Monitoring

Plain Bearings
with Ultrasound

Gus Velasquez
SDT Ultrasound Solutions
Introduction

Friction; friend or foe? The answer all depends on your particular situation. Driving your car aggres-
sively over wet or icy roads? Friction, as well as a good set of tires, is your friend and will save you
from some stressful moments. If you’re in the reliability game and are tasked with extending the
life of your bearings, then friction is the enemy. While zero friction is neither practical nor even pos-
sible you search for the best ways to minimize these forces between the elements of your bearings.

For rotating machines, most of the time it

is necessary to reduce friction to increase
efficiency, decrease power losses, and sup-
port loads. The element of choice is the well
known team of bearing and lubricant. Bear-
ings in their different configurations are one
of the most efficient ways to reduce friction
between a stationary and a rotational part of
a mechanism.

There exists two broad classes of bearings;

plain bearings and rolling-contact bearings.
Which type of bearing is used depends on
several factors related to the design of the
machine and it’s process. Sometimes both
type are used in the same machine doing
different job. In this paper we focus on plain
bearings.

Choosing the best technology to monitor friction and condition in plain bearings is a challenge.
Due to the physical characteristics of plain bearings, using vibration analysis (VA) is more effective
for rolling-contact bearings and less so for plain bearings. We see ultrasound (US) trending more
frequently for condition monitoring of rolling-contact bearings and it also shows promise for plain
bearings. Understanding the physical difference of the two bearing categories is critical to devel-
oping condition monitoring strategies for plain bearings using US.

Rolling-contact bearings consist of several elements (cage, inner and outer race, roller elements to
name the important ones). This category of bearing relies on rolling instead of sliding to decrease
friction. Plain bearings have a more simple design. in their most basic form plain bearings consist
of two surfaces; one stationary and one rotating. The rotating part slides over a lubricant film in
order to reduce friction.

Plain bearings have some advantages, the most relevant are;

• As longs as the lubricant film is maintained there is separation between the station-
ary and moving part thereby keeping the friction low
• Plain bearings have a very high load-carrying capability
 • Plain bearings have a better capacity than rolling-contact bearings to withstand
shocks and vibration
• The lubricant film dampens vibration and noise making plain bearings more quiet
than rolling-contact bearings
• Plain bearings are less sensitive than rolling-contact bearings to contaminants in the
lubricant

Types of plain bearings

There are four types of plain bearings. This is a paper about condition monitoring plain bearings.
Beyond naming them it does not go more deeply into describing them but the interested reader
can learn more with a simple web search.

1. Journal (sleeve bearings) - They are cylindrical, the inner surface can be lined with
babbitt, bronze or other material softer than the rotating journal.
2. Segment Journal - Similar to Journal bearings, difference is the stationary bearing
consist of segments or bearing shoes.
3. Thrust bearing - These bearings are used to support axial loading
4. Self-Lubricated bearings - These are journal bearings with a solid lubricant depos-
ited over the internal bearing surface which is activated by friction

Plain bearing lubrication

Plain bearings rely on a fluid film lubrication to keep the stationary and rotational parts separated
with very low friction between them. When an external high pressure lubricant supply is used the
journal is lifted and the lubricant film keeps the surfaces separated. This is known as hydrostatic
lubrication and special care is needed to maintain a steady lubricant flow. This type of lubrication is
used mainly for big machines such as turbines where heavy journals need to be “floating” in oil at
the start up to avoid rubbing and wear.

For medium and small size plain bearings the film is achieved by the rotating action of the shaft
which forces an oil wedge between the shaft and bearing developing hydrostatic pressure which
lifts the shaft. This type of lubrication is known as hydrodynamic and the oil wedge is maintained
as long as the shaft rotates.

Oil or grease are both suitable for lubricating plain bearings. But using one or the other depends
on the shaft speed, load and temperature. In general for low speed it is better to use grease and for
high speed oil.

Plain bearings failure modes

Plain bearings have some advantages over rolling-contact bearings, but also some disadvantages.
One of them is that a sudden loss of fluid film will cause an almost instantaneous metal to metal
contact with serious consequences like wear and temperature increase. Loss of lubricant is not the
only error that can cause problems. Contaminants in the lubricant, incorrect assembly, poor work-
manship, corrosion, oil whip and oil whirl between the elements can damage the bearing.

Problems related to the ingestion of hard contaminants range from a light wear of the inner liner
surface to scoring of the journal. Good housekeeping practices and filters in the breathers help to
avoid contamination.

Mistakes in the assembly cause excessive fretting damage and flexing in the O.D. of the shell and
housing. Other problem related to the assembly are excessive interference and misalignment. Cor-
rosion is caused by chemical attack to the inner liner from chemical components in the oil which
originate from certain additives or oil degradation itself. Oil whirl and whip happens when the oil
can’t form a stable oil wedge.

Using Ultrasound for monitoring plain bearings

In recent years improvements to instrumentation and software has challenged the concept of
ultrasound applications as ONLY a simple inspection tool for leak detection. Many successful reli-
ability teams have adopted US as an important tool for condition monitoring and predictive main-
tenance. Monitoring rolling-contact bearings and acoustic assisted lubrication are performed daily
using US. This has freed up valuable time for vibration analysts to focus on assessing critical assets
first identified by US as being in a problematic state.

