Investigation To Failure Analysis of Rolling Bearings

International Journal of MechanicalJOURNAL
INTERNATIONAL Engineering andOF Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –

MECHANICAL
6340(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6359(Online) Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012), © IAEME
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (IJMET)
ISSN 0976 – 6340 (Print)
ISSN 0976 – 6359 (Online)
Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012), pp. 138-149
IJMET
© IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijmet.html
Journal Impact Factor (2011): 1.2083 (Calculated by GISI) ©IAEME
www.jifactor.com
INVESTIGATION TO FAILURE ANALYSIS OF ROLLING

ELEMENT BEARING WITH VARIOUS DEFECTS
PROF. AMIT AHERWAR

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING,
ANAND ENGINEERING COLLEGE (SGI), AGRA
EMAIL: AMIT22141982@YAHOOMAIL.COM
PROF. RAHUL BAJPAI

DEPARTMENT OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING
HINUSTAN COLLEGE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
MATHURA
PROF. MD. SAIFULLAH KHALID

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING,
ANAND ENGINEERING COLLEGE (SGI), AGRA
ABSTRACT
In this present work, highlights the various modes of failure and their respective causes with visual effect of
appearance. The damaged bearing samples were investigated and visual inspection is done to find out the
mode of failure. The component failure list to highlight the most affected bearing part and its root cause
failure analysis is done. This paper described the cause and effect diagram to evaluate the most serious
mode & its cause of failure. This series of articles is intended to serve as an aid in identifying the causes of
bearing failures and to provide guidance on how to avoid future problems. If the machinery has been
plagued by repeated bearing problems, the illustrations that complement the text can provide invaluable
assistance in identifying the root cause of a bearing failure. When bearing failure occurs, consider cleaning
and inspecting it and comparing the observations to the result in this series on bearing failure analysis. The
first thing to look for is an illustration that depicts similar damage to the failed bearing. Read the text
associated with the picture, so as to get a better understanding of why the bearing failed. Rolling element
bearing life expectancy is directly related to the number of revolutions performed by the bearing, the
magnitude of the load and the lubrication and cleanliness of the lubricant. Various fault detection
techniques mainly infrared thermography, envelop analysis etc.; to find the different mode of failure in the
component are discussed in this paper.
Keywords: Condition monitoring, fault diagnosis, rolling element bearing, fault detection
1. INTRODUCTION
A bearing is a mechanical element that permits relative motion between two parts, such as the shaft and the
housing, with minimum friction. The functions of the bearing is to ensure free rotation of the shaft or the
138
International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –
axle with minimum friction, supports the shaft or the axle and holds it in correct position, takes up the
forces that act on the shaft or the axle and transmits them to the frame or the foundation. The term “rolling
bearing” includes all forms of roller and ball bearing which permit rotary motion of a shaft. The rolling
contact bearing has a low starting friction and thus it offers low friction hence also called antifriction
bearings. A complete unit of ball bearing includes inner ring, outer ring, rolling element (balls or rollers)
and the cage which separates the rolling element from each other. Rolling bearings are high precision, low
cost but commonly used in all kinds of rotary machine. Sriram Pattabhiraman, George Levesque, Nam H.
Kim, Nagaraj K. Arakere [1], presents Uncertainity analysis and parametric studies for estimating the
fatigue failure probability of surface cracks in silicon nitride ball bearings subjected to rolling contact
fatigue. Wouter Ost, Patrick De Baets and Wim De Waele [2], investigated the failure of ball bearing of a
dockside crane, which had been in service for 22 years, was replaced, noise emanating from the bearing
was observed. Gradually the play of the newly installed bearing increased and after 5 years this had to be
replaced. Upon visual inspection a large deformation of one of the bearing rings was observed, and when
the bearing was opened 5 fractured balls were found and some parts of the raceways showed extensive
pitting. Analysis of the bearing showed that faulty hardening of the bearing caused pitting of the raceways,
which led to failure of the bearing.
Wouter Ost, Patrick De Baets [3], described the failure analysis of deep groove ball bearings of an electric
motor, driving an oil-injected compressor, were periodically monitored for vibrations. Tuncay Karacay,
Nizami Akturk [4], presented the Vibration measurements and signal analysis for condition monitoring of
ball bearings as their vibration signature reveals important information about the defect development within
them. The Time domain analysis of vibration signature such as peak-to-peak amplitude, root mean square,
Crest factor and kurtosis indicates defects in ball bearings. A. Tauqir, I. Salam, A. ul Haq, A. Q. Khan [5],
discuss the fatigue failure in the central main bearing (CMB) of the compressor shaft of an aero-engine
resulted in an air-crash. The cage of the CMB broke due to fatigue, got stuck between the bearing balls and
the outer race, misaligned them resulting in severe wear of the components and damaged the function of the
engine. R. S. Dwyer-Joyce [6], investigated the solid debris particles in a lubricant can become entrained
into the contacts of ball bearings. The particles damage the bearing surfaces. This can lead to rolling
contact fatigue failure or material loss by three body abrasion. This work concentrates on modelling the
later process for brittle debris materials. B. Liu, S. F. Ling, R. Gribonval [7], identifies a new approach to
the detection of localized defects of rolling element bearings is proposed. It employs matching pursuit with
time–frequency atoms to analyze bearing vibration and extract vibration signatures. In particular, this
approach utilizes not only the temporal and spectral but also the scale characteristics of the vibration
generated due to the presence of a defect for the detection N. Tandon, A. Choudhury [8], presents a review
of vibration and acoustic measurement methods for the detection of defects in rolling element bearings. It
also considered the detection of both localized and distributed categories of defect. H. Ahmadi and K.
Mollazade [9], presents bearing fault diagnosis to maintain an efficient operating unit and avoid failure of
mineral critical equipment, it is necessary to maintain the critical parts of that equipment. V. Sugumaran, V.
Muralidharan, K.I. Ramachandran [10], has presented fault diagnostics of roller bearing through proximal
support vector machine to reveals its condition and the features that show the nature, through some indirect
means. Statistical parameters like kurtosis, standard deviation, maximum value, etc. form a set of features,
which are widely used in fault diagnostics. Dong Wang, Qiang Miao, Xianfeng Fan and Hong-Zhong
Huang [11], explain the bearing fault detection benefits decision-making of maintenance and avoids
undesired downtime cost. Alan Friedman [12], describe a methodology for automatically detecting and
diagnosing rolling element bearing wear.
2. Rolling Contact Bearing Failure

