Common causes of bearing failure include the following:
1. Wear: Long-term operation and contamination of materials may cause bearing wear. This wear can be surface wear, raceway and roller wear, or friction between bearing fittings.
2. Fatigue: Bearings are prone to fatigue fractures under high load, high speed and frequent start and stop conditions. Fatigue fracture usually occurs on the rolling elements or raceways, forming fatigue cracks and eventually leading to failure.
3. Corrosion and oxidation: Under harsh environmental conditions, bearings may be corroded and oxidized due to contact with corrosive media, moisture or high-temperature atmosphere. This results in increased surface roughness, further accelerating wear.
4. Improper lubrication: Incorrect lubrication methods, use of lubricants that do not meet the requirements, or damage to lubricants, etc., may lead to poor lubrication of the bearings and cause failures.
5. Installation error: When installing, if you use too large or too small preload, excessive tightening of bolts, incorrect bearing assembly, etc., it may cause bearing failure.
There are several ways to judge whether the bearing is faulty:
1. Observation and auditory inspection: By observing whether there are abnormal phenomena around the bearing, such as vibration, friction sound, abnormal sound and temperature rise, etc., it can be preliminarily judged whether there is a fault.
2. Feeling changes: Bearing failures usually lead to changes in the working state, smooth operation and output performance of the equipment. For example, the bearing is not running smoothly, and the vibration of the equipment is increased.
3. Oil inspection: If there are metal particles or impurities in the lubricating oil, it may be caused by bearing failure.
4. Visual inspection: use professional equipment to check whether there are cracks, fatigue, corrosion and other damages on the surface and inside of the bearing.
5. Failure mode analysis: According to different modes of bearing failure, such as wear, fatigue, fracture, etc., by comparing the fault characteristic map and the fault analysis database, it is judged whether the bearing is faulty.
It should be noted that the above methods can only provide preliminary judgments. More in-depth inspection, analysis and experimentation are often required to diagnose a bearing failure and determine the exact cause. In order to ensure reliability and safety, it is recommended to conduct judgment and maintenance operations under the guidance of professionals.