Next Article in Journal
SupMPN: Supervised Multiple Positives and Negatives Contrastive Learning Model for Semantic Textual Similarity
Next Article in Special Issue
Multi-Objective Gate Allocation Problem Based on Multi-Commodity Network Flow Model
Previous Article in Journal
Complementary in Time and Space: Optimization on Cost and Performance with Multiple Resources Usage by Server Consolidation in Cloud Data Center
Previous Article in Special Issue
Helicopter Takeoff and Landing Point Location in Cities for Emergency Services
 
 
Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
Journals
Applied Sciences
Volume 12
Issue 19
10.3390/app12199658
applsci-logo
Submit to this Journal Review for this Journal Propose a Special Issue
► Article Menu

Article Menu

share Share announcement Help format_quote Cite question_answer Discuss in SciProfiles thumb_up
...
Endorse textsms
...
Comment
first_page
settings
Order Article Reprints
Font Type:
Arial Georgia Verdana
Font Size:
Aa Aa Aa
Line Spacing:
Column Width:
Background:
Article

Root Cause Failure Analysis of Deep-Groove Ball Bearing Used in a Governor

by
Xueqin Hou
1,2,3,4,5,6,*,
Yujian Liu
7,
Tianyu Li
8,
Changkui Liu
2,3,4,5,6,
Zheng Zhang
1,* and
Chunhu Tao
2,3,4,5,6
1
School of Material Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100095, China
2
AECC Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, Beijing 100095, China
3
Failure Analysis Center of Aviation Industry Corporation of China, Beijing 100095, China
4
Beijing Key Laboratory of Aeronautical Materials Testing and Evaluation, Beijing 100095, China
5
Aviation Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Materials Testing and Evaluation, Beijing 100095, China
6
Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Aeronautical Materials Testing and Evaluation, Aeroengine Corporation of China, Beijing 100095, China
7
AECC Harbin Bearing Co., Ltd., Harbin 150025, China
8
Huiyang Aviation Propeller Co., Ltd., Baoding 071051, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(19), 9658; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12199658
Submission received: 14 August 2022 / Revised: 13 September 2022 / Accepted: 21 September 2022 / Published: 26 September 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis, Optimization, and Control of Air Traffic System)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
Premature failure of a deep-groove ball bearing used in an aeroengine governor took place during service. In this paper, the failure mode and root cause of the bearing were studied by macroscopic and microscopic examination, metallographic analysis, hardness test, calculations of contact stress and L10 life, flatness measurement and comparative experiment. The results show that the failure modes of the inner ring raceway and steel balls are contact fatigue spalling, the failure modes of the outer ring raceway are wear and contact fatigue spalling, and the failure mode of the cage is fatigue fracture. The root cause and direct cause of the bearing failure were the unqualified machining process of the spring end face and the high unbalanced axial load, respectively. The unqualified machining process induced high points of the spring end face, which caused misalignment of the outer ring and inner ring and thereby resulted in the high unbalanced axial load. The characteristic damages induced by high axial load were climbing with the morphology of metal extrusion and accumulation at the border of the raceway for the inner and outer ring, and multiple fatigue fractures with the characteristic of multi origins for the cage. The unqualified machining process can be prevented by adopting the refined grinding process and adding detection requirements of flatness.

