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Failure of Rolling Bearings:

An Overview
Dr. H. Hirani
Auuiutant Profouuor
Dopartmont of Moohanioal Enginooring
INDIAN INSTITUTE OI TECHNOLOOY BOMBAY
Email: hirani@iitb.ao.in
Phono: 981970 7535
Rolling Bearing Damage
Bearing Life depends on:
Total number of stress cycles
Loads incurred by rolling
elements and raceways.
Survival of dynamically stressed
Bearings is based on material fatigue
(pitting).
Stage II
III
2
3
Indentations caused by faulty mounting
Dented roller
surface
Inner ring
raceway
Double row cylindrical roller
bearing suffered improper handling
Fatigue
Limited endurance limit
I.I.T. Bombay
4
Fatigue
Condition: 8ear|rg surlace exr|o|ls
crac||rg. F|rsl propagal|or lo
surlace, lrer || lo oord ||re.
Causes: Excess|ve |oad (|rregu|ar
|oad|rg, r|sassero|y). l|gr
lerperalure.
Solutions: Rev|eW |oad|rg. Croose
r|grl raler|a|s lll.
I.I.T. Bombay
Damage???? Unusual operational behavior!!
Uneven running
Uncommon running noise
Resistance to smooth running
Flaked surfaces
High FrictionDetrimental preload
Poor lubrication Damaged surfaces
High Temperature
High Vibration
Monitoring
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Knowledge of Load, Fits, Mounting conditions
Ocvionv .ccv
Lubrication
cvin vvncncn
surrounding vibration
Iocin vi.c.
Water
Does one need such detailed observation???
How to Avoid Trouble
I.I.T. Bombay
Failure by Abrasive Particles
outer race of
a spherical
roller
bearing
Scratching Indentation
6
Failure due to Inadequate Lubrication
outer ring of a spherical
roller bearing-Mirror finish
If the lubricant film between raceways
and rolling elements becomes too
thin, the peaks of the surface
asperities will momentarily come into
contact with each other. Polishing of
two surfaces (as in lapping) occurs in
initial phase.
Small cracks then form in the surfaces
and this is known as SURFACE
DISTRESS.
Consequently material is heated to
such temperatures that rehardening
takes place.
This produces localized stress concentrations that may cause
cracking or flaking or transfer of material (commonly know as
SMEARING) from one surface to the other.
Surface distress in the
form of a band
encircling a roller.
1
0
0
x
m
a
g
n
ifica
tio
n
7
Smearing on the surface of a
roller from a spherical roller
bearing - 100 x magnification.
A cylindrical roller
with end smearing
Smeared
face of a
cylindrical
roller bearing
inner ring.
Smeared outside
surface of a
spherical roller
bearing outer ring
Failure by Vibration
outer ring of a self
aligning ball bearing
damaged by vibration
inner and outer ring of a
cylindrical roller bearing
8
Rust and Corrosion
Condition: Rusting at spacing
equal to the distances between
the rolling elements
Causes: Ingress of water or
corrosive material (such as acid)
Condensation of moisture
contained in the air.
Poor packaging and storing
conditions, and handling with bare
hands.
Solutions
Improvement in sealing effect
Measures for preventing rusting when not operating for a long period of time.
I.I.T. Bombay
Deep seated rust in the outer
ring of a deep groove ball
bearing
Fretting and Fretting Corrosion
Meaning: lo Wear aWay oy
pers|slerl o|l|rg or r|oo||rg
Condition: 0r lre raceWay
surlace, derls ca||ed la|se or|re|||rg
are lorred al spac|rg equa| lo
d|slarces correspord|rg lo lre
ro|||rg e|ererls.
Causes: v|oral|rg |oad Wor|s or corlacl|rg e|ererls resu|l|rg |r
sra|| arp||lude osc|||al|or, |uor|carl |s dr|ver oul lorr corlacl, ard
parls are Worr rerar|ao|y.
Poor lubrication (no lubrication)
Fluctuating load
Vibration during transportation
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Fretting and Fretting Corrosion
Condition: Vosl|y ooserved or
oear|rg oac|.Leads lo overreal|rg
due lo poor real d|ss|pal|or
Cause: Relative movement
between bearing & housing.
Insufficient radial interference.
(dirt?).
Solutions: Review bearing interference and back contact
conditions between bearing back & housing. Assess cord|l|or ol
rous|rg urder dyrar|c |oad.
Fretting on
Steel Backing
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Electrical Pitting
