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Troubleshooting Rolling Element

Bearings
Troubleshooting rolling element bearing problems and
determining their root cause of failure is often difficult, because
many failure types look very similar. This is because bearing
failures are almo...

Troubleshooting rolling element bearing problems and determining their root cause of failure
is often difficult, because many failure types look very similar. This is because bearing failures

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 are almost always precipitated by spalling or flaking conditions of the bearing component
surfaces.

Spalling occurs when a bearing has reached its fatigue life limit but also when premature
failures occur. For this reason, it is important for the troubleshooter to be aware of and able to
recognize all of the common failures of rolling element bearings.

This ability to correctly troubleshoot and recognize the root cause of bearing problems will lead
the analyst to the right conclusions with regard to the bearing failure.

How many times have you heard the comment, even by knowledgeable and well-meaning
engineers and technicians, “This bearing failed prematurely because it was defective.”
Manufacturing defects in rolling element bearings make up a tiny fraction of the millions of
bearings in use today around the world and this small defect rate is being reduced continually
by improvements in manufacturing techniques and bearing materials.

Bearing manufacturers use ultrasonic inspection devices to detect surface and subsurface
bearing material defects, eliminating poor quality products during the production process.
Eddy current testing is used to evaluate surface hardness and detect cracks to ensure 100%
product conformance to bearing specifications.

Only a very small fraction of all the bearings in use fail because they have reached their
material fatigue limit. The vast majority of bearings outlive the machinery or component in
which they are installed. Therefore, the first question that must be answered is, “What
constitutes bearing fatigue life limits?”

What is a bearing’s life expectancy?

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 Rolling element bearing life expectancy is directly related to the number of revolutions
performed by the bearing, the magnitude of the load, and the lubrication and cleanliness of the
lubricant (assuming correct initial bearing selection and installation).

Fatigue is the result of shear stresses, referred to as elastic deformation, cyclically appearing
immediately below the load-carrying surface, as the rollers or balls pass over the raceway. After
many revolutions, these stresses between the rolling element and raceway surfaces will cause
subsurface cracks to appear that will gradually extend to the surface of either the rolling
element, raceway or both. These cracks may cause surface fragments of bearing material to
break away. This condition is referred to as flaking or spalling. The spalling continues until the
bearing is no longer serviceable and it has reached its life limit (see Fig. 1).

It should come as no surprise to experienced equipment troubleshooters, that assuming

proper design and application, rolling element bearings will fail sooner or later due to their
natural material fatigue life limit, but all bearings will fail prematurely from abuse or neglect.

According to many bearing experts, the following statistics apply to rolling element bearings
failures, no matter in what type of rotating equipment they are installed (electric motors,
pumps, fans, gear drives, etc.):

* 10% reach their natural fatigue life expectancy

* 20% fail prematurely due to inadequate lubrication

* 20% fail prematurely due to contaminated lubricant, either oil or grease

* 30% fail prematurely due to improper selection or faulty installation

* 20% fail prematurely due to mechanical vibration, excessive temperatures, electrical

discharge caused by static electricity or current flow, or by operating conditions which allow

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 overloading and/or overspeeding.

These bearing life percentages may vary from industry to industry, depending on operating
conditions, maintenance practices and an industry’s operational culture. For example, in the
pulp and paper industry, poor lubrication or contaminated lubricants are the main causes of
failure.

Bearing manufacturers will provide their customers with bearing life expectancy ratings,
defined as the number of revolutions or number of operating hours at a given constant speed
that a bearing is capable of, before the first sign of fatigue spalling occurs on one of the rings
or rolling elements.

This is often called the ‘basic life rating’ or the L10 bearing life in millions of revolutions, which is
the life that 90% of a sufficiently large group of apparently identical bearings can be expected
to attain or exceed under identical operating conditions.

The challenge for troubleshooters is to learn to recognize the difference between the 10% of
bearings that display material fatigue spalling and the remaining 90% of bearings that display
premature spalling referred to earlier, because in many instances they look similar to the
untrained eye.

The result is that frequently, the troubleshooter will conclude that the bearing failed due to a
defect in manufacture or material and the root cause of failure may never be determined.

What causes premature spalling?

The existing literature available from bearing manufacturers, along with equipment failure
experts, generally agree that the primary causes of premature (and therefore preventable)
spalling of rolling element bearings includes the factors on the following list:

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 Misalignment of either the bearing itself or the shafts upon which they may be mounted.
Misalignment can be traced as the cause of about 50% of the breakdowns of rotating
machinery. A 20% load increase caused by misalignment can reduce the calculated bearing life
by almost 50%.

Faulty mounting or installation practices including the careless use of excessive or uneven
heating of the bearing prior to the interference fitting to a shaft or into a housing. If heat is
required to expand an inner ring, the temperature should never exceed 125C (255F).

If induction heaters are used, it is important to remember to demagnetize the bearing prior to
installation. (A magnetized bearing will fail very quickly due to its attraction of ferrous metal
particles — see Fig. 2).

Sealed, pre-packed bearings, such as those frequently used in electric motors, must never be
heated unless approved by the manufacturer. Bearings containing shields should also not be
heated.

Clean hands, clean tools and a thoroughly clean work area are absolutely essential when
tradesmen and technicians install new bearings. A small piece of dirt or metal chip trapped in a
newly installed bearing is an invitation to dealing with another bearing failure.

When pressing bearings on to a shaft or into a housing, adequate presses or hydraulic tools
must be used, and hammers and punches must never be used, if premature spalling failure of a
new bearing is to be avoided (see Fig. 3).

