Dr. M. Amaranth Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering IIITD&M Jabalpur Jabalpur (MP)

Assessment of surface contact fatigue failure
in rolling/sliding contact machine elements

using multi-parameteranalysismethods
Dr. M. Amaranth
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
IIITD&M Jabalpur
Jabalpur (MP)
Overview of presentation
Introduction
Lubricant film thickness
Experimental setup with sensors and
instruments
lubrication regimes and wear severity
Wear particle analysis
Oil degradation analysis
Summary and conclusions
CONDITION MONITORING - WHY !!??
Study
cost of
fuels,
spares
etc.,
Plant in detoriation
condition
Installation of
CM
Routine operation of
CM system
Cash fow
Cash fow
Increase in
consumption
of spare etc.,
Plant in good
condition
Time/usage
Time/ Usage
Fig. Advantage of conditioning monitoring

program ( Davis, 1998)
3
Assessment of vibration,
acoustics, oil/wear particle
parameters ???
Fault detection in early stage
Minimize machinery down time
Evaluate the performance of machine
elements
Improvements in design of machine
elements
INTRODUCTION
Gears
and
bearings
are
the
most
common
mechanisms for transmitting power and motion and

their usage can be found in numerous applications.
Condition monitoring of these machine elements
play a key role in decreasing the downtime and for
reducing the extent of secondary damage caused by
failures.
Currently 3 different approaches available for
fault
detection
in
geared
systems:
vibration
M. Amarnath, et al.
Experimental investigations on the effects of
analysis,
oil/wear
particle
analysisfilmand
acoustic
reduction
in Gear
tooth stiffness
and lubrication
thickness
in a spur
geared system, Tribology International,42, 340-352, 2009
signal analysis.
LUBRICANT FILM
THICKNESS
Effective lubrication is critically important because it prevents
direct tooth contact
Reduces friction, prevents high vibration levels, removes heat
generated in meshing and protects the gear from corrosion
Drastic fall in lubricant film thickness is responsible for gear
failure modes, viz., micro pitting, macro pitting, gear staining,
scuffing and mild wear
Alternative methods to predict gear failure is often related to film
thickness and specific film thickness, which are an indication of
contact severity
M. Amarnath, C. Sujatha and S. Swarnamani, Experimental

Investigations of
6
Surface Wear Assessment of Spur Gear Teeth, Journal of Vibration Control , 18, 1009
Prof. D. Dowson ,
Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff
University
Minimum lubricant film thickness

The twin-disc machine simulates
the contact conditions between
gear teeth (gear transmission) or
between ring and rolling elements
bearings.
The machine is composed of two

discs
independently
driven
by
motors in order to allow sliding

conditions, and the load can be
applied thanks to a pneumatic
jack
Fig. Gear teeth contact
Fig. Ball bearing, roller

bearing ( line and point
contact)
Fig. Cam and follower
Fig. Journal bearing
Fig. Pin on disc

machine
Fig. fourballweartester
Fig. Gear teeth contacts in Stirbeck diagram as a function of specific

film thickness
S.K. Lee, M. Amarnath, Experimental investigations to establish correlation between Stribeck

curve, specific film thickness and statistical parameters of vibration and sound signals in a spur
gear system, Journal of Vibration Control. 2014 (Impactfactotr: 4.2)
Fig. lubricant film

Fig. lubrication in natural
thickness in gear in teeth
synovial joint
contact
M. Amarnath, C. Sujatha and S. Swarnamani, Experimental
Investigations of Surface Wear Assessment of Spur Gear Teeth,
11
Journal of Vibration Control , 18, 1009 1024, 2012
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
Data Acquisition
system
PC with DAQ card

installed
Electric
motor
B &K amplifier
Accelerometer
Slave gear box
Test gear
box
Thermo
couple
Rigid coupling
Torque locking nut
Torque adjustment
coupling
Torque shaft
Fig. Experimental
Experimental investigations
on the effects of reduction in Gear tooth
setup
th, et al.
12
film thickness in a spur geared system, Tribology International,42, 340-352, 2
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
Fig. Experimental
setup
marnath, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction

