Identifying and correcting the causes of bearing failure

Identifying and analysing the root cause of a bearing failure is critical in order to prevent similar failures from occurring again. Brian Williams, Quality Director at The Barden Corporation, urges companies to introduce a regime that enables the symptoms of bearing damage to be recognised early, as well as putting a systematic procedure in place for securing damaged bearings.Many bearings that fail are removed and replaced too quickly without sufficient levels of analysis into what caused their failure. This means that similar failures could occur again, resulting in further damage and costly unscheduled downtime.

Examination of the failure mode often reveals the true cause of bearing failure, but this procedure is complicated by the fact that one failure mode may initiate another. For example, corrosion in a ball raceway leaves rust (an abrasive), which can cause wear, resulting in loss of preload or an increase in radial clearance. The wear debris can, in a grease-lubricated bearing, impede lubrication, resulting in lubrication failure and subsequent overheating.

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