IR Thermography in Hydraulic System Troubleshooting

Tarun Motwani
Abdulsalam Al-Hussain
Saudi Iron & Steel Co.

ABSTRACT
Sophisticated hydraulic system troubleshooting is a very complicated process and requires a lot of
expertise and experience using very sophisticated technology. Most of the problems found in hydraulic
systems are related to blockages or internal leakage of hydraulic fluid in the system. The heat distribution
in the suspected faulty areas of the system changes, usually due to one of these issues, and
thermography is used to locate the problem source and take appropriate remedial measures. We have
developed a scheduled thermography survey program for our critical servo-hydraulic systems for
monitoring consistency of thermal patterns at different areas and look for any impending problems.
Thermography has also been beneficial in diagnosing many problems like internal leakages in hydraulic
valves, and locating faulty accumulators in complicated high-pressure hydraulic circuits. This paper will
discuss the details of our thermography scanning process and scheduling, and will also show thermal and
photographic image examples of detected problems, diagnostics information, and where thermographer
and hydraulic engineer work as a team to solve the problem.

INTRODUCTION
Modern industries are relying more and more on automated operations for producing high-quality goods.
This has resulted in rapid growth in the use of sophisticated hydraulic systems to handle various jobs.
Troubleshooting a system of this type requires sophisticated test equipment, a high level of expertise from
hydraulic engineers and patience as it is a very time consuming exercise. Often, many hydraulic system
components are changed based on the “hit-or-miss” method of troubleshooting. It further increases the
duration and costs of production downtime, because of hydraulic system problems. The root causes of
many problems are internal leakage in hydraulic components and efficient operation of pumps and
accumulators, which is difficult to diagnose and assess. This makes the detection of the root cause of
problems more complicated.

IR Thermography provides an easy solution to diagnosing complicated problems in sophisticated

hydraulic systems. This is possible due to the following characteristics of the hydraulic system operations:

• Most modern hydraulic systems operate at very high pressures, as they are designed to save
space and materials costs.
• Internal leakages in hydraulic components such as valves, cylinders, actuators and pumps are
the major source of the problem.
• Hydraulic accumulators provide proper response time and emergency protection to the
equipment.

A circuit diagram of a typical load sensing hydraulic system is shown in Figure 1, for reference. Wherever
there is an internal leakage, considerable pressure drop takes place in the highly pressurized hydraulic
fluid. This pressure drop results in high fluid velocities rising and temperatures at the location of the
internal leakage. The temperature rise results in fluid viscosity reduction which further increases the
leakage and provide insufficient lubrication to moving parts in the hydraulic system, compounding the
problem. The resulting wear creates particles that get into the hydraulic fluid and contaminate it. So, once
a problem starts, it gets compounded very quickly.

InfraMation 2005 Proceedings ITC 108 A 2005-06-01

Figure 1. Circuit diagram of a typical hydraulic system.

With IR Thermography, we can survey various sections of the hydraulic systems to locate overheated
areas and look for the cause. A scheduled IR survey helps in setting up baseline temperature readings for
various parts of the hydraulic systems in different ambient conditions. If baseline data are not available,
the temperature of affected area(s) shall be compared to similar component readings taken from another
area, or trended, and a tracking spreadsheet will be created for future reference.

CASE HISTORY-1
Figure 2 provides the IR image and photo of a pressure reducing valve in a Finishing Mill stand. It is part
of a complicated servo-hydraulic circuit involving many check valves, servo valves etc. This circuit was
malfunctioning thereby providing inconsistent force generation resulting in quality problems with hot rolled
steel strips. Production was halted to solve the problem. Hydraulic and automation engineers replaced
servo valves and their control cards, but the problem persisted. Then IR Thermography scans were
performed and the problem source was located in the pressure reducing valve shown in the figure 2.

Figure 2. Thermogram/photo pair showing problem indicated by temperature concentration around valve spool.

InfraMation 2005 Proceedings ITC 108 A 2005-06-01

There was a localized heating around the valve spool, which was the result of high-pressure internal
leakage around this spool. The temperature difference between the heated area and other part of valve
was 17 ̊C, which indicates severe internal leakage. IR surveys for the same type of valve on the other
side of the mill and other mill stands did not show this heat concentration around the spool, thereby
providing a baseline thermal profile. The faulty valve was replaced and the process problem disappeared,
which provided conclusive evidence of fault in the valve.

CASE HISTORY-2
Hydraulic accumulators play two very important roles in hydraulic system operation. These are:

1. They absorb pressure pulsation (fluctuation) by storing pressurized oil when there is less flow in
the circuit, and release this pressurized oil into the system when a big actuator starts to move.
2. They contain enough oil at the required pressure to allow all the actuators to move to a safe
position, in case of emergency stoppage, or a power failure in the system.

Figure 3 provides IR and photographic imagery of the piston accumulators in the Finishing Mill stand of
the Hot Strip Mill. The top side of the accumulators is connected to bottles containing Nitrogen gas and
the bottom side is connected to the main pressure line of the system. Before starting the system, the top
side of the piston is pressurized by gas at 60% of hydraulic system pressure (typically). When the pumps
are started, pressurized hydraulic oil lifts the piston, and its position is dictated by the pressure difference
between oil and gas, and the volume of gas in the accumulator and gas bottles.