in Gear tooth stiffne
13
cation film thickness in a spur geared system, Tribology International,42, 340-352, 2009
B&K charge
amplifier
Thermo couple
B&K Accelerometer
Test gear box
Slave gear
box
Dactron Data Acquisition

system
Fig. Experimental setup with sensors

and instruments
marnath, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in Gear tooth stiffne
14
cation film thickness in a spur geared system, Tribology International,42,
340-352, 2009
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
Data Acquisition
system
PC with DAQ card

installed
Electric
motor
B &K amplifier
Accelerometer
Slave gear box
Test gear
box
Thermo
couple
Rigid coupling
Torque locking nut
Torque adjustment
coupling
Torque shaft
Fig. Experimental
setup
Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in Gear tooth stiffne
marnath, et al.
15
cation film thickness in a spur geared system, Tribology International,42, 340-352, 2009
The equations now commonly used for lubricant film thickness

are based on the complete numerical solutions formulated by
Dowson and Higginson (1977)
1.6 0.6 (ou )0.7 ( E )0.03 0.44
(1)
h
0.13
min
w
h
(2)
min
R
o
is the absolute viscosity in centi Poise,
is pressure viscosity coefficient,
is modulus of elasticity
is peripheral velocity
is effective radius of curvature
is normal tooth force per unit width
is combined surface roughness
M. Amarnath, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in

Gear tooth stiffness and
lubrication film thickness in a spur geared system,
Tribolog
RESULTS
85
75
Tem peratureC
70
65
60
55
Lubricant film thickness (microns)
0 Nm
59 Nm
118 Nm
177 Nm
236 Nm
295 Nm
360 Nm
413 Nm
80
50
45
40
35
30
25
0
9
8
0 Nm
59 Nm
118 Nm
177 Nm
236 Nm
295 Nm
354 Nm
413 Nm
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Time (Hours)
Fig. Temperature vs. Time
3
4
Time (Hours)
Fig. Film thickness vs. Time
Combined surface roughness
3.5
3.0
360 Nm
413 Nm
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
18
36
54
72
90
108
126
144
162
180
198
216
Time (Hours)
Fig. Combined Roughness vs. Time

M. Amarnath, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in
Gear tooth stiffness and
17
lubrication film thickness in a spur geared system,
Tribolog
Fig. Viscosity Temperature chart

Vol. 19)
(ASM
th, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in Gear tooth s

Fig. Accelerated Test 1specific film thickness vs.

time.
th, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in Gear tooth

film thickness in a spur geared system, Tribology International,42,
340-352, 2
19
Fig. Accelerated Test 2specific film

thickness vs. time.
rnath, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in Gear tooth stiffnes
tion film thickness in a spur geared system, Tribology International,42, 340-352, 2009
20
CRITERION FOR POSSIBLE SCORING DAMAGE

If the Specific film thickness is 3 indicates the gear operation
under ideal full film or EHD lubrication
If specific film thickness found between 1.4 < < 3 indicates the
mixed wear lubrication and some wear is predicted
< 1.4 shows that the gearing is operating under boundary
lubrication, severe wear can be predicted in this regime.
, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in Gear tooth st

21
Fig. Pitting growth on gear teeth
th, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in Gear tooth

n film thickness in a spur geared system, Tribology International,42, 340-352, 2
22
Fig. Typical S-N curve
Wear particle analysis
Filtergram analysis is the microscopic

inspection of contaminants and wear
debris in a lubricant sample
This analysis will positively clarify if
a mechanical wear issue is present.
Fig. wear particle obtained from gear box

lubricant
Applications
IC engines oil samples
collected from crank case
Gear box
Ball/ roller bearing
Pin on disc machine
4 ball testing machine etc
M. Amarnath, C. Sujatha and S. Swarnamani, Detection and Diagnosis of Gear Tooth Wear
Through Metallurgical and Oil Analysis, Tribology Online a journal published by the Japanese
Society of Tribologists., 5 (2), 102, 2010
Fig. Gear teeth contact