Condition: 3urlace |s spec||ed. Tre
spec||es are c|uslers ol l|ry p|ls Wrer
v|eWed lrrougr a r|croscope.
Furlrer deve|oprerl |eads lo a corrugaled
surlace. usua||y oola|red |r e|eclr|c rolors
Causes: E|eclr|c currerl passes lrrougr
oear|rg, ard spar|s are gereraled lo luse
lre raceWay surlace.
Solutions: Avo|d l|oW ol e|eclr|c currerl oy
averl|rg currerl W|lr a s||p r|rg or |rsu|al|or
oear|rg.Cerar|c coal|rg or lre 00.
I.I.T. Bombay
10
Flaking
Meaning= Peeling off
Results: 3urlace aller
l|a||rg |s very rougr.
I.I.T. Bombay
Causes: Excess|ve |oad
Installation error, misalignment, improper handling, etc.
ingress of foreign objects, debris, rusting, etc.
Solutions
Eliminate causes.
Adapt bearing with larger capacity
Increase viscosity of oil/grease
Flaking.
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Flaking in the outer ring of
spherical roller bearing that has
been mounted in a housing with
oval bore
Flaked inner ring of a
spherical roller bearing. Very
high axial load compared to
the radial load.
Cracking
Meaning= breaking, splitting,
or snapping apart
Results: Corp|ele la||ure
Causes: Excess|ve |oad W|lr
v|oral|or
Loose fit, excessive impacts
Solutions
Correction of fits
Vibration isolation
I.I.T. Bombay
12
Seizure
Meaning= lo o|rd or
lasler logelrer
Results: 0|sco|oral|or,
soller|rg, ard We|d|rg ol
raceWay surlace, ro|||rg
corlacl surlaces
I.I.T. Bombay
Causes: Poor real d|ss|pal|or
Poor lubrication or improper lubricant.
Smaller Clearance.
Excessive load (or pre-load).
Installation error.
Solutions
Improve dissipation of heat from bearing
Prevention of misalignment
improvement in clearance
Selection of suitable lubricant and
determination of optimum lubricant feeding
rate
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Bearing Maintenance
1. Statistical Method (bearing life estimation)
Probabilistic rolling contact fatigue.
Few bearings breakdown earlier than their life.
Unnecessary replacement of few perfectly good
condition bearings.
2. Bearing Condition Monitoring
Detect crack size.
Warns if crack area > 6.45 mm
2
(0.01 in
2
).
Needs crack propagation theory (-ies)
I.I.T. Bombay
Monitoring Bearing
Low failure (damage) rateSubjective
supervision Reactive maintenance
Damage hazardous to human life
Unexpected damage leads long production
loss
Monitoring cost < Overall maintenance
cost
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14
Criteria to Monitor
Bearing Temperature
o Thermocouple ????
o ? Lubrication breakdown ?
o Predicts only malfunctioning.
o Fatigue damage????
o POOR-INDICATOR????
Vibration & Noise
Wear
I.I.T. Bombay
Table: Variation of annual average bearing temperature, C
15
Vibration measurements
o Detection of cracks (incipient fatigue damage)
o Damage spots generate structure borne sound
o Recoding by acceleration pick-ups
o 1 < f
defect
< 100 kHz
o Relative measurement. Trend analysis. Comparison
with identical bearing locations
o Early diagnosis of localized damage
Vibration pick-ups must be firmly attached.
Measuring locations in load zone
Sound expected by damaged bearing > Overall sound
of machine
I.I.T. Bombay
Bearing Defect Frequencies
(

=
PD
BD
f FTF
r
1 * * 5 . 0
(
(

|
.
|

\
|
=
2
2
cos 1 * 5 . 0 x
PD
BD
xf
BD
PD
BSF
r
(

|
.
|

\
|
= cos 1 *
2
x
PD
BD
f
n
BPFO
r
(

|
.
|

\
|
+ = cos 1 *
2
x
PD
BD
f
n
BPFI
r
r race r and oute inne
the ed between lative spe f
ollers balls or r Number of n
gle Contact an
meter Pitch Dia PD
ter ller Diame ball or Ro BD
r
Re =
=
=
=
=
I.I.T. Bombay
Natural frequencies = [20kHz, 1MHz]
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I.I.T. Bombay
Measuring Instruments
Shock pulse meter
Measure compression waves, or shock pulse
originated by impact.
Micro shocks (high frequency)
Magnitude of shock wave increases when
bearing surfaces are stressed or damaged.
Carpet value, Max value, and Index Number
I.I.T. Bombay
17
: High frequency vibration time signal of a bearing
(a) Without fault (b) with a cavity on rolling surface
Measuring instruments..
Measuring instruments..
Enveloping Method
(a) No defect. (b) Wear (c) High friction
I.I.T. Bombay