The rolling element or antifriction bearings have long service life when they are maintained properly. The
most widely used rolling element bearing are ball, cylindrical roller, spherical roller and tapered roller. The
bearings will exhibit no signs of failure unless contaminants such as dirt, abrasive foreign particles, etc.
misalignment, overloading and improper lubrication. Each of the different causes of bearing failure
produces its own characteristic damage. Such damage, known as primary failure, gives rise to secondary
failure. Even the primary failure may necessitate scrapping the bearings on account of excessive internal
clearance, vibration, noise, and so on. A failed bearing frequently displays a combination of primary and
139
secondary failure. The types of bearing failure may be classified as follows: (1) Primary Failure- It
comprises of: Wear, Indentations, Smearing, Surface Distress, Corrosion and Electric Current Damage, (2)
Secondary Failure- It comprises of: Flaking (spalling), Cracks, Cage damage.
2.1 Bearing Wear and its Causes.
All bearings normally go through a wear period of several hours after initial operation, after which the
rolling elements and raceways are broken in and perceptible wear starts. In normal cases there is no
appreciable wear in rolling bearings. Wear may, however, occur as a result of the ingress of foreign
particles into the bearing or when, the lubrication is unsatisfactory.
2.1.1 Wear caused by abrasive particles

Small, abrasive particles, such as grit or swarf that have entered the bearing by some means or other, cause
wear of raceways, rolling elements and cage. The surfaces become dull to a degree that varies according to
the coarseness and nature of the abrasive particles. Sometimes worn particles from brass cages become
verdigrises and then give light-colored grease a greenish hue. The quantity of abrasive particles gradually
increases as material is worn away from the running surfaces and cage. Therefore the wear becomes an
accelerating process and in the end the surfaces become worn to such an extent as to render the bearing
unserviceable. However, it is not necessary to scrap bearings that are only slightly worn. They can be used
again after cleaning. The abrasive particles may have entered the bearing because the sealing arrangement
was not sufficiently effective for the operating conditions involved. They may also have entered with
contaminated lubricant or during the mounting operation.
2.1.2 Wear caused by inadequate lubrication
If there is not sufficient lubricant, or if the lubricant has lost its lubricating properties, it is not possible for
an oil film with sufficient carrying capacity to form. Metal to metal contact occurs between rolling
elements and raceways. In its initial phase, the resultant wear has roughly the same effect as lapping. The
peaks of the microscopic asperities that remain after the production processes are torn off and, at the same
time, a certain rolling-out effect are obtained. This gives the surfaces concerned a varying degree of mirror-
like finish. At this stage surface distress can also arise. If the lubricant is completely used up, the
temperature will rise rapidly. The hardened material then softens and the surfaces take on blue to brown
hues. The temperature may even become as high as to cause the bearing to seize.
2.1.3 Wear caused by vibration.
When a bearing is not running, there is no lubricant film between the rolling elements and the raceways.
The absence of lubricant film gives metal to metal contact and the vibrations produce small relative
movements of rolling elements and rings. As a result of these movements, small particles break away from
the surfaces and this leads to the formation of depressions in the raceways. This damage is known as false
brinelling, sometimes also referred to as wash boarding. Balls produce sphered cavities while rollers
produce fluting. In many cases, it is possible to discern red rust at the bottom of the depressions. This is
caused by oxidation of the detached particles, which have a large area in relation to their volume, as a result
of their exposure to air. There is never any visible damage to the rolling elements. The greater the energy of
vibration, the more severe the damage. The period of time and the magnitude of the bearing internal
clearance also influence developments, but the frequency of the vibrations does not appear to have any
significant effect. Roller bearings have proved to be more susceptible to this type of damage than ball
bearings. This is considered to be because the balls can roll in every direction. Rollers, on the other hand,
only roll in one direction; movement in the remaining directions takes the form of sliding. Cylindrical roller
bearings are the most susceptible. The fluting resulting from vibrations sometimes closely resembles the
fluting produced by the passage of electric current. However, in the latter case the bottom of the depression
is dark in color, not bright or corroded. The damage caused by electric current is also distinguishable by the
140
fact that the rolling elements are marked as well as the raceways. Bearings with vibration damage are
usually found in machines that are not in operation and are situated close to machinery producing
vibrations. Examples that can be cited are transformer fans, stand-by generators and ships' auxiliary
machinery. Bearings in machines transported by rail, road or sea may be subject to vibration damage too.
Where machines subject to constant vibration are concerned, it is essential that the risk of damage to the
bearings be taken into consideration at the design stage. Consequently, where possible, ball bearings should
be selected instead of roller bearings. The ability of ball bearings to withstand vibrations without being
damaged can also be considerably improved by applying axial preloading with the aid of springs. An oil
bath, in which all rolling elements in the load zone are immersed in the oil, has also proved to provide
satisfactory protection. A vibration-damping base helps to prevent damage too. The bearings in machines
that are to be transported can be protected by locking the shaft, thus preventing the small movements that
have such a damaging effect on the bearings.
2.2 Bearing Indentation and Their Causes
Raceways and rolling elements may become dented if the mounting pressure is applied to the wrong ring,