Fig. Ball bearing, roller
bearing ( line and point
contact)
Fig. cam and follower

contact
Fig. Journal bearing
Fig. Pin on disc

machine
Fig. Pin on disc

machine
WEAR PARTICLE ANALYSIS

Wear particle analysis is a well-known condition
monitoring technique in tribo systems.
wear particle has been used widely for diagnosing
wear conditions, as well as for the study of wear
mechanisms.
Fig. Cutting wear

particle
Through Metallurgical and
Oil Analysis, Tribology Online a journal published by the Japanese
Fig. Sliding wear particle
Fig. Chunk particle
Presence of these particles Chunk particles are

indicates a break down of removed
from the metal
lubricant films.
surface as a pit or crack
opens up.
When these particles
appear frequently, it indicates
abnormal machine condition.
Through Metallurgical and Oil Analysis, Tribology Online a journal published
by the Japanese
29
Fig. Spherical wear particle
Their formation as a wear phenomenon is generally

associated with rolling elements.
Spheres formed by wear mechanism are generally
less than 5 m in diameter, with very smooth surfaces.
Such smooth surfaces indicate fatigue spalling.
M. Amarnath, C. Sujatha and S. Swarnamani, Detection and Diagnosis of Gear
Tooth Wear Through Metallurgical and Oil Analysis, Tribology Online a journal
published by the Japanese Society of Tribologists., 5 (2), 102, 2010
Wear particle extraction and sample

preparation
Cellulosemembranefilter
paperto collectwear
particles
Pore size 0.1 m
Fig. Filtration system

Wear particle extraction and sample

preparation
Sputter coating for SEM is the process
of applying an ultra-thin coating of
electrically-conducting metal
Such as gold (Au), gold/palladium
(Au/Pd), platinum (Pt), silver (Ag),
chromium (Cr) or iridium (Ir) onto a nonconducting
or
poorly
conducting
specimen.
Fe concentration
Atomic
absorption
spectroscopy(AAS)
A procedure for the quantitative
determination of chemical elements.
Using the absorption of optical

radiation (light) by free atoms in the
gaseous state.
. Block diagram atomic absorption spectromet
Fe
CONCENTRATION
F e C o n c e n tr a tio n ( P P M )
Lubrication is an excellent carrier of information, but to obtain

reliable wear assessment information, it is to be used in
conjunction with vibration analysis (Chee Keong Tan et al.
2005) .
In the present study, the lubricant was collected for wear
particle analysis after every 12 hours of operation.
Perkin Elmer 700 (flame mode) atomic absorption
spectrometer was used to measure particle concentration.
400
360 Nm
413 Nm
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
20
40
60
80
100
Time (Hours)
Fig. Fe Concentration vs. Time

M. Amarnath, C. Sujatha and S. Swarnamani, Detection and Diagnosis of Gear Tooth
Wear Through Metallurgical and Oil Analysis, Tribology Online a journal published by
the Japanese Society of Tribologists., 5 (2), 102, 2010
Gearbox removed from test rig

(~150 operating hours later)
Initial Damage
Occurs
Fig. Fe content versus Operating time
US Navy . Apache Helicopter Gearbox Bearing

Damage Test Data (NAVAIR)
Fig. Fe content versus Operating

time
Australian Defense Science and Technology
Vibration and sound signal monitoring analysis
Condition monitoring of rolling element bearings and

gears
has received considerable attention for many years.
It is widely accepted that incipient faults in rotating
machine
elements
(gears
and
bearings)
can
be
detected by monitoring vibration and/or sound signals.

