ploughing of one surface by a much
harder one is only effectively control-
LEEDS, ENGLAND, 26 MARCH 1974
Saving cash by machine care
The Industrial Unit of Tribology,
Leeds
An unfortunate feature of many
conferences, especially those occupy-
ing one day only, is that organisers
and contributors alike have little time
available to include some form of light
relief in a day of serious presentation
of technical papers. It was refreshing
therefore that in this case the organis-
ers had overcome this by including a
most interesting talk by Professor
Dowson on the historical application
of tribological principles, a dialogue
on industrial experiences between
two industrialists and a member of
the Industrial Unit of Tribology staff,
and a forum for discussion of deleg-
ates' problems.
Two papers dealt directly with the
problem of wear, one summarizing
its causes and the other dealing with
methods of prevention and of repair-
ing worn surfaces. Two papers refer-
red to specific aspects of engineering
economics: the selection of bearings
for reliability and sealing economics,
and the remaining two papers concer-
ned two different approaches to econ-
omics in general: the economics of
modern maintenance methods, and,
as an alternative to planned main-
tenance, a paper on monitoring the
health of machines.
Professor Dowson spoke to the
delegates immediately after they had
been welcomed to the conference by
Dr R.J. Wakelin, Director of the Unit,
and gave a most interesting account
of the applications of tribology to
problems of long ago, showing that
many of our so-called modern invent-
ions are not so modern after all. Two
slides showed early tribologists pouring
lubricant into the paths of sledges
carrying stone statues and being drawn
by slaves. These slaves must have
appreciated the fact that the water
used as lubricant effected a 50% redu-
ction in the coefficient of friction
between sledge and wooden slideways!
Other illustrations included a drawing
depicting a bow drill found in a tomb
at Thebes and dating from 1450 BC,
and some of the inevitable sketches
by the immortal Leonardo da Vinci
showing his interest in the mechanism
of wear and the development of bear-
ings. A diagram of the use of friction
wheels in 1734 showed the ingenuity
of Jacob Rowe, who calculated that
by reducing the friction force in this
way the number of horses required
for horse drawn carriages could be
reduced by 50%, this effecting an
annual saving in this country of
£750 000. This was a useful cue for
Dowson to quote again the findings
of the Jost report of 1966 that £515
million is lost in the UK each year
through wear. Later estimates at the
1973 Eurotrib conference have raised
this figure to £800 million, and Dr Jost
has more recently estimated a world
figure of £10 000 million being lost
through wear.
Askwith in his paper on 'Wear' empha-
sized how a small loss in weight or
dimensions could lead to scrapping
the part, by quoting the example of
razor blades which on the average are
discarded after having lost only 0.008/
0.011 g out of a total weight of 0.5g.
He outlined the mechanisms o f the four
main types of wear adhesion, abras-
ion, surface fatigue and corrosion,
paying most attention to adhesion
which is the most common of the four.
Adhesion occurs because the load
between two nominally flat surfaces
when they are brought into contact, is
in fact borne by the asperities whose
total area may be only between one
thousandth and one ten thousandth
of the apparent contact area. There is
therefore a distinct danger of plastic
deformation and welding at these
local contact areas even when the
contacting parts are only lightly
loaded. Lubrication was stated to be
the most effective method of reduc-
ing adhesive wear, whereas abrasive
wear which is due to cutting or
TRIBOLOGY international August 1974
led by using hard, yet tough (ie not
brittle) materials and by excluding
foreign matter from the system.
Surface fatigue, which results in
pitting or flaking of surfaces and is
found in parts such as ball and roller
bearings and at the pitch line of gears,
occurs suddenly rather than gradually
as in the case of adhesive wear. It is
best countered by keeping the applied
load to a minimum and by increasing
the hardness, but in cases of fatigue,
lubrication is of little value except in
helping to prevent the incidence of
stress-raisers due to adhesion and/or
corrosion. The occurrence of corro-
sive wear requires that both corrosion
and sliding take place, since the initial
products of corrosion may protect
the surface against further reaction
unless these products are removed by
sliding friction. Control of corrosive
wear depends on control of the envir-
onment in which the parts work,
moisture content being particularly
important in promoting such wear,
especially in the case of ferrous mater-
ials. Control can also be exercised by
choice of materials which have an
improved resistance to the environ-
ment.