so that it passes through the rolling elements, or if the bearing is subjected to abnormal loading while not
running. Foreign particles in the bearing also cause indentations. The distance between the dents is the
same as the rolling element spacing. Ball bearings are prone to indentations if the pressure is applied in
such a way that it passes through the balls during the mounting or dismounting operations. Self-aligning
ball bearings are particularly susceptible to damage in such circumstances. In spherical roller bearings the
damage originates as smearing and subsequently, if the pressure increases, develops into a dent. Bearings
that are mounted with excessively heavy interference fits, and bearings with tapered bore that are driven too
far up the shaft seating or sleeve, also become dented.
2.3 Bearing Smearing and its Causes
When two inadequately lubricated surfaces slide against each other under load, material is transferred from
one surface to the other. This is known as smearing and the surfaces concerned become scored, with a
"torn" appearance. When smearing occurs, the material is generally heated to such temperatures that
rehardening takes place. This produces localized stress concentrations that may cause cracking or flaking.
In rolling bearings, sliding primarily occurs at the roller end-guide flange interfaces. Smearing may also
arise when the rollers are subjected to severe acceleration on their entry into the load zone. If the bearing
rings rotate relative to the shaft or housing, this may also cause smearing in the bore and on the outside
surface and ring faces. In thrust ball bearings, smearing may occur if the load is too light in relation to the
speed of rotation.
2.4 Fretting corrosion
If the thin oxide film is penetrated, oxidation will proceed deeper into the material. An instance of this is
the corrosion that occurs when there is relative movement between bearing ring and shaft or housing, on
account of the fit being too loose. This type of damage is called fretting corrosion and may be relatively
deep in places. The relative movement may also cause small particles of material to become detached from
the surface. These particles oxidize quickly when exposed to the oxygen in the atmosphere. As a result of
the fretting corrosion, the bearing rings may not be evenly supported and this has a detrimental effect on the
load distribution in the bearings. Rusted areas also act as fracture notches.
2.5 Damage caused by the passage of electric current.
When an electric current passes through a bearing, i.e. proceeds from one ring to the other via the rolling
elements, damage will occur. At the contact surfaces the process is similar to electric arc welding. The
material is heated to temperatures ranging from tempering to melting levels. This leads to the appearance of
discolored areas, varying in size, where the material has been tempered, re-hardened or melted. Small
craters also form where the metal has melted. The passage of electric current frequently leads to the
141
formation of fluting (corrugation) in bearing raceways. Rollers are also subject to fluting, while there is
only dark discolouration of balls. It can be difficult to distinguish between electric current damage and
vibration damage. A feature of the fluting caused by electric current is the dark bottom of the corrugations,
as opposed to the bright or rusty appearance at the bottom of the vibration induced fluting. Another
distinguishing feature is the lack of damage to the rolling elements of bearings with raceway fluting caused
by vibrations. Both alternating and direct currents cause damage to bearings. Even low amperage currents
are dangerous. Non-rotating bearings are much more resistant to electric current damage than bearings in
rotation. The extent of the damage depends on a number of factors: current intensity, duration, bearing
load, speed and lubricant. The only way of avoiding damage of this nature is to prevent any electric current
from passing through the bearing.
2.6 Bearing Flaking and its Causes
Flaking (Spawling) occurs as a result of normal fatigue, i.e. the bearing has reached the end of its normal
life span. However, this is not the commonest cause of bearing failure. The flaking detected in bearings can
generally be attributed to other factors. If the flaking is discovered at an early stage, when the damage is not
too extensive, it is frequently possible to diagnose its cause and take the requisite action to prevent a
recurrence of the trouble. The path pattern of the bearing may prove to be useful, see path pattern and their
interpretation. When flaking has proceeded to a certain stage, it makes its presence known in the form of
noise and vibrations, which serve as a warning that it is time to change the bearing. The causes of
premature flaking may be heavier external loading than had been anticipated, preloading on account of
incorrect fits or excessive drive-up on a tapered seating, oval distortion owing to shaft or housing seating
out-of-roundness, axial compression, for instance as a result of thermal expansion. Flaking may also be
caused by other types of damage, such as indentations, deep seated rust, electric current damage or
smearing.
International Journal of Rotating Machinery Cracks may form in bearing rings for various reasons. The
most common cause is rough treatment when the bearings are being mounted or dismounted. Hammer
blows, applied direct against the ring or via a hardened chisel, may cause fine cracks to form, with the
result that pieces of the ring break off when the bearing is put into service. Excessive drive up on a tapered
seating or sleeve is another cause of ring cracking. The tensile stresses, arising in the rings as a result of the
excessive drive-up, produce cracks when the bearing is put into operation. The same result may be obtained
when bearings are heated and then mounted on shafts manufactured to the wrong tolerances.
The smearing described in an earlier section may also produce cracks at right angles to the direction of
slide. Cracks of this kind produce fractures right across the rings. Flaking, that has occurred for some
reason or other, acts as a fracture notch and may lead to cracking of the bearing ring. The same applies to
fretting corrosion.
2.7 Bearing Cage Damage and Its Causes.