Advancements in signal processing techniques and
computing capabilities have enabled vibration/acoustic
signals monitoring to play an important role in condition
M. Amarnath and S.K. Lee Experimental investigations to establish correlation between

Stribeck curve, specific film thickness and statistical parameters of vibration and sound signals in a
spur gear system Journal of Vibration Control. - (Accepted Journal Impact factor : 4.2).
monitoring
of
critical
components.
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
Fig. View of the test rig showing sensors and equipments
M. Amarnath and
S.K. Lee Experimental investigations to establish correlation
between Stribeck curve, specific film thickness and statistical parameters of vibration and
sound signals in a spur gear system Journal of Vibration Control. - (Accepted Journal
Impact factor : 4.2).
Anechoic chamber
Power supply
D.C load
controlle
r
D.C Speed
controller
The walls, ceiling and flo

were glued with 8 inch
acoustic wedges
Eddy
current
brake
D.C motor
Microphon
e
Acceleromet
er
Test gear
Data Acquisition
Fig. Schematic representation of the experimental setup installed in anechoic chamber

M. Amarnath and S.K. Lee Experimental investigations to establish correlation between
Stribeck curve, specific film thickness and statistical parameters of vibration and sound
signals in a spur gear system Journal of Vibration Control. - (Accepted Journal Impact
Fig. Gear teeth contacts in Stirbeck diagram as a function of specific film

thickness

M. Amarnath and
sound signals in a spur gear system Journal of Vibration Control.41- (Accepted Journal
M. Amarnath and
Fig.
M. Amarnath and
Fig. Specific film thickness versus time at 12 Nm gearbox input torque (a) 0- 200 hours (b) 400 hours (c)
600 hours (d) 800 hours (e) 1000 hours
M. Amarnath and S.K. Lee Experimental investigations to establish correlation between Stribeck curve, specific film
44 Journal of Vibration Control. thickness and statistical parameters of vibration and sound signals in a spur gear system
(Accepted Journal Impact factor : 4.2).
Fig.
M. Amarnath and
Fig. Surface fatigue wear on the pinion teeth surfaces obtained at 12 Nm gearbox input torque
M. Amarnath and
Correlation between Stribeck curve, specific film

thickness and statistical parameters of vibration
and
sound
signals
M. Amarnath and
Sensors and applications
Fig. Micro phone
Fig.
Accelerometer
Fig. Displacement probe
(a)
(c)
(b)
(d)
(e)
Fig. Applications of
accelerometer [ 1-5]
Accelerometer
location
Fig. Accelerometer location on rotating

machines[ 2]
[ 4]
Fig. Accelerometer mounting methods
Noise measurement
Sound pressure or acoustic pressure
is the local pressure deviation from the
ambient
(average,
or
equilibrium)
atmospheric pressure, caused by a sound
wave.
Sound pressure level (SPL) or sound
level is a logarithmic measure of the
effective sound pressure of a sound
relative to a reference value.
Fig. Near field and Far field conditions in sound

monitoring
Near-field : The space close (the smaller of: 2x largest
dimension of
source) to the source
Reverberant field: The space around the source where
reflections from walls and other objects significantly disturb
the sound waves from the source
*** Acoustic wedges (foam) are used to minimize
disturbances
Free-field: The space around the source where there are no
reflections or disturbance of the sound waves.
TYPICAL PLOTS
40
50
40
30
30
20
20
10
m/s2
m /s
10
-10
-20
-20
-30
-30
-40
0
0
-10
-40
500
1000
1500
2000
Time (0.25 S)
(a) Healthy gear
-50
0
500
1000
1500
2000
Time (0.25 S)
(b) Faulty gear
Fig. Vibration signal for healthy and faulty gear
M. Amarnath, Praveen Krishna, Empirical Mode Decomposition of Acoustic Signals for Diagnosis
of Faults in Gears and Rolling Element Bearings, IET Science, Measurement & Technology,
6 (4), 279-287, 2012. . (Citations: 10) ( Journal Impact factor: 1.00).
TIME DOMAIN STATISTICAL PARAMETERS

The most frequently used are time domain
statistical parameters which include:
Root mean square,
Crest factor,
Skewness,
Kurtosis.
Energy ratio
Impulse factor
S.K. Lee, M. Amarnath, Experimental investigations to establish correlation between
Stribeck curve, specific film thickness and statistical parameters of vibration and sound signals
in a spur gear system, Journal of Vibration Control. 2014 (Impactfactotr: 4.2)
(http://jvc.sagepub.com/content/18/7/1009)
Root mean square (RMS)

