Towards Bearings Prognostics Based on Oil Debris

Abstract

Abstract:
 Rolling element bearings are widely used in many mechanical systems and affect their safe operation and reliability. The use of an integral Oil Debris Sensor in the lubrication system allows continuous monitoring of chips and particles originating from an evolving failure in the mechanical system oil wetted components.
 This paper examines the use of the mass loss from an Oil Debris Monitoring sensor as a Health indicator to assess damage severity of a rolling element bearing. A series of experiments were performed on a test rig using angular contact ball bearings subjected to high rotational speed and loads to study the propagation of spall in the bearing raceway. Using test results, a spall size estimation model was developed. It uses the mass loss from the Oil debris and known bearing characteristics. The difference between the measured spall size in the tests and the model results were found relatively small.