If, on examination of a failed bearing, the cage is found to be damaged, it may in many cases prove difficult
to ascertain the cause. Usually other components of the bearing are damaged too and this makes it even
more difficult to discover the reason for the trouble. However, there are certain main causes of cage failure,
viz. vibration, excessive speed, wear and blockage.
3. Different Modes of Failure

Bearings are designed for a given number of load cycles on the races. If the fatigue loads and the resulting
stresses exceed the bearing capacity, they will eventually cause cracks and spalling to develop in the races
and leads to bearing failure [13].The various mode of bearing failure are:
(a) Poor Design
(b) Misalignment
(c) Poor Installation
(d) Improper loading
(e) Insufficient Lubrication
(f) Poor care and maintenance
142
4. Method for failure detection in rolling element bearing

4.1 Infrared Thermography
Infrared Thermography is a fast and non-intrusive method to detect the presence of abnormally warm zones
on the surface of the bearing. We propose here to establish a link between the temperature rise and the rise
of the vibratory level of a mechanical component in the course of degradation. The method particularly
concerns the detection of the appearance of a defect of spalling on a rolling bearing. The damping of the
vibration has the effect to transform a part of the damping vibratory energy into heat. This heat creation
induces a rise in the ring temperature, more particularly on its external surface.
4.2 Envelope Analysis

Envelope Detection or Amplitude Demodulation is the technique of extracting the modulating signal from
an amplitude-modulated signal. The result is the time history of the modulating signal. The signal may be
studied/ interpreted as it is in the time domain or it may be subjected to a subsequent frequency analysis.
Envelope Analysis is the FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) frequency spectrum of the modulating signal.
Envelope Analysis can be used for diagnostics/investigation of machinery where faults have an amplitude
modulating effect on the characteristic frequencies of the machinery. Examples include faults in gearboxes,
turbines and induction motors. Envelope Analysis is also an excellent tool for diagnostics of local faults
like cracks and spallings in Rolling Element Bearings (REB).
4.3 Fatigue Wear Particle Analysis
Surface fatigue wear, also called rolling contact fatigue, predominantly occurs in rolling element bearings.
Fatigue wear in rolling bearings generally starts with micropitting - small areas on the bearings’ surface
where material has been removed due to repetitive stress. At its terminal point, surface fatigue causes
significant surface spalling - large craters often several hundreds of microns across, which are easily visible
to the naked eye. While the effects of fatigue on bearings are well-documented, wear debris analysis offers
a unique insight into fatigue failure. Because the particles that are removed from the bearing surface are
deposited in the oil and become the mirror image of the surface distress, the onset and progress of rolling
contact fatigue can be detected. Surface fatigue begins with microcracking on the surface or subsurface of a
rolling contact bearing. The subsurface cracking typically nucleates at material defects or inclusions in
bearing steels. With high stress on the rolling contact surfaces, subsurface microcracking propagates
parallel to the surface, causing the material to eventually dislocate or spall and form fatigue wear particles.
Recently, particulate-indentation induced surface fatigue has attracted greater attention among tribologists.
The risk for particle-induced surface fatigue is greatest when solid particles are roughly the same size as
bearing dynamic clearances (clearance size particles) and are harder than bearing surfaces and not too
friable. This enables them to enter bearing interfaces and dent bearing surfaces that have suffered from this
type of surface fatigue show massive indentations.
4.4 Vibration Condition Monitoring Technique
Condition monitoring is the process of monitoring a parameter of condition in machinery, such that a
significant change is indicative of a developing failure. It is a major component of predictive maintenance.
The use of conditional monitoring allows maintenance to be scheduled, or other actions to be taken to avoid
the consequences of failure, before the failure occurs. Nevertheless, a deviation from a reference value (e.g.
temperature or vibration behavior) must occur to identify impeding damages. Predictive Maintenance does
not predict failure. Machines with defects are more at risk of failure than defect free machines. Once a
defect has been identified, the failure processes has already commenced and measure the deterioration of
the condition. Intervention in the early stages of deterioration is usually much more cost effective than
allowing the machinery to fail. Condition monitoring has a unique benefit in that the actual load, and
subsequent heat dissipation that represents normal service can be seen and conditions that would shorten
143
normal lifespan can be addressed before repeated failures occur. Vibration analysis has been used in fault
diagnosis of rotating machines with rolling bearings for decades. Recent evidence shows that vibration
condition monitoring technique provides greater and more reliable information, thereby resulting in a more
effective maintenance program with large cost benefits to industry. Vibration analysis in particular has for
some time been used as a predictive maintenance procedure and as a support for machinery maintenance
decisions. As a general rule, machines do not break down or fail without some form of warning, which is
indicated by an increased vibration level. By measuring and analyzing the vibration of a machine, it is
possible to determine both the nature and severity of the defect, and hence predict the machine's useful life
or failure point. The overall vibration signal from a machine is contributed from many components and
structures to which it may be coupled. However, mechanical defects produce characteristic vibrations at
different frequencies, which can be related to specific machine fault conditions. By analyzing the time and
frequency spectra, and using signal processing techniques, both the defect and natural frequencies of the
various structural components can be identified.
5. Analysis on Failure of REB