1. Introduction

Rolling element bearings are the basic components used to support the function of rotating parts and are extensively used in the engineering applications [1,2,3,4]. Under normal operating conditions, bearings will survive the expected life. However, with the high-pace improvement of products, high-quality requirements of bearings continually increase [5]. In addition, bearings are often subjected to a wide variety of severe operating conditions and harsh environments such as debris contamination, vibration and impact loading, which may result in pitting, flaking or spalling well before the bearings’ rolling contact fatigue (RCF) design life [6,7].Therefore, bearing failures included the new unconventional bearing failure forms that have not been understood are often encountered [5].
Bearing failure leads to the failure of the rotating system, an increase in maintenance costs and time and a decrease in the safety applications, and has become one of the main causes of breakdown in rotating machinery [8]. In serious cases, it will lead to failure of the whole machine or mechanical system, resulting in serious consequences such as air crashes [9]. Therefore, it is very important to master the failure modes and causes of bearings and then put forward countermeasures.
Bearing failure modes include spalling [10,11], fracture [12,13], wear [14], corrosion [15] and electric corrosion [16].The influencing factors causing each failure mode are relatively wide, including material microstructure, surface condition, assembly, lubrication, pollution, load and other factors. The root causes of bearing failures can be errors in design, manufacturing, assembly or operation [1,2,17,18]. Therefore, it is not easy to obtain the root cause of bearing failure, especially when the root cause of a bearing failure is a combination of several factors [7].
Meanwhile, bearing failure leaves traces of evidence (failure characteristics) on what caused its failure [19]. For example, enormous pitting damage to the bearing’s ring raceway and rolling elements can be induced by excessive overloading [20]. Flaking on the raceways of the inner and outer rings of the bearing is a typical failure characteristic caused by excess tight assembly of the bearing [21,22]. Therefore, the cause of the bearing failure can be obtained by studying the failure characteristics of the bearing. It is also very important to master the relationship and manifestation between failure modes/characteristics and failure causes as much as possible for failure analysis and performance improvement of bearing.
Misalignment is one of the bearing failure causes and is often encountered in roller bearings, because—due to shaft bending, deflection of the bearing housing and inclination of rings induced by manufacturing or assembly errors—rollers frequently operate under a misaligned condition, which results in “eccentric load effect” (uneven contact pressure and stress distributions along the roller length) and thereby causes the unbalanced load failure of the bearing [23,24,25] Therefore, many people have studied the misalignment influence on bearings.
Qiu [26] proposed a new model that is capable of deterministically handling misalignment situations of cylindrical roller bearings and found that under the misalignment condition of the cylindrical roller bearing, significant pressure concentrations appear at the end of contact for all loaded rollers, and the pressure at the inner ring raceway is greater than that at the outer ring raceway, while the film thickness is the opposite. Li [27] studied the effect of misalignment error on contact pressure of the roller and found that the maximum contact pressure increased to about 3.7% when misalignment error of the bearing was 0.05°. Aditya [28] carried out failure analysis of a grease-lubricated cylindrical roller bearing and found that misalignments induced direct metal-to-metal contact between the cylindrical roller and inner ring raceway, then accelerated the wear rate of the cylindrical roller bearing. Savaskan [29] conducted an experimental study on the wear of a roller bearing and mentioned that the misalignment between the shaft and the bearing caused most of the wear of the bearing. Oktaviana [30] investigated the harmful effect of misalignment on the skidding of angular contact ball bearings by employing a five degrees-of-freedom quasi-static model and found that angular misalignment can introduce skidding areas in angular contact ball bearings preloaded by the constant force method, and the skidding does not increase, owing to angular misalignment when using the constant displacement preload method, because an additional axial load is induced.
From the above literature review, it can be concluded that most studies considered misalignment influence on bearings by numerical analysis. Little research has been performed in the investigation of ball bearing failure induced by misalignment. Failure modes and root causes of the bearing failure induced by misalignment need to be demonstrated.
Therefore, in this paper, the failure of a deep-groove ball bearing of a governor caused by misalignment is analyzed. The deep-groove ball bearing was found to prematurely fail during service after operation for 1400 h. The maximum axial load of the bearing was 128 N. The rotational speed of the bearing was 6400 rpm. The assembly structure of the failed deep-groove ball bearing is shown in Figure 1. The inner ring is assembled on the centrifugal block shaft and subjected to axial pressure from the centrifugal block shaft. The outer ring is assembled on the bearing seat and supported by the axial pressure of the spring through spring housing. For the bearing, the axial pressure from the centrifugal block shaft and the axial pressure from the spring are a pair of balance forces.
Failure modes and root causes of the bearing failure are obtained by macroscopic and microscopic examination, metallographic analysis, hardness test, calculation of contact stress of the raceways and L10 life of the bearing, flatness measurement and comparative experiment. It is found that the failure mode of the inner ring raceway and steel balls is contact fatigue spalling, the failure mode of the cage is fatigue fracture, and the failure modes of the outer ring raceway are wear and contact fatigue spalling. The unqualified machining process was identified to be the root cause, leading to the greater flatness and high points in the spring end face, which induced misalignment of the bearing, thereby resulting in an unbalanced load on the bearing. This kind of fault can be prevented by adopting the refined grinding process and adding detection requirements of flatness.

