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Troubleshooting of plain bearings | Power-MI

Aug 21, 2023 2:36 PM

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Plain bearings
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Troubleshooting of plain
bearings
By Alfonso Fernandez

Introduction to maintenance

Vibration analysis fundamentals

Vibration sensors and measurement devices

Vibration standards

Imbalance and phase measurement

Low frequency fault diagnosis

Plain bearings

Troubleshooting of plain bearings

Transducers and frequency bands for plain bearing measurements

Gears

Rolling element bearings

AC induction motors

Resonance

Introduction
In addition to the mechanical problems of machines with friction bearings such as
imbalance, misalignment, bent shaft, eccentricity, resonance, etc. There are some
problems or defects typical of the friction bearings such as excessive clearance, oil
whirl and inadequate lubrication.

Figure 7.1: Plain bearing

Excessive clearance
In order for a looseness problem to manifest it is necessary the presence of
excitation forces due to imbalance, misalignment, etc. that excite the problem,
resulting in high levels of vibration. An overloaded bearing is less capable of
absorbing forces due to mechanical problems and results in high vibration levels at
1x, 2x RPM and higher harmonics. Half harmonics (1.5x, 2.5x, 3.5x RPM, etc.) and
subharmonics (0.5x RPM) can also appear, as discussed in the chapter on looseness.
Looseness conditions the position of the shaft within the bearing, so that excessive
clearance can lead to incorrect positioning, and consequently, to a phenomenon of
misalignment, with the appearance of vibration and frequencies characteristic of this
problem.

Oil whirl
Oil whirl is a typical plain bearing problem. This problem occurs primarily in machines
with bearings equipped with high pressure lubrication systems and high operating
rotational speeds, usually above the critical speed of the rotor. The typical vibration
associated to the oil whirl is subsynchronous, presenting in the spectrum a frequency
in a range between 0.43 and 0.48x RPM, being able to produce catastrophic failures if
the rotor turning speed is two times one of the critical speeds, due to the excitation of
the natural frequency of the rotor. This phenomenon is known as oil whip.
Figure 7.2: Oil whirl

Down below we will describe a little more in detail the phenomenon of the oil whirl in
plain bearings. Under normal operating conditions, the rotor is located within the
bearing at an eccentric position on an oil film. The rotating movement of the shaft
pumps oil creating a high pressure wedge that supports the shaft load. Downstream
the pressure the fluid goes through is lower than upstream. This pressure difference
causes a tangential force on the shaft in the direction of rotation which is the cause
of the rotor vibration. The typical value of the characteristic frequency of this
movement is directly related to the dragging speed of the fluid film. Indeed, like all
moving viscous fluids, the molecular layer of oil in contact with the rotor moves at its
speed, while the adjacent layers are drawn by shear forces until the layer adjacent to
the bearing wall that has zero speed. Normally, the forces produced by this
phenomenon are small compared to the static or dynamic loads acting on the
bearing. However, sometimes such oil swirling forces are the main ones, and hence
the danger of this phenomenon.

This, together with the fact that the defect is unstable, means that it has to be treated
with special attention, analyzing all the possible root causes that originate its
appearance.

The oil whirl phenomenon is often related to an inadequate bearing design. For
example, if the static load of the shaft in the bearing is too light then the force
generated by the rotation of the oil film may be the dominant force, in which case the
machine will be very susceptible to suffer oil whirl. Excessive bearing wear is a
problem that contributes to oil whirl. The tendency of the machine to develop oil whirl
depends on the amount of eccentricity of the shaft within the bearings. However, in a
worn bearing, the shaft will turn more and more eccentric, increasing bearing wear
and therefore increasing the likelihood of oil whirl. An increase in oil pressure or in
viscosity can also increase the chances of oil whirl issues. When an oil whirl problem
is found, temporary solutions can be applied to correct it, such as: increasing the oil
temperature so that the viscosity decreases or increasing the bearing load by
introducing a small imbalance or misalignment. At present there are special bearing
designs aimed at reducing the chances of appearance of oil whirl.

In the following figure we present a characteristic spectrum of an oil whirl problem.

The spectrum was taken by connecting to the continuous monitoring system front
panel buffered output of a nuclear power plant refrigeration vertical pump, and a
dominant peak was observed at 0.47×RPM. During the data collection it was
observed how the amplitude of the peak amplitude was very variable, characteristic
that shows the instability of the phenomenon itself.
Figure 7.3: Oil wirl in a vertical pump spectrum

Inadequate lubrication
When the lubrication system fails or the oil used is not the adequate, the rotor can
reach the bearing wall producing fricction and originating a tangential vibration as in
the previous case, but conceptually different and also at a very different frequency,
generally high and unrelated with the RPM of the machine.
Figure 7.4: Bearing seizure due to inadequate lubrication

IN THIS PAGE:

Introduction
Excessive clearance
Oil whirl
Inadequate lubrication

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