The analysis of Rolling Element Bearing (REB) begins with the initial inspection of the failure bearing
samples. For the analysis point of view the various rolling element (ball) bearing samples having different
failure modes are investigated and the most offensive cause is detailed. During the examination the various
components of the bearing are dismantled and visual appearance of the failure mark is point out. The
following are the detailed information of the bearing samples under inspection:
Sample-1
Bearing No.: 6212
Type Single Row Radial
ball bearing
Inside Diameter 60mm
Outside 110mm
Diameter
Bearing
specification
(a) (b)
Race Width 22mm Failure Inner Race Failure Smearing of
mode Crack mode Raceway
Lubrication Grease (Shell) Failure Due to Failure Due to Lack of
Causes overload Causes Lubricant
Sample-2
Bearing No.: 6208
Type Single Row Radial
ball bearing
Outside 80mm
Diameter
Material Crome Steel
Bearing Max.Speed 7000rpm
specification
(a) (b)
Race Width 18mm Failure Cage Fracture Failure Due to
mode mode Misalignment
Lubrication Grease (Shell) Failure Due to Failure Due to improper
Causes Misalignment Causes tooling
144
Sample-3
Bearing No.: 6203
Bearing Type Single Row Radial
specification ball bearing
Outside 40mm
Diameter
Max.Speed 17000rpm
(a) (b)
Race Width 12mm Failure Ball Path Failure Smearing of
mode Widened mode Raceway
Lubrication Grease Failure Due to Failure Improper
Causes Misalignment Causes Lubrication
Sample-4
Bearing No.: 6304
Type Radial Deep groove
ball bearing
Outside 52mm
Diameter
Bearing Max.Speed 10,000rpm
specification
(a) (b)
Race Width 15mm Failure Fretting Failure Corrosion Etching
mode Corrosion mode
Lubrication Grease Failure Due to Failure Due to
Causes loose/tight fits. Causes contamination
Sample-5
Bearing No.: 6206
Type Deep groove ball
bearing
Outside 60mm
Diameter
specification
(a) (b)
Race Width 16mm Failure Fretting Failure Burning tends to
mode Corrosion mode scuffing
Lubrication Grease Failure Due to passage of Failure Due to Lack of
Causes electric current Causes Lubricant
145
Sample-6
Bearing No.: 6203
bearing
Outside 40mm
Diameter
specification
(a) (b)
Race Width 12mm Failure Wear around the Failure Rusting around the
mode Raceway. mode Raceway
Lubrication Grease (Shell) Lack of
Failure Failure
cleanliness Due to Loose fitting
Causes Causes
during mounting.
Sample-7
Bearing No.: 6203
Type Deep groove
ball bearing
Outside 40mm
Diameter
Max.Speed 17,000rpm
Bearing
specification Material Crome Steel
(a) (b)
Race Width 12mm Fretting
Failure Failure
Corrosion on Corrosion Etching
mode mode
outer surface
Lubrication Grease Due to moisture
Failure Failure Due to
or corrosive
Causes Causes contamination
substance.
Sample-8
Bearing No.: 6205
bearing
Outside 52mm
Diameter
Bearing Race Width 15mm
specification Max.Speed 10,000rpm
(a) (b)
Race Width 15mm Failure Discoloration Failure
Overheating
mode of Inner Race mode
Lubrication Grease Due to
Failure Failure
inadequate Due to overload.
Causes Causes
lubrication.
146
6. Result and Analysis
6.1 Failure Mode and Effected bearing component

Table 6.1 describes the different bearing sample failure and the effected bearing component:-
Bearing Failure Bearing Ring Rolling Element Cage or Retainer
Inner Ring Outer Ring
Wear
Fretting × ×
Smearing ×
Cracks ×
Corrosion ×
Cage Failure × × ×
Pitting × × ×
Discoloration ×
Brinelling × ×
Flaking × ×
The major causes of bearing component failure may be overloading, lubrication, mishandling, poor
mounting practices. The failure analysis of bearing samples has been done regarding the failure component
with their percentage of Failure mode. Results shows the most encounter failure component is inner ring
which depicts 90% of failure mode while rolling element depicts the least one with 30%.
Failure Analysis of Bearing Samples Failure-Cause Analysis of Bearing Samples