Plain bearings are widely used in turbo machinery and many other types of machines in the plant.
Different to rolling-contact bearings that enter a starved lubrication condition slowly and are
therefore easier to trend, plain bearing lubrication require a steady fluid film to work. Any situation
that alters this oil flow leads to almost instantaneous contact-to-contact metal. It can be stated
therefore that the window to failure for plain bearings is much smaller than it is for rolling-contact
bearings.

The data gleaned from monitoring plain bearings with US has some differences compared to
rolling-contact bearings. These differences are shown in the following paragraphs:
Condition Rolling-contact bearing Plain bearing

Ultrasonic signal intensity strong weak

Materials impedance effect negligible low (1)

Measurement points One More than one (2)

Type of sensor preferred Needle Magnetic foot

Sampling time Short Short to medium (3)

Problems detected Starving lubrication Lost lubrication

Contaminants Hard contaminants
Misalignment (4)

Window to action Medium to long Short

(1) depend on the inner metal layer
(2) one point for every two square inches of project journal area
(3) according to journal speed ( 1min 3-5 rotations )
(4) Larger plain bearings need several measurement points due to the low energy generated by faults. Draw a profile
of the static values along the projected journal area

Health assessment based on static ultrasonic data

Covering all the possible failure conditions in a plain

bearing is not the scope of this paper. There are three
primary failure modes that are identifiable by trend-
ing static ultrasound data and analyzing dynamic
ultrasound data.
In order to easily visualize the different positions of
the journal inside the bearing imagine the bearing as
a clock with a clock wise rotation.

Normal

Let us presume to begin with a well lubricated,

normal plain bearing We explained already that the
plain bearing relies on a fluid film to separate the journal and inner shell. As the journal rotates the
pressure effect of the oil wedge moves the journal towards 7 o’clock. We should expect the highest
static ultrasound data at this point. Inspectors have two think in two dimensions now. Following a
line at the 7 o’clock point take several static readings across the face of the bearing. All should be
similar. An ultrasonic data collector with very good sensitivity is required because friction levels
are low. The acoustic impedance of the shell and inner liner affect the acoustic energy reaching
the contact sensor. The ultrasonic crest factor should be low. Crest factor is a numerical value that
describes the ratio between RMS value and Peak dBuV. This is a condition indicator that provides
insight for inspectors. CF allows them to differentiate between friction and impacting as the cause
for high static values.

Does your UT provide indication of CF?

Readings taken at 12 and 3 o’clock position should be lower than 7.

The time wave trace should be uniform without many spikes of energy.

Hard contamination

A steady supply of lubricant keeps friction levels low but hard contaminants (soft contaminant are
embed in the soft metal liner) scratch the journal surfaces and are revealed by random high static
peaks (RMS peaks) and increasing crest factor values.
The time wave form shows random peaks if the contaminants are floating. In the event the hard
contaminants remain in the same position, the time trace will show sinusoidal peaks.

The presence of contaminants will be predominantly seen at 6 and 7 o’clock positions because
clearance between the shell liner and journal are smallest here.

Oil Starvation

A low supply of oil causes problems to lift the journal and consequently metal to metal contact is
possible. Static signals at 5, 6 and 7 o’clock increase against the normal values and readings at 9,
12 and 3 likely remain the same or decrease a little bit. Temperature also increases so be sure your
ultrasonic data collector can also capture a non-contact temperature value into the trend. The time
waveform shows a general increase. The CF should remain low without the presence of impulses.

Misalignment

In mid and large size plain bearings, comparing static ultrasound readings across several points,
it is possible to uncover a misalignment situation. To illustrate this, we will analyze a hypothetical
bearing which has 9 measurement points over the journal projected area.

Points 1, 4 and 7 are located axially on the left

side of the bearing, at the 9 o’clock position.
Points 2, 5 and 8 are at 12 o’clock and points 3, 6
and 9 are at 3 o’clock. As we said before, under
normal operation the maximum load (friction)
should be at 7 o’clock (points 1, 4 and 7) and
lower friction at 12 (points 2, 5 and 8). If the jour-
nal is aligned these values should remain stable
over time.
For points 1, 4 and 7 the readings should be
similar (highest in the bearing) and points 3,
6 and 9 also similar between them and a little
higher than points 2, 5 and 8.

If points 1 and 9 increase and 7 and 3 decrease, or 7 and 3 increase and 1 and 9 decrease it is a clear
indication of an un-even journal rotation. Capturing dynamic signals with sample time set long
enough to reflect 3-5 shaft rotations you will see a clear variation in signal along the time axis.

Testing plain bearings has proven challenging using traditional condition monitoring techniques.
Oil analysis remains an important technology here. Advancements in Ultrasound Technology made
by manufacturers such as SDT are providing additional tools for assessing condition in plain bear-
ings. Follow the techniques here and use both static and dynamic data to observe changes. Always
remember that the window to failure is a little bit smaller with plain bearings than it is with roller
bearings and plan your uptime with the precision of ultrasound.
SDT Ultrasound Solutions
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