Why do pump bearings fail?

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Article: Why do pump bearings fail?

What do we mean by good bearing life? Most of us change the bearings every time we disassemble the equipment to rep
sensible thing to do? If you think about it for a minute there is nothing in a bearing to wear out, there are no sacrificial par

Bearing life is determined by the number of hours it will take for the metal to "fatigue" and that is a function of the load on
lubrication that the bearing receives. Pump companies predict bearing life measured in years. As an example, the Duriron
radial bearing on their 3 x 2 x 10 pump ( 75 mm. x 50 mm. x 250 mm.) when pumping a liquid with a specific gravity of "o

To understand the term "fatigue" we will conduct an experiment:

z Straighten out a standard paper clip.

z Flex it a little and then let it go. You will notice that it returns to the straightened position. You could repeat this cyc
(fatiguing) the metal because you are cycling the metal in its "elastic range" ( it has a memory similar to piece of r
z Now we will bend (stress) the paper clip a lot further and you will note that it did not return to the straightened pos
where it did not have a memory.
z If you bend the metal back and forth in this plastic range it will crack and break in less than twenty cycles. The me
became brittle. The more you stress the metal by flexing it the quicker it will work harden and break.
z You have just demonstrated that fatigue is a function of stress and cycles.
z When the bearing is pressed on a rotating shaft the load passes from the inner race( inside ring) through the balls
z Each ball carries a portion of the stress as the balls roll under the load. It is this stress that will eventually fatigue t

When a pump is operating at its best efficiency point (B.E.P.) the only load the bearing has to carry is:

z The weight of the rotating assembly.

z The stress caused by the interference fit on the shaft.
z Any bearing preload specified by the manufacturer.

The fact is that most bearings become overloaded because of:

z The wrong interference fit between the bearing and the shaft ( the shaft was out of tolerance).
z Misalignment between the pump and its' driver.
z Bent shafts.
z An unbalanced rotating element.
z Pushing the bearing too far up a tapered sleeve.
z Operating the pump off of its best efficiency point (B.E.P.).
z Shaft radial thermal expansion.
z A futile attempt to cool the bearings by cooling the bearing housing with a water hose or some other similar system
increasing the interference and causing additional stress.
z Cavitation.
z Water hammer.
z Axial thrust.
z The bearing housing is sometimes out of round.
z Pulley driven designs.
z Vibration of almost any form.
z The impeller is located too far away from the bearing. This is a common problem in many mixer/ agitator applicati
z A bad bearing was supplied. This is becoming more of a problem with the increase in counterfeit parts we are find

This overloading will cause heat to be generated, and heat is another common cause of premature bearing failure.

Heat will cause the lubricant to:

z Decrease in viscosity, causing more heat as it loses its ability to support the load.
z Form a "varnish" residue and then "coke" at the elevated temperature. This "coking" will destroy the ability of the g
particles into the lubricant.

In addition to the heat generated by overloading we get additional heat from:

z The oil level is too high or too low. Too often pumps are aligned but not leveled.
z The bearing was over greased.
z The shaft material is conducting heat from the pumpage back to the bearing housing. This is a common problem i
used in an application and the stuffing box cooling jacket is shut off or inoperative.
z A loss of barrier fluid between double seals causing a temperature rise that conducts heat back to the bearings.
z A failed cooling jacket in the bearing housing around the stuffing box or built into the seal gland.
z Grease or lip seal contact on the shaft, right next to the bearings.
z A failed cooling "quench" in an A.P.I. type seal gland.

http://www.pump-manufacturers.com/pump_article_06050101.html 3/17/2008
Why do pump bearings fail? Page 2 of 2

A leading bearing manufacturer states that the life of bearing oil is directly related to heat. Non contaminated oil cannot w
degrees centigrade (86 F.). They further state that the life of the bearing oil is cut in half for each ten degree centigrade ri

This means that oil temperature regulation is critical in any attempt to increase the useful life of anti friction bearings.

Probably the major cause of premature bearing failure is the contamination of the bearing lubrication by moisture and sol
life by 48%. Six percent water can reduce bearing life by 83% percent.

There are several methods used by pump companies to keep this water and moisture out of the bearing housing

z A flinger ring to deflect packing or seal leakage away from the bearings. A silly arrangement at best.
z Keeping the bearing oil hot to prevent the forming of condensation inside the bearing case. A ridiculous system w
z The use of "so called" sealed bearings. You can call them any thing you want, but the seals will not seal anything
z Grease or lip seals that have a useful life of about two thousand hours (84 days at 24 hours per day) and will cut t
will cut the shaft in two places.
z Labyrinth seals that are superior to lip seals but not totally effective because you are still trying to seal with non co

The moisture comes from multiple sources:

z Packing leakage flows back to the bearing area.

z Because of packing leakage a water hose is used to wash down the area. This washing splashes on to the pump
z Aspiration, moist air enters through the lip or labyrinth seals when the bearing case cools down.
z A seal quench gland that often has steam, condensate or cooling water leaking out and directed at the radial bear

The moisture causes several problems:

z Pitting and corrosion of the bearing races and rolling elements that will increase the fatigue of the metal compone
z Free atomic hydrogen, in the water, appears to cause hydrogen embrittlement of the bearing metal accelerating th
z A water and oil emulsion does not provide a good lubricating film.

We get solids into the lubricant from several sources:

z Metal seal cage wear. This is the part the separates the balls that are held between the bearing races. It is often m
z Abrasive particles leach out of the bearing housing casting.
z Often solid particles were already contaminating the grease or oil we are using for the lubricant.
z Solids were introduced into the system during the assembly process because of a lack of cleanliness.
z Airborne particles penetrate the bearing seals.
z Particles worn off of the grease or lip seals penetrate into the bearings.

How to keep solids and moisture out of the bearing housing.

z Seal the inside of the bearing housing with epoxy or some other suitable material to stop rusting and to prevent so
careful about using some of the new high detergent lubricants. They might be powerful enough to remove this pro
z Replace the grease or labyrinth seals with positive face seals. In the future, you are going to need these seals to
z Install an expansion chamber outside of the bearing casing to accept the air (approximately 16 oz. or 475 ml. in a
increases in temperature. Without this expansion chamber approximately one atmosphere of pressure will build u
seal, but during long periods of shut down the pressure could be lost.
z Clean the oil in the bearing casing by installing a simple oil circulating and filtering system or change the oil freque

When do you go from anti-friction ball and roller bearings to hydrodynamic (sleeve) bearings in a centrifugal pum

z Any time the DN number exceeds 300,000 (Bearing bore times rpm)
z If the standard bearings fail to meet an L10 life of 25.000 hours in continuous operation or 16,000 hours at maxim
z If the product of the pump horsepower and speed in rpm is 2.7 million or greater.

The past several years have seen a decrease in the quality of the bearings available for rotating equipment. We find prep
Stabilization temperatures have changed and overall quality has diminished. If you adopt the above suggestions you sho
are now.

http://www.pump-manufacturers.com/pump_article_06050101.html 3/17/2008