Percentage of Failure Mode
100
Percentage of Failure Mode
80
90
70
80
70 60
60 50
Percentage of Failure
50
40 Mode 40 Failure Mode
30 30
20
20
10
0 10
Inner Ring Outer Rolling Cage 0
Ring Element A B C D E F G H I J
Failure Component No. of Failure Cause
Fig: 6.1- Variation of Percentage of Failure Fig 6.2 Percentage of Failure modes Vs
Failure Mode Vs Failure Component Causes
(A) Improper mounting; (B) Inadequate lubricant; (C) Electric current; (D) Contamination; (E) Moisture/chemical
action; (F) High temperation; (G) Poor handling; (H) Misalignment; (I) Improper lubrication; (J) Over loading/ axial
loading
Another analysis has been done based on the number of failure causes with the percentage of failure mode.
Results shows the maximum percentage of failure mode is due to Overloading; Axial Loading while 10%
of the failure mode is due to electric spark which is the least one. The other causes depicts likewise
improper mounting 60%, inadequate lubricant 30%, contamination 50%, moisture/chemical action 30%,
failure cause due to high temperature 40%, poor handling 50%, misalignment 20% , improper lubrication
50%.
General Trend of Major Failure Causes

The Failure reasons of a rolling element bearing may be due to overloading/axial loading, Inadequate/Improper
Lubrication, Poor handling & Misalignment. In many cases these faults are caused by incautious operation and
insufficient technical knowledge. These faults can cause major damage in machinery. Design faults include incorrect
shape, dimensional errors, bearing faults, selection of wrong bearing and insufficient technical knowledge. The Fig
147
showing that the major trends of failure cause is due to loading either overloading or axial loading while the least
one is due to misalignment. For proper life expectancy of bearing these parameters must be considered.
Fig.6.3: Showing major percentage of bearing failure causes.
Conclusion
The rolling element bearing problems and determining their root cause of failure is often difficult, because many
failure types look very similar. This is because bearing failures are almost always precipitated by spalling or flaking
conditions of the bearing component surfaces. Spalling occurs when a bearing has reached its fatigue life limit, but
also when premature failures occur. For this reason, it is important to be aware of and able to recognize, all of the
common failures of rolling element bearings. This ability to correctly recognize the root cause of bearing problems
will lead the analyst to the right conclusions with regard to the bearing failure. Manufacturing defects in rolling
element bearings make up less than one percent of the millions of bearings in use today around the world and this
small defect percentage is being reduced continually by improvements in manufacturing techniques and bearing
materials. Bearing manufacturers use ultrasonic inspection devices to detect surface and subsurface bearing material
defects, eliminating poor quality products during the production process. Eddy current testing is used to evaluate
surface hardness and detect cracks to ensure 100% product conformance to bearing specifications. Only a small
fraction of all the bearings in use fail because they have reached their material fatigue limit. The vast majority of
bearings outlive the machinery or component in which they are installed. According to many bearing experts, the
following statistics apply to rolling element bearings failures, no matter in what type of rotating equipment they are
installed (electric motors, pumps, fans, gear drives, etc.) Fail prematurely due to mechanical vibration, excessive
temperatures, electrical discharge caused by static electricity or current flow, or by operating conditions which allow
overloading and/or over speeding. These bearing life percentages may vary from industry to industry depending on