2. Materials and Methods

Inner and outer rings and rolling elements of the bearing are made of ZGCr15 steel (equal to SAE 52100 and 100Cr6) with microstructures consisting of tempered martensite, primary spherical (Fe,Cr)3C and retained austenite. The amount of retained austenite is about5%. Chemical composition of ZGCr15 steel is shown in Table 1.
Additionally, the cage is made of H62 brass with the microstructure composed of α and β phase. Chemical composition of H62 brass steel is shown in Table 2.
Macroscopic morphologies of the failure bearing were acquired by visual observation and examination with Leica DM6000stereo light microscope. Microscopic damage morphologies of the bearing were examined by Camscan 3100 and Fei Nova nano SEM 450 scanning electron microscope. Microstructure of the bearing was examined by Olympus DM6000 optical metallographic microscope. The microhardness was measured by Q10A+ microhardness tester in the load of 1000 gf and dwell time of 15 s. Flatness of the spring end face was measured by three coordinate-measuring instruments. Contact fatigue test of the deep-groove bearing used for analysis verification of the root cause of the failure bearing was carried out in the governor test rig. And source of the above main experimental instruments used in in this paper are shown in Table 3.

3. Results

3.1. Macroscopic and Microscopic Observation

The deep-groove ball bearing is composed of an inner ring, an outer ring, a cage with two parts riveted and six steel balls. The appearance of the bearing and bearing housing disassembled from the governor is shown in Figure 2. One side of the cage is broken into three parts, and the other side of the cage has a fracture. The inner ring, outer ring, steel balls and bearing housing are damaged to different degrees, and the color of the bearing and bearing housing are normal.
The damage appearance of the inner ring raceway is shown in Figure 3. There is obvious spalling along the whole circumferential area adjacent to the centrifugal block shaft of the inner ring raceway. The damaged area can be roughly divided into three parts: the first part is the severely damaged area, which accounts for about 3/4 of the width of the inner ring raceway; the second part is the lightly damaged area, which accounts for about ½ of the width of the inner ring raceway; and the third part is the least damaged area, which accounts for about ½ of the width of the inner ring raceway and is located at the interface area between the severely damaged area and the lightly damaged area. There is metal extrusion and accumulation at the border of the raceway near the side of the centrifugal block shaft.
The spalling of the inner ring raceway is contact fatigue spalling characterized by pits and lamellar and chapped damage, as shown in Figure 4.
The typical microscopic morphology of metal extrusion and accumulation at the border of the raceway near the side of the centrifugal block shaft is shown in Figure 5.
According to the damage degree, the six steel balls can be roughly divided into two categories, namely heavily damaged balls, including four steel balls; and lightly damaged balls, including two steel balls. The heavily damaged steel balls mainly show contact fatigue spalling with characteristics of obvious fan-shaped morphologies, lamellar damage and cracks, as shown in the typical macroscopic and microscopic appearance in Figure 6a,b, respectively. The lightly damaged steel balls show light wear, as shown in the typical macroscopic and microscopic appearance in Figure 7a,b, respectively.
The fracture surfaces of the cage are relatively flat without obvious plastic deformation. The fracture origins are located on the surface of the angle between two adjacent pockets. Fatigue striations can be seen in propagation areas of the fractures. The fractures of the cage are typical fatigue fractures with multi origins, as typically shown in Figure 8.
The damage morphology of the outer ring raceway is an uneven-distribution circumferential wear strip located at the spring side with shallow wear, contact fatigue spalling and raceway surface metal squeezed to the guide surface, as shown in Figure 9.

3.2. Microstructure Examination

Metallographic samples were respectively taken from the heavily or lightly damaged areas of the inner ring, as shown in Figure 10. The microstructure of the inner ring is normal, characterized by tempered martensite and primary spherical (Fe Cr)3C carbide [31,32,33], while there are many cracks on the surface and subsurface of the inner ring raceway near the centrifugal block side. Raceway surface metal squeezed to the guide surface and deformation can also be seen at the centrifugal block side of the inner ring raceway.
Metallographic samples were taken from the outer ring, as shown in Figure 11. The microstructure of the outer ring is normal, characterized by tempered martensite and spherical (Fe,Cr)3 C carbide. Raceway surface metal squeezed to the guide surface and deformation can also be seen at the spring side of the outer ring raceway.
Metallographic samples were respectively taken from the heavily or lightly damaged steel balls. The microstructure of the steel balls is normal, characterized by tempered martensite and spherical (Fe,Cr)3 C carbide, and there are many cracks on the surface layer of the severely damaged steel balls, as shown in Figure 12.
The microstructure of the cage is normal and consists of an α and β phase [34], as shown in Figure 13. Cracks located on the surface of the angle between two adjacent pockets can be seen, as shown in Figure 14.

