the industrys mission. Failures of these machines
can result in consequences that range from the simple replacement
of a cheap bearing to an accident that may cost millions in lost production or cause injuries or pollution.
Competition forces corporations to try to keep pace in optimization. On the machinery side of the history, this means improving efficiency and reliability and reducing maintenance cost. Design
and purchase specifications, shop testing, installation, maintenance,
and operation all play a role in these efforts.
The objective of this book is to help anyone involved with
machinery reliability, be it in the design of new plants or the maintenance and operation of existing ones, to understand why the process machine fails, so some preventive measures can be taken to
avoid another failure of the same kind.
The book is divided in four parts:
1. An introduction that discusses the fundamental causes of failures, including some definitions and examples. Here, we examine the failure analysis procedure, including some approaches
suitable for different types of problems. We also look at how
plantwide failure prevention efforts should be conducted,
including a discussion about the importance of the role of the
plant operator in the reliability of the machinery.

xi

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Preface

2. A discussion of the failure mechanisms that affect process

machinery most often, such as fractures and wear.
3. An examination of how the actual machine parts fail, with several examples of bearings, seals, and other components failures.
4. Examples of real machinery failures analyzed by the author.
I offer no warranty regarding the applicability of the information contained in this book to any particular situation.
This English edition has been based on the second Portuguese
edition, published in Brazil in 2006.