operating conditions, maintenance practices and industry operational culture. For example, in the pulp and paper
industry, poor lubrication or contaminated lubricants are the main causes of failure.
Future Scope
The future scope of this study will be to improve bearing life expectancy ratings, “defined as the number of
revolutions or number of operating hours at a given constant speed which a bearing is capable of, before the first
sign of fatigue spalling occurs on one of the rings or rolling elements.” This dissertation work can be extended to
employ different optimization technique to find the exact probability of failure so as to improve the service life of
the bearing.
References
[1] Sriram Pattabhiraman, George Levesque, Nam H. Kim, Nagaraj K. Arakere “Uncertainty analysis for rolling
contact fatigue failure probability of silicon nitride ball bearings” International Journal of Solids and
Structures, Volume 47, Issues 18-19, September 2010, Pages 2543-2553.
[2] Wouter Ost, Patrick De Baets and Wim De Waele, “Failure of a large ball bearing of a dockside crane”
Laboratory Soete, Ghent University, August 2003.
[3] Wouter Ost, Patrick De Baets, “Failure analysis of the deep groove ball bearings of an electric motor”
Engineering Failure Analysis, Volume 12, Issue 5, October 2005, Page 772-783.
148
[4] Tuncay Karacay, Nizami Akturk,” Experimental diagnostics of ball bearings using statistical and spectral
methods”, Tribology International, Volume 42, Issue 6, June 2009, Pages 836-843.
[5] A. Tauqir, I. Salam, A. ul Haq, A. Q. Khan, “Causes of fatigue failure in the main bearing of an aero-engine”,
Engineering Failure Analysis, Volume 7, Issue 2 , April 2000, Pages 127-144.
[6] Izzety Onel, K Burak Dalci and Ibrahim Senol, “Detection of outer raceway bearing defects in small induction
motors using stator current analysis”, Sadhana Vol. 30, Part 6, December 2005, pp 713-722.
[7] B. Liu, S. F. Ling, R. Gribonval ,”Bearing failure detection using matching pursuit” NDT & E International,
Volume 35, Issue 4, June 2002, Pages 255-262.
[8] N. Tandon, A. Choudhury, “A review of vibration and acoustic measurement methods for the detection of
defects in rolling element bearings”, Tribology International, Volume 32, Issue 8, August 1999, Pages 469-
480.
[9] H. Ahmadi and K. Mollazade, “Bearing Fault Diagnosis of a Mine Stone Crasher by Vibration Condition
Monitoring Technique”, October 2009.
[10] V. Sugumaran, V. Muralidharan, K.I. Ramachandran , “Feature Selection using Decision Tree and
classification through Proximal Support Vector Machine for fault diagnostics of roller bearing” Department of
Mechanical Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, May 2006.
[11] Dong Wang, Qiang Miao, Xianfeng Fan and Hong-Zhong Huang, “ Rolling Element fault detection using an
improved combination of Hilbert and Wavelet transforms”, Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 23
(2009) 3292-3301, August 2009.
[12] Alan Friedman, “Automated Bearing Wear Detection”, Vibration Institute Proceedings-2004.
[13] Neville Sachs, “Root Cause Failure Analysis-The Case of the Frequent Bearing Failures”, Reliability
Magazine, October 1999.
[14] E. Mendel, T. W. Rauber1, F. M. Varej˜ao, and R. J. Batista, “ Rolling Element Bearing Fault Diagnosis in
rotating machines of oil extraction rigs”,17th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO 2009)
Glasgow, Scotland, August 24-28, 2009.
[15] Pratesh Jayaswal, A.K.Wadhwani and K.B.Mulchandani, “Machine Fault Signature Analysis”, International
Journal of Rotating Machinery, Volume 2008.
[16] R.CELIN, D.KMETIC, “Cracks in a Roller-Bearing”, Metalurgija 47 (2008) 1, pp 69-72.
[17] Viktor Gerdun, Tomazˇ Sedmak, Viktor Sˇ inkovec, Igor Kovsˇe, Bojan Cene, “Failure of bearings and axles
in railway freight wagons”, Trzˇasˇka 19a, p.p. 355, SI-1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia, November 2006.
149