RMS value of the vibration acceleration can be used
for primary health investigation of the machine.
It is usually used to track the overall noise level
The RMS is defined as
where N is the number of samples, x(n) is the

amplitude of the signal of the n th point and x is
the mean value of all the amplitudes.
Peak levels are indicative of occurrence of impacts. The peak level

of the discrete time signal is
Peak level = maximum (Xi)
Crest factor is defined as the ratio of peak value to the RMS value,
therefore peaks in the time series signal result in an increase in the crest
factor value.
Crest factor (FC) = Pp/RMS
Peak level = maximum (Xi)
Kurtosis is the fourth normalized central moment. It is a measure of
whether the data are peaked or flat relative to a normal distribution.
4
Kurtosis will be around

3_ for healthy machines, increases for progression
x ( n) x
of defects1 N
Kurtosis
n 1
1
N
N
n 1
x ( n) x

gear system, Journal of Vibration Control. 2014 (Impact factotr: 4.2)
The energy ratio

(ER)
The energy ratio (ER) is defined as the ratio of
the RMS of the difference signal d and the RMS of
the signal containing only the regular meshing
components,
yd, and given by
RMS
ER
RMS yd
This parameter is designed to increase in the

presence of heavy uniform wear on gear teeth
surface

Conventional
methods
TIME DOMAIN : To describe the analysis of physical

signals with respect to time
x t
1
jt
X e
d
Fast Fourier Transform (FT)

Frequency spectrum : To describe the analysis of
signals with respect to frequency component
jt
x
t
e
d
A m p litu d e m /s
10
6
4
2
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
Frequency (Hz)

Frequency spectrum : To describe the analysis of

signals with respect to frequency component
jt
x
t
e
d
A m p litu d e m /s
10
6
4
2
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
Frequency (Hz)
Gear mesh frequency fm = No. of teeth on

pinion X speed / 60
M.Amarnath, C. Sujatha and S. Swarnamani Gear fault assessment based on continuous
wavelet transforms, Advances in Vibration Engineering, 12 (1) 33- 47. 2013. (Journal
Impact factor: 0.328)
Fig. RMS of sound signals versus at

12 Nm gearbox input torque
Fig. 10 RMS of vibration signals versus
at 12 Nm gearbox input torque
M. Amarnath and
Fig.
Crest factor of sound signals
versus
Fig. Crest factor of vibration

signals versus
M. Amarnath and
Fig.
ratio of vibration signals versus
. Energy ratio of sound signals versus
Energy
at
at 12 Nm gearbox torque
Nm gearbox input torque
M. Amarnath and
18
Vibration Signals
Sound Signals
Kurtosis values
15
12
9
6
3
0
200
400
600
800
1000
Time (Hours)
Fig. Kurtosis values of sound and vibration signals versus time
M. Amarnath and
Fig. FFT Spectra of sound signals (a) 0 h (b) 250 h (c) 500 h (d) 750 h (e)
1000 h
M. Amarnath and S.K. Lee Assessment of surface contact fatigue failure in a spur geared
system based on the vibration and tribological parameter analysis Measurement, 76, 32 44,
1.0
0.025
2
0.75
Amplitude (m/s )
0.000
0.5
1 fm
0.25
0.00
0
200
600
800
1000
0.000
0.5
0.00
0
1200
3 fm
2 fm
1 fm
0.25
200
400
4 fm
600
800
1000
1200
1000
1200
Frequency (Hz)
1.0
0.8
2
400
4 fm
Frequency (Hz)
1.0
Amplitude (m/s)
3 fm
2 fm
0.025
0.75
Amplitude (m/s )
Amplitude (m/s )
1.0
0.6
2 fm
3 fm
0.4
4 fm
1 fm
0.2
0.0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
0.8
0.6
4 fm
2 fm
0.4
1 fm
0.2
0.0
Frequency
1.0 (Hz)
3 fm
200
400
600
800
Frequency (Hz)
Amplitude (m/s )
0.8
0.6
3 fm
2 fm
1 fm
0.4
4 fm
0.2
0.0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Frequency (Hz)
66
Lubricant film thickness and assessment of oil degradation