Askwith concluded that since there is
no single mechanism of wear, there is
no single method of controlling it,
although lubrication and general clean-
liness do seem to have a beneficial
effect in all cases. Furthermore since
an increase in load ultimately leads to
an increase in wear, designers should
ensure that the applied load is kept to
a minimum consistent with the effic-
ient functioning of the mechanism.
The paper by Gregory on 'Surface
coatings' again concentrated mainly
on the topic of adhesive wear and at
once demonstrated the wider implica-
tions of the term 'lubrication' which
Askwith had advised as a counter to
most forms of wear. With regard to
the fight against adhesion a lubricant
could be described as anything which
keeps apart the two surfaces which
may be prone to welding, and the
surface coatings discussed could be
said to take over when the more
conventional lubricants break down
or for special reasons cannot be used.
Thus coatings of molybdenum
disulphide or electrodeposited chrom-
ium platings can be applied over the
original metallic surfaces, or the orig-
inal material may be converted to
181
non-metallic compounds by 'conver-
sion' processes such as phosphating
and nitriding. An interesting point
was the mention of non-toxic proces-
ses now coming onto the market which
are capable of replacing those cyanide
containing salt baths used for nitrid-
ing which have for long been so
popular. A new series of treatments
based on a prior application of
electrodeposited tin alloys followed
by diffusion treatments was of inter-
est in that such treatments can not
only improve resistance to wear of
both ferrous and non-ferrous mater-
ials but can allow replacement of
expensive non-ferrous alloys by treat-
ed steel.
Case hardening and gas nitriding of
steel were discussed in some detail as
they are so widely used for the prod-
uction of wear resistant and fatigue
resistant surfaces, but the point was
emphasized that a high hardness does
not necessarily imply a high resistance
to adhesion. Thermally deposited
coatings, both as a prevention against
wear, and as a method of repairing
worn surfaces, were briefly summar-
ized, and were later illustrated in more
detail by an excellent film issued by
the Welding Institute on 'Surface
coating in engineering'. This gives an
introduction to the technology and
practice of surface coatings and forms
a review of the various welding and
spraying processes currently available
for applying protective coatings. A
further film, produced by ICI Ltd,
which supplemented the information
given in this paper concerned a relat-
ively new electrolytic salt bath process
which applies a tenaciously adherent
coating of iron sulphide to ferrous
metal parts to protect against scuffing
and wear. Since this is operated at
only 200°C it obviates the disadvant-
age of other salt baths, such as those
used for nitriding, that the operat-
ing temperature of 540-600°C which
they employ can temper back the core
of parts required to retain a high core
hardness. The paper concluded with
some brief details of the uses of ptfe
(polytetrafluoroethylene) coatings and
gave a list of useful references to the
various surface coating processes
available in published literature.
Summers-Smith gave an excellent
summary of the factors involved, in
his paper 'Selection of bearing arrange-
ments for reliability', his object being
as he himself said, 'to define the relia-
bility of different bearing arrangements
182 TRIBOLOGY international August 1974
in such a way that the user can asses
the cost benefit of obtaining the re-
quired reliability in his own particular
situation'. He gave a list of available
arrangements for industrial machines
in roughly ascending order of increased
reliability and cost, starting with un-
lubricated and marginally lubricated
bearings and progressing, through
rolling bearings, to hydrodynamically
lubricated plain bearings. Rolling
bearings are applicable to machines
ranging from 0.5 to 500 kW although
the cost of periodic bearing changes in
machines of above 250 kW may justify
the additional outlay involved in the
alternative use of plain bearings with
their consequent longer life. Explain-
ing that all rolling bearings ultimately
fail by fatigue, Summers-Smith descri-
bed what is meant by the B 10 life of
such bearings the life at which 90%
of the bearings will still be operating
satisfactorily, and went on to describe
how this life for any bearing under
given operating conditions can be
calculated. Heavily utilized industrial
machines should be designed to a
B 10 life of 40 000 hours minimum
which should reduce the risk of
failure within 2 or 3 years to an accep-
table level. However, other factors
can preclude the possibility of achiev-
ing the calculated B 10 life, such as
premature fatigue failure due to various
causes (which were enumerated), imp-
roper lubrication and loss of internal
clearance s.