Investigation To Failure Analysis of Rolling Bearings

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Investigation To Failure Analysis of Rolling Bearings

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

International Journal of MechanicalJOURNAL

INTERNATIONAL Engineering andOF Technology (IJMET), ISSN 0976 –

INVESTIGATION TO FAILURE ANALYSIS OF ROLLING

PROF. AMIT AHERWAR

PROF. RAHUL BAJPAI

PROF. MD. SAIFULLAH KHALID

2. Rolling Contact Bearing Failure

2.1 Bearing Wear and its Causes.

2.1.1 Wear caused by abrasive particles

2.1.2 Wear caused by inadequate lubrication

2.1.3 Wear caused by vibration.

2.3 Bearing Smearing and its Causes

2.4 Fretting corrosion

2.5 Damage caused by the passage of electric current.

2.6 Bearing Flaking and its Causes

2.7 Bearing Cage Damage and Its Causes.

3. Different Modes of Failure

4. Method for failure detection in rolling element bearing

4.2 Envelope Analysis

4.3 Fatigue Wear Particle Analysis

4.4 Vibration Condition Monitoring Technique

5. Analysis on Failure of REB

6. Result and Analysis

6.1 Failure Mode and Effected bearing component

Failure Analysis of Bearing Samples Failure-Cause Analysis of Bearing Samples

General Trend of Major Failure Causes

Fig.6.3: Showing major percentage of bearing failure causes.

You might also like