Abstract
In the condition monitoring of bearings using acoustic emission (AE), the restriction to solely instrument one of the two rings is generally considered a limitation for detecting signals originating from defects on the opposing non-instrumented ring or its interface with the rollers due to the signal energy loss. This paper presents an approach to evaluate transmission in low-speed roller bearings for application in passive ultrasound monitoring. An analytical framework to describe the propagation and transmission of ultrasonic waves through the geometry and interfaces of a bearing is presented. This framework has been used to evaluate the transmission of simulated damage signals in an experiment with a static bearing. The results suggest that low- to mid-frequency signals (<200 kHz), when passing through the rollers and their interfaces from one raceway to the other, can retain enough energy to be potentially detected. An average transmission loss in the range of 10–15 dB per interface was experimentally observed.
Highlights
Loaded low-speed roller bearings typically form crucial connections in offshore installations. Notable examples of these are the slewing and sheave bearings in offshore heavy-lifting cranes. As these structures are held to the highest standards of safety and reliability due to the remote nature of the offshore environment, assurance of the integrity of those critical roller bearings is of special concern
To describe describe and and quantify quantify this this transmission, transmission, aa framework framework is is proposed to analyse the propagation of elastic stress waves in complex geometries
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Summary
Loaded low-speed roller bearings typically form crucial connections in offshore installations. Notable examples of these are the slewing and sheave bearings in offshore heavy-lifting cranes. Conventional methods for the condition monitoring of roller bearings, i.e., vibration monitoring and strain monitoring [1,2], are known to perform poorly in low-speed applications. Alternative methods, such as lubrication analysis [3] and electrostatic monitoring [4], temperature monitoring [5], and ultrasonic techniques have been proposed and explored as well. For its outstanding potential to detect early-stage degradation, e.g., sub-surface cracking, passive ultrasonic monitoring, commonly referred to as acoustic emission (AE) monitoring, is further investigated in this paper
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