3.3. Hardness Examination

Hardness examination samples were respectively taken from the inner ring, outer ring and heavily or lightly damaged steel balls. The hardness requirements of the inner ring, outer ring and balls are HRC60.0 to HRC64.0. Their hardnesses are uniform, being HRC62.0, HRC62.5 and HRC63.0, separately.

4. Discussion

(1)
Failure mode and direct failure cause
The failure mode of the inner ring raceway and steel balls is contact fatigue spalling. The failure modes of the outer ring raceway are wear and contact fatigue spalling. The failure mode of the cage is fatigue fracture.
Contact fatigue spalling and wear are the predominant modes of failure in rolling element bearings. They are affected not only by loading conditions but also by material properties, lubricants and surface conditions. Studies have shown that improper mounting, sealing and inadequate lubrication contribute to 90% of bearing failures [35,36]. There are no discoloration and overheating marks, according to the results of the damage appearance and microstructure examination results. Hence, failure of the bearing has nothing to do with insufficient lubrication [37,38]. The microstructures of the inner ring, outer ring raceway, steel balls and cage are normal. The hardness of the inner ring, outer ring raceway and steel balls meet the required specification. Therefore, the failure cause of the bearing is not related to the material quality, and the failure cause of the bearing should be high load.
The fact that the spalling damage area along the whole circumferential area adjacent to the centrifugal block shaft of the inner ring raceway can be roughly divided into three parts with different damage degrees indicates a high unbalanced load of the bearing. Moreover, the metal extrusion and accumulation at the border of the raceway near the side edge of the centrifugal block shaft indicates excessive axial load during the operation of the bearing [39]. Therefore, failure of the inner ring raceway should be related to a high unbalanced axial load of the bearing.
The damage morphology of the outer ring raceway is an uneven-distribution circumferential strip located at the spring side with shallow wear and spalling and raceway surface metals queezed to the guide surface. These characteristics indicate that a high unbalanced axial load may be the failure cause of the outer ring raceway.
One side of the cage is broken into three parts, and the other side of the cage has a fracture. This indicates that the side broken into three parts of the cage is subjected to a higher load than that of the other side, and the fatigue cause of the cage may be the high unbalanced axial load. Multi origins of the cage fatigue fractures indicate that the initial stress of the fracture was high and that the fracture should occur after the failure of the inner ring raceway, outer ring raceway and steel balls. There are two main reasons for the cage fracture: one is misalignment, and the other is an abnormal load acting on the cage in the bearing operation due to misaligned mounting between the inner and outer ring [40,41].Therefore, the high unbalanced axial load should be the cause of fatigue fracture of the cage.
The contact stress of the inner ring raceway and outer ring raceway of the deep-groove bearing were calculated by the ROMAX software, and the basic rating life (L10 life) on the contact fatigue of the deep-groove bearing was also calculated under different axial loads. The calculation results of the contact stress and L10 life are shown in Table 4. It can be seen that the contact stress increases with the increase in axial load and the L10 life decreases with the increase in axial load. Under the designed working conditions, the maximum axial load of the bearing is 128 N and has a L10 life of 2925 h, while the operation time of the failure groove ball bearing is 1440 h, which is smaller than 2925 h. In addition, the metal extrusion and accumulation at the border of the raceway indicate that the bearing was subjected to a large axial load during the failure process. Therefore, premature failure of the deep-groove ball bearing should be related to the high abnormal axial load.
According to the above analysis results, the direct cause of the bearing failure should be the high unbalanced axial load, which may be induced by the misalignment of the bearing.
(2)
Comprehensive analysis of the failure root cause
Load on the bearing is a pair of balancing forces acting on the inner ring and outer ring, respectively, by the centrifugal block shaft and spring, whose load is applied on the outer ring by the spring housing and spring base. Because the inner ring is fixed on the centrifugal block shaft with good positioning, the high unbalanced axial loadis not caused by the centrifugal block shaft. Therefore, the high unbalanced axial load may be caused by the spring, spring housing or spring base.
There are two contact marks on the end face of the spring, which match the two marks on the corresponding spring housing, as shown in Figure 15. The spring and the spring housing are not in whole surface contact as required by the design, but in local contact. The centers of the spring and the cap are not on the connecting line between their two marks. This will induce misalignment of the outer ring and inner ring and thereby induce a high unbalanced axial load, as shown in Figure 16.
The flatness examination result of the cap end face is normal, while the flatness examination result of the spring end face is 0.2, which is greater than 0.1 of the technical requirement. It is also found that the end face of the spring is composed of two planes, with one plane being large and the other plane being small. Therefore, high points are formed by the intersection of the two planes in areas of the above two contact marks.
(3)
Comparative experiment
In order to determine the influence of greater flatness and high points in the spring end face on working state of the deep-groove ball bearing, a comparative experiment was carried out on the spring (faulty spring)corresponding to the failure bearing. The faulty spring with a new deep-groove bearing was installed in the governor and assembled on the test equipment. The comparative experimental parameters were adopted from the normal working conditions of the governor.
After testing for 50 h, the damage morphology of the corresponding bearing was acquired by visual observation and stereo light microscope examination and the damage morphology of the test bearing was compared with that of the failure bearing, and that of the bearing corresponded to the normal spring which was normally worked for 1400 h.
Working tracks of the outer ring raceway of the test bearing and failure bearing were almost the same. Their working tracks intersected with the guide surface, resulting in a certain degree of climbing, metal extrusion and accumulation at the spring side border of the raceway, which originated from the raceway and propagated to the guide surface, as shown in Figure 17a,b. Meanwhile, for the bearing corresponding to the normal spring, there was a certain distance between the working track of the outer ring raceway and the guide surface, and no climbing phenomenon, as shown in Figure 17c. Therefore, it can be concluded that the high axial load on the bearing was induced by high points of the faulty spring end face, and the unbalanced load caused the bearing failure during service.
Through the examination of the spring processing, it is found that greater flatness and high points of the spring end face are induced by improper processing and can be prevented by adopting a refined grinding process and adding detection requirements of flatness.

