Generic Bearings
Generic Bearings fall into two categories, rolling element bearings and journal (sleeve) bearings.
Rolling Element Bearings
Rolling element bearings are ubiquitous in small to medium sized equipment. Detecting faults in them is a major justification for
monitoring. The major components of a rolling element bearing are the inner race, outer race, bearing cage, and the rolling elements
themselves. Faults may appear on any of these components.
Cause
Incorrect selection, poor lubrication, electrical discharge, misalignment, resonance, and supply harmonics can all increase the rate of
bearing deterioration. Root causes should be identified long before bearing faults start to present.
Effect
Bearing problems cause excitation forces that may affect other components, as well as local heating and contamination of any lubrication
in the bearing, which will accelerate the rate of bearing failure. Complete failure of the bearing will prevent the equipment from rotating
and will cause further secondary damage.
Diagnosis
Bearings have a number of characteristic frequencies, including inner/ outer race ball pass frequency (the rate at which the rolling
elements pass a fixed point on the race, abbreviated to BPIR and BPOR), and train frequency (the rotational rate of the bearing cage/ train).
These numbers are usually given as a fraction of rotational speed.
These characteristic frequencies can be obtained from datasheets or through bearing calculators. Approximations are typically valid (outer
race frequency is 0.4 * shaft speed * number of elements, inner race frequency 0.6 * shaft speed * number of elements, train frequency
0.4 * shaft speed). The exact coefficient used to calculate these frequencies precisely depends on the shape of the rolling elements, but for
the outer race this number is always below 0.5 and generally above 0.35; this number represents the relative rate of movement between
the outer race and the rolling element. In a perfect roller this would be 0.5 exactly, but this is never achievable in practice.
Where there is a fault, these frequencies appear on the spectrum as sidebands on a carrier frequency, e.g. at line frequency + BPIR *
rotational speed. The complete formula for this kind of fault is:
𝑛 𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 ± 𝑚 𝑓𝐵𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔
Here n and m are integers, and most often n = 1, which means bearing faults appear either side of line frequency. F_bearing is the bearing
frequency, either BPIR, BPOR or train frequency, described above. Visually on the PSD this looks like two or more smaller peaks centred
around a line harmonic.
As long as the correct bearing information is entered into the P100, peaks at these frequencies are detected automatically.
Diagnostic parameter – Bearing
Bearing information can be entered into the equipment information table under driver, driven 1 or driven 2. If the bearing numbers are
known, this should be entered, and the P100 will use a bearing database to complete the bearing information.
Action
Actions should be proactive, dealing with root causes in time to prevent bearing damage. Once damage begins, offline oil filtering may
extend bearing life with careful monitoring so that replacement can be carried out at minimum cost. Thermal imaging may be able to
detect late stage bearing problems – but at this point the bearing may need replacement asap.
Sleeve/ Journal Bearings
Sleeve (or journal) bearings are common in larger equipment and although they are mechanically simple, faults can cause serious and
expensive damage. When used in motors they must have very tight clearances to avoid rotor/stator contacts and this can cause special
problems. The 3 main problems that occur with sleeve bearings are:
1. Clearance/Wear Problems
2. Oil Whirl
3. Oil Whip
Cause
If the shaft becomes slightly misaligned, this will cause the bearing to wear, creating a clearance between the shaft and the bearing. This
gap then amplifies any vibrations the bearing has. If there is a large enough gap which could be due to installation errors, wear or
misalignment an oil wedge can form. The friction of the oil wedge on the shaft causes the shaft to oscillate around the bearing (making the
oil whirl around), which causes a high peak at 0.42-0.48 times shaft speed, depending on oil viscosity.
Oil whip can occur if the machinery itself has vibrations that resonate with the oil whip frequency, or if the loading forces are too light. Oil
whip is an effect that occurs where an oil whirl (described above) becomes locked in cycle with a resonant frequency of the system.
Thus oil whip may occur if the machine is operated at a speed such that the critical frequency coincides with the oil whip frequency. It is
more likely for oil whip to occur during transient load conditions such as on start-up, and therefore is not easy to spot in the PSD. As long as
the motor accelerates quickly through the critical frequency, oil whip will not cause a problem.
Effect
As well as the bearing being worn down, the clearance can cause the vibrations of the machine to be amplified. Oil whirl (or related oil
whip) can cause high levels of vibration that may damage other components as well as progressive failure of the bearing itself.
Large vibrations are produced with oil whip as the vibrations due to oil whip are now at the rotor’s resonant frequency.
Diagnosis
In a vibrational spectrum, clearance problems would show up at the harmonics of the shaft speed. In severe cases it could also produce
peaks at the half harmonics.
These signals appear in the PSD as sidebands on carrier frequencies, normally line frequency, or occasionally as sidebands on a higher
harmonic of line frequency.
In the PSD, oil whirl shows as a characteristic frequency peak at 0.42-0.48 * shaft speed, as a sideband of one of the line harmonics (usually
as sidebands of line frequency).
Action
Can perform an oil or thermal analysis. Monitor closely over time to confirm diagnosis before visual inspection.