Oil film between working surfaces of gear teeth surface
influences strongly the operating performance of a geared
system
Gear failures such as wear, scuffing, micro pitting,
spalling,
scoring
are influenced by the lubricant
parameters such as film thickness, viscosity, temperature,
The thickness of lubricant film depends on the lubricant
etc.
properties, the geometry of bearing surfaces and
operating conditions
The study focuses on wear assessment using lubricant
film thickness analysis along with lubricant degradation
and
vibration
signal
analysis
of a investigations
spur geared
system
M. Amarnath
and
S.K. Lee
Experimental
to establish
correlation
between Stribeck curve, specific film thickness and statistical parameters of vibration
and sound signals in a spur gear system Journal of Vibration 67
Control. - (Accepted
Gear
R - rolling
R
S
S - Sliding
S
R
S
R
S
Pinion
T1
T
2
R
O
Q
P
T1
Fig. Combination of sliding and rolling in gear teeth and worthy contacting points on gear and
pinion teeth
(a) Pitting on dedendum

appeared after 200 hours
(b) Micro pitting on adjacent teeth

appeared after
400 hours
(d) Scoring on dedendum

appeared after 1000 hours
(c) Scuffing damage appeared
after 800 hours
Summary and conclusions

Stribeck curve which explains lubrication
regimes in machine elements has been
considered in this study.
In the Stribeck curve, co-efficient of friction
varies as a function of the change in lubrication
regimes.
Increase in contamination levels in the
lubricant result in oxidation, the oxidation
process was effectively monitored using FTIR
method.
Furthermore, a commonly used statistical
parameters
of
vibration signals viz. RMS, crest factor and

Dr. M. Amaranth Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering IIITD&M Jabalpur Jabalpur (MP)

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Assessment of surface contact fatigue failure

in rolling/sliding contact machine elements

CONDITION MONITORING - WHY !!??

Fig. Advantage of conditioning monitoring

mechanisms for transmitting power and motion and

M. Amarnath, C. Sujatha and S. Swarnamani, Experimental

Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff

Minimum lubricant film thickness

The machine is composed of two

motors in order to allow sliding

Fig. Gear teeth contact

Fig. Ball bearing, roller

Fig. Cam and follower

Fig. Journal bearing

Fig. Pin on disc

Fig. Gear teeth contacts in Stirbeck diagram as a function of specific

S.K. Lee, M. Amarnath, Experimental investigations to establish correlation between Stribeck

Fig. lubricant film

PC with DAQ card

Slave gear box

Torque locking nut

marnath, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction

Dactron Data Acquisition

Fig. Experimental setup with sensors

PC with DAQ card

Slave gear box

Torque locking nut

The equations now commonly used for lubricant film thickness

is pressure viscosity coefficient,

is effective radius of curvature

is normal tooth force per unit width

is combined surface roughness

M. Amarnath, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in

Lubricant film thickness (microns)

Fig. Temperature vs. Time

Fig. Film thickness vs. Time

Combined surface roughness

Fig. Combined Roughness vs. Time

Fig. Viscosity Temperature chart

th, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in Gear tooth s

Fig. Accelerated Test 1specific film thickness vs.

th, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in Gear tooth

Fig. Accelerated Test 2specific film

CRITERION FOR POSSIBLE SCORING DAMAGE

, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in Gear tooth st

Fig. Pitting growth on gear teeth

th, et al. Experimental investigations on the effects of reduction in Gear tooth

Fig. Typical S-N curve

Wear particle analysis

Filtergram analysis is the microscopic

Fig. wear particle obtained from gear box

Fig. Gear teeth contact

Fig. cam and follower

Fig. Journal bearing

Fig. Pin on disc

Fig. Pin on disc

WEAR PARTICLE ANALYSIS

Fig. Cutting wear

Fig. Sliding wear particle

Fig. Chunk particle

Presence of these particles Chunk particles are

Fig. Spherical wear particle