IR Thermography helps in locating the piston position inside the accumulator, during system operation as
shown in the figure 3. The proper location of the piston ensures that there is a correct balance of pressure
on gas and oil inside the piston. This in turn ensures that the system is operating efficiently and safely.
The timing of thermography is of the essence here to get a good thermal contrast across two sides of the
piston. In our case of tropical climate, the temperature difference across the piston was only 4 ̊C, even
after appropriate care and using a sophisticated high-quality FLIR P-60 camera. The most appropriate
time for thermal imaging is usually early morning on a cold day, which allows the gas to cool down while
the oil still remains relatively hot at its operating temperature.

SP01: 35.2°C 40. 0°C

40
SP02: 37.0°C

39

38
SP03: 39.3°C

37

36

35
35. 0°C

Figure 3. Thermogram/photo pair showing piston location inside the accumulator with the help of thermal contrast.

InfraMation 2005 Proceedings ITC 108 A 2005-06-01

CASE HISTORY-3
Another application of IR Thermography is pump efficiency estimation by way of internal leakage in piston
pumps. The piston pumps a leak line which carries the internal leakage back to tank. As the pump ages
its internal leakage increases due to piston wear and the leak line will be hotter in such a pump compared
to an optimally operating pump. This application of IR Thermography can also be used for predictive
maintenance of a pump by establishing the threshold temperature of the leak line. When the leak line
temperature reaches this limit, the pump must be sent for refurbishment.

Figure 4 shows IR and visual images of a high pressure hydraulic pump (axial piston type). It is part of the
same servo-hydraulic circuit discussed above. The spot SP01 in the thermal image displays the
temperature of the leak line. While spot SP02 shows the temperature of the suction line, and spot SP03
the temperature of the leak line. Increased internal leakage in the pump results in an increase in
temperature of the leak line, hence base line value for leak line temperature is created when the pump is
new and it is monitored until it reaches the threshold value (typically 15 ̊C above baseline temperature).
Then a decision on replacing the pump and sending it for overhaul must be made.

60.0°C
60

SP03: 48.5°C

55

SP01: 45.5°C
50
SP02: 59.4°C

45

43.0°C

Figure 4. Thermogram/photo pair showing temperature of leak line of Axial piston type hydraulic pump.

IR SURVEY PROCEDURE
The optimum operating temperature of hydraulic system fluid is usually 40 ̊C. So for predictive
maintenance surveys, an appropriate time of the day shall be selected when the ambient conditions allow
for good thermal contrast. For different applications within hydraulic systems, different operating
conditions are preferred. For example for accumulator testing, the ideal time would be early morning on a
winter day with the system being idle (during normal operation) at the time of thermal image capture.
These conditions allow the piston to be stationary for a reasonable amount of time, and give good thermal
contrast across two sides of the piston. Similarly for troubleshooting, the timing for optimal thermal image
capture would be at the end of the suspected operating cycle of the system.

However, some knowledge of hydraulic system performance characteristics is very important for the
thermographer to do this job successfully. It is advisable to discuss the troubleshooting procedure with
the hydraulic engineer in the shop or if not available, then with the operations team. The predictive
maintenance schedule should be prepared, giving consideration to the ambient and operating conditions,
so as to ensure successful application of IR thermography.

InfraMation 2005 Proceedings ITC 108 A 2005-06-01

SUMMARY
IR Thermography can greatly simplify the troubleshooting process in today’s sophisticated hydraulic
systems. Troubleshooting otherwise requires lots of system downtime, undue attention of experienced
and trained experts and replacement of many components unnecessarily. IR thermography can also help
in predictive maintenance and optimizing the hydraulic system performance by locating unusually hot
areas of the system, and estimating efficiency of individual hydraulic pumps. The hot areas in hydraulic
systems cause rapid component degradation, leaks and degradation of hydraulic oil quality. The higher
hydraulic oil temperature reduces oil viscosity, resulting in higher internal leakages and loss of system
performance and efficiency. Hot hydraulic fluid with reduced oil viscosity does not provide proper
lubrication in various components, causing accelerated wear.

These kinds of diagnoses are possible due to the characteristics of hydraulic systems, so that wherever
pressure of hydraulic fluid changes significantly (causing high fluid velocities at that point), there is heat
generation. IR Thermography utilizes analysis of the heat patterns generated due to high flow velocities
and rapid pressure changes in different parts of the system to detect these problem areas.

REFERENCES
ITC Level-I course manual, Rev. 1.0; Infrared Training Center- Sweden.

Kaplan, Herbert; ASNT Level III Study Guide- Infrared and Thermal Testing Method; First Print 11/01

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank the management and colleagues at Saudi Iron & Steel Co. for providing the
resources for development of this new application possible. We are also grateful for the support of HSM
operations and maintenance personnel who provided additional required data and feedback for this
paper.

InfraMation 2005 Proceedings ITC 108 A 2005-06-01

InfraMation 2005 Proceedings ITC 108 A 2005-06-01