Where rolling bearings do not give a
satisfactory B 10 life, plain bearings
involving the mandatory use of oil
lubrication must be employed. These
have the advantage that they can have
an unlimited life, but this is achieved
at the expense of more costly design.
The type of lubrication depends on
the peripheral speed; self contained
systems can be used at speeds up to
10 m/s and if water cooled up to 15 m/s,
but beyond this circulatory systems
must be used, when the design
becomes much more complex. Sum-
mers-Smith gave some useful infor-
mation in tabular form concerning
relubrication intervals in rolling bearings,
effect of bearing arrangements on costs
of electric motors, and maximum
speeds for grease lubrication. In con-
clusion he pleaded for more co-operation
between user and supplier. This could
take the form, as in the case of his
company, of users issuing their own
specifications to their suppliers which
are based on the users' own practical
experience in the field. Such exper-
ience could be of immense value to the
suppliers and would hopefully be added
to their own information and be used
for the benefit of all.
The paper on 'Sealing economics' by
Swales was full of practical advice for
the engineer. Seals cost money because
of initial cost, product leakage, main-
tenance, down time for repair and loss
of process efficiency where sealing is
poor. Most maintence costs arise from
faulty design, according to Swales, and
he supplied much tabular information
to help users to choose the correct
rotary seal, or the correct reciprocating
seal, for the job in hand. He also listed
eleven basic rules of procedure aimed
at cutting down maintenance and
replacement costs, and, again in tabular
form, gave many detailed hints for
improving seal life and efficiency.
Engineers were advised to monitor
some significant parameter of the
efficiency of a given process, such as
pressure, or occasionally leakage rate,
and to take action as soon as there are
indications of a fall below a predeterm-
ined and acceptable level. Immediate
action is imperative since a loss of
efficiency through poor sealing can be
a costly affair, and it is therefore essen-
tial always to keep stocks of spare seals
(and bearings) available. To emphasize
the importance of choosing the correct
design and of using procedures calcul-
ated to improve seal life and efficiency,
Swales quoted an ICI engineer's assess-
ment that if sealing problems could be
eliminated then plant maintenance
costs could be reduced by 50%.
Nield's paper on 'Economic aspects of
planned maintenance' set out to emph-
asize the large financial rewards avail-
able in terms of economy to those firms
who recognise that the Jost report
applies to them as well as to others and
determine to do something about it.
A diagrammatic representation of the
Jost proposals showed that of seven
factors to which attention had to be
given to effect the planned UK saving
of £515 million per annum, three
covered the sum of £445 million. These
were: less maintenance and replacement,
fewer breakdowns and indirect costs,
and longer life of machinery. Nield
acknowledged that much could be
achieved by designers of future mach-
ines, but said that the savings referred
to here could be achieved by the users
of existing plant. Unfortunately, he
explained, machine maintenance and
plant engineering tend to be overlooked
by top management until some disaster
occurs. Maintenance is often left in
the hands of inadequately trained and
underpaid personnel, and few manage-
ments in his experience have a clear
understanding of the real cost of main-
tenance and of the likely effect on
profitability of a partial or total shut-
down of plant for a given time. If
'prevention is better than cure', the
author suggested, then greater expendi-
ture on preventive maintenance should
result in lower processing costs and lower
overall costs and there is an optimum
expenditure on maintenance giving the
lowest overall production cost. The
introduction of planned maintenance
may well, in the short term, increase
the total expenditure on maintenance,
but a well thought out programme
should in the long run achieve very
substantial economies. He appealed for
a better understanding between engin-
eers and accountants, since mutual co-
operation is necessary in a programme
of planned maintenance. His many years'
experience have convinced him that it
is better for the engineer to learn some-
thing of the accountants' point of view
rather than to expect the latter to
become involved in problems of engin-
eering from the engineers' point of
view!
As an alternative to controlling costs
by planned maintenance March gave a
paper on 'Monitoring the health of
machines', the idea being to adopt
procedures to determine the current
'state of health' of the unit so that
deterioration of critical components
can be remedied before failure occurs.
He said that monitoring in this way can
reduce or eliminate some periodic main-
tenance and that it acts by detecting
changes in performance before these
are apparent to an ordinary observer.
