Title: Wear evolution in rolling element bearings: a system model

Authors: Idriss El-Thalji; Erkki Jantunen

Addresses: Industrial Systems, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo, 02044, Finland ' Industrial Systems, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo, 02044, Finland

Abstract: Rolling element bearing is one of the most critical components that determine the machinery health and its remaining lifetime. Wear prognosis aims to predict the defect and its evolution progress before it occurs. The fundamental need for predictive intelligence tools is to monitor the degradation rather than just detecting the defects, otherwise it will be hard to optimise the asset utilisation in cost effective manner. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop a prognosis model which is able to predict the evolution of rolling contact wear, using systems dynamics approach. The dynamic development of wear process is proposed. It considers multiple wear mechanisms and their interactions with respect to surface topological and tribological changes. Moreover, it considers the stress concentration mechanisms and their propagation processes. The study shows a principal agreement between the simulated and measured curves which is important to carry out useful lifetime prediction.

Keywords: prognosis modelling; rolling element bearings; wear evolution; wear interaction; system dynamics; defect prediction; rolling contact wear; degradation monitoring; surface topology; tribology; stress concentration; stress propagation; simulation; machinery health; machinery lifetime; lifetime prediction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISE.2016.075807

International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2016 Vol.23 No.1, pp.57 - 73

Published online: 06 Apr 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article