Defective bearing seats on shafts and in housings. Factors that produce defective seats include
shaft seats and housing bores that are over- or under-size, tapered or oval. Oval or out-of-
round housings or undersize shafts can cause a condition called fretting corrosion, where the
bearing ring will actually move on its seat during operation. An over-sized shaft can cause a

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 bearing’s inner ring to crack during the cooling period, after installation. An under-sized or oval
housing can also cause the bearing outer ring to become pinched, causing premature failure
(see Fig. 4).

Improper shaft or housing fits. The degree of tightness or looseness with which a bearing is
mounted on shafts or in housings is governed by the load and speed to which the bearing will
be subjected. If a bearing ring rotates with the load, an interference fit is required.

For example, in an automotive front-wheel bearing, the outer ring or cup rotates with the wheel
and therefore has an interference fit with the wheel hub. On the other hand, the inner
rings rotate relative to the load in a gear reducer or electric motor and are therefore mounted
on the shaft with an interference fit. A ‘too loose’ interference fit may cause a condition called
creep, resulting in scoring of the inner ring. If the lubricant can penetrate the loose fit, the bore,
as well as the shaft seat, will appear polished.

In contrast, an excessive interference fit may cause the bearing ring to crack. The resulting
creep in the first condition and the cracked inner ring in the second condition will generate heat
and wear particulate, both of which can promote premature spalling and early bearing failure.

Either of these conditions may cause a far more serious problem, such as a bearing seizure,
resulting in a catastrophic machine failure.

It is very important to remember that the degree of fit is governed by the principle that heavier
loads require greater interference. The presence of shock or continuous vibration also requires
a higher interference fit of the ring that rotates with the load.

These concepts related to bearing fits should make it clear that any plant or facility that
arbitrarily increases loads or speeds on industrial equipment must be prepared to expect
premature bearing failures.

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 Ineffective sealing. The use of incorrect seal materials that are incompatible with the process
fluids or the lubricant used, improper seal installation or improper operation or maintenance of
mechanical seals, or the use of seals that cannot effectively operate under the existing
temperature or contamination conditions, are just a few of the considerations which must be
reviewed when troubleshooting bearings for premature spalling (see Figs. 5, 6 & 7).

Incorrect initial bearing selection. All rolling element bearings must have some internal
clearance between components in order to compensate for slight variances in housing and
shaft fits and to allow for thermal expansion due to normal operating temperatures.

Reduced levels of internal clearance caused by improper initial bearing selection (or incorrect
selection of replacement bearings), excessive operating temperature or out-of-round housings
that place excessive loads on bearing components, will all increase bearing loads, causing
premature failure that frequently is accepted as a fatigue spalling condition.

Here are some internal radial clearance classifications for spherical roller bearings:

* C1 has the least internal clearance, approximately 4-12 ten thousandths of an inch.

* C2 — clearance of 12-20 ten thousandths of an inch

* C0 — clearance of approximately 21-29 ten thousandths of an inch

* C3 –clearance of approximately 30-43 ten thousandths of an inch

* C4 — clearance of 44-57 ten thousandths of an inch

* C5 — has the most clearance, approximately 57-70 ten thousandths of an inch.

It is a serious mistake to simply select a C3 classification if it should be a C5.

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 Unacceptable operating conditions. The operating conditions that will cause premature bearing
failure include excessive vibration, overloading, overspeeding, high temperatures and electrical
discharge.

If a typical bearing load is doubled, the bearing life may be reduced by up to 90%. Doubling the
rated speed will reduce bearing life by about 50%. These are principles that must be kept in
mind when production increases are demanded without increasing equipment capacity (see
Fig. 8).

Electrical discharge is becoming a serious problem in some equipment. V-belt drive systems
build up high levels of static electricity during operation and this current can dissipate through
the bearings to ground, causing pits or fluting to form on the bearing.

Stray magnetic fields in electric motors, both AC and DC, can generate currents that will pass
through bearings. To eliminate these potential problems, grounding brushes should be used to
ground motor shafts and V-belts.

Silicone greases contain electric insulation properties and these greases might be considered
for some applications.

In many of today’s machines, insulated bearings are used to eliminate the problem of electrical
discharge causing pitting or fluting of the bearing surface (see Fig. 9).

Vibration in a bearing while stationary can cause damage called false brinelling. The damage
may be either brightly polished depressions or the characteristic reddish stain common to
fretting. The marks left by false brinelling will be equal to the distance between the rolling
elements, just as it is in cases of true brinelling, so these two conditions are often difficult to
distinguish.

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 Operating bearings at higher temperatures than those recommended by the manufacturer will
dramatically shorten the life of bearings, no matter what type, quality or amount of lubricant
used. To illustrate the importance of this point; consider the fact that a good quality, well-
refined mineral oil will begin to oxidize at 71C (160F). The same result will occur in greases
where such oils are used as the lubricating agent.

What this illustrates is that excessive temperatures — that is, temperatures continually
exceeding 71C — will have a detrimental effect on both the bearing and the lubricant used. In
fact, mineral oils have a high temperature limit of around 300C (550F), at which point the oil
decomposes to a soot- or tar-like substance (see Fig. 10).

Improper or inadequate lubrication. As already illustrated, about 70% of bearing failures occur
for reasons other than their lubrication quality or quantity, yet users of industrial equipment
will very often blame the lubricant used when a bearing failure occurs.

Contributor Lloyd (Tex) Leugner is the principal of Maintenance Technology International Inc. of
Cochrane, Alta., a company that specializes in the resolution of maintenance problems and
provides training for industry. He can be reached at 403-932-7620 or texleug@shaw.ca.

References: The Practical Handbook of Machinery Lubrication, 3rd Edition, L. Leugner; SKF
Bearing Maintenance Handbook, The SKF Manufacturing Group; Care and Maintenance of
Bearings, The NTN Bearing Corporation; Failure Atlas for Hertz Contact Machine Elements, 2nd
Edition, T.E. Tallian.

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