A number of machine properties which
may be suitable for monitoring were
listed: temperature rise, pressure/flow
relationship, vibration, noise, presence
of wear debris in lubricants, lubricant
properties and increase in driving power.
Methods of monitoring these various
machine characteristics were discussed
in detail and a useful guide to failure
detection methods and to selection of
monitoring techniques given in tabular
form.
It was explained that in many cases the
adoption of one or more monitoring
techniques will necessitate the fitting
of a suitable device to the machine and
its connection to an associated warning
indicator. It will also be necessary to
establish standards representing normal
functioning of the items concerned in
order to estimate the significance of
information provided by monitoring.
Referring to methods of checking lub-
rication systems March said that these
are now long established and widely
used. He also forecast that when the
economic advantages of the more recent
techniques for monitoring the load
bearing components are more widely
known these too will become widely
accepted. A useful bibliography on
monitoring techniques was included.
During the conference efforts were
made to involve the delegates in
discussion of their own or others'
problems in three ways: by inviting
questions and comments on individual
papers, by presenting a 'Dialogue on
experience in industry' between Mr
W. H. Wilson, a senior engineer of
the Industrial Unit of Tribology,
and two industrialists, and by making
a forum chiefly drawn from the tribology
unit staff available for discussion of
delegates problems. The result was dis-
appointing in that very few questions
were asked and very little discussion
took place. This could not be because
the delegates had no problems, but as
one member of the Unit put it, because
they thought that perhaps their prob-
lems were of insufficient importance
to be of interest to all
Dr Wakelin summarized the progress
of the Industrial Unit of Tribology at
Leeds and said that in the last three
years the Unit had undertaken 179
projects. Companies should not think
that their own problems were perhaps
too small to be investigated by the
Unit: the majority of those investigated
within the last three years cost custom-
ers less than £500 and most were with-
in the £50/100 bracket. The response
of companies to join the Member
Firms Scheme had exceeded expect-
ations and the number now stood at
more than 200. Dr Wakelin's only
regret was that these members are
making insufficient use of the facil-
ities offered by the scheme. However,
there is certainly no lack of interest in
these one day conferences. Dr
Wakelin pointed out that the present
one was over-subscribed and that
efforts are being made to arrange a
repeat, possibly in September 1974. At
the close, delegates were invited to
inspect the facilities available at the
Unit for the solution Of tribological
problems, and a mini-exhibition of
problems andsolutions had been
arranged. It must have been consider-
ed a most rewarding day by the dele-
TRIBOLOGY international August 1974
gates attending in terms of the consid-
erable amount of information made
available in a most convenient form,
at such a modest cost.
PAPERS PRESENTED
Dowson, D. 'Economic aspects of tribology'
Askwith, T.C. 'Wear"
Gregory, J.C. 'Surface coatings to minimise
wear'
Summers-Smith, D. 'Selection of bearing
arrangements for reliability'
Swales, P.D. 'Sealingeconomics'
Nield, R. 'Economics of modern maintenance
methods'
March, C.N. 'Monitoring the health of
machines- an alternative to planned
maintenance"
J.C. GREGOR Y
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND,
27 - 29 MA RCH 1974
The 6th International Gas
Bearing Symposium
BH RA Fluid Engineering and
University of Southampton Gas
Bearing Advisory Service
'Confidence' said Mr M.D. Wood of
Cambridge University in his closing
speech was to be the keyword of this
latest Gas Bearing Symposium. The
early conferences had exemplified a
pioneering spirit and the resulting book
edited by Grassam and Powell, laid down
the shape of the subject. This was
followed by a period of consolidation
in which a number of applications had
been developed. However, the atmos-
phere of confidence which now emerged
suggested that given sufficient time and
money answers could be found to most
problems. Some of the points quoted
from papers to illustrate confidence
involved:
An accurate analysis of torque varia-
tions with supply pressure (A1)
Conversational programs for
dynamic performance (A2)
Design procedures tied in with stand-
ard manufacturing procedures (A6)
Further developments in gyros invol-
ving gas bearings (D7)
The development of bearings for
mass-production (F 1)
The opening of the symposium by Marsh
(A1) provided one of those rare opportun-
ities to hear a new and simple explanation
183