5. Conclusions

A deep-groove ball bearing was found to prematurely fail during service after operation for 1400 h.Failure analysis of the deep-groove ball bearing was carried out. Based on the observation of macroscopic and microscopic damage morphologies, the failure mode of the failed bearing was analyzed. The direct and root causes of the bearing failure were investigated by tests such as examinations of microstructure and hardness, calculations of contact stress and L10 life, and flatness measurement, as well as a comparative experiment. Several results were arrived to, and are shown as follows:
(1)
The failure mode of the inner ring raceway and steel balls is contact fatigue spalling. The failure modes of the outer ring raceway are wear and contact fatigue spalling. The failure mode of the cage is fatigue fracture.
(2)
Both the inner ring raceway and outer ring raceway exhibited the high axial load-induced damage characteristic of climbing with the morphology of metal extrusion and accumulation at the border of the raceway. The cage exhibited multiple fatigue fractures, with the characteristic of multi origins under the effect of high unbalanced axial load.
(3)
The direct cause of the bearing failure is the high unbalanced axial load. The root cause of the bearing failure is the unqualified machining process of the spring end face. High points of the spring end face caused by the unqualified machining process induced misalignment of the outer ring and inner ring, and thereby caused the high unbalanced axial load.
(4)
The high points can be prevented by adopting the refined grinding process and adding detection requirements of flatness.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, X.H. and Z.Z.; methodology, X.H.; validation, X.H. and Y.L.; formal analysis, X.H.; investigation, X.H. and T.L.; resources, X.H. and Y.L.; data curation, Z.Z., C.L. and C.T.; writing—original draft preparation, X.H.; writing—review and editing, Z.Z. and T.L.; supervision, Z.Z., C.L. and C.T.; project administration, C.L.; funding acquisition, C.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the Independent Innovation Foundation of Aero Engine Corporation of China, grant number ZZCX-2018-026.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Not applicable.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to senior engineer Guoping Li for his technical support and materials used for experiments.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

  1. Kudelina, K.; Baraškova, T.; Shirokova, V.; Vaimann, T.; Rassõlkin, A. Fault detecting accuracy of mechanical damages in rolling bearings. Machines 2022, 10, 86. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  2. Hong, S.; Tong, V. Rolling-element bearing modeling: A review. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. 2016, 17, 1729–1749. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  3. Kishore, K.; Mukhopadhyay, G. Root cause failure analysis of pinch roll bearing at Hot Strip Mill. J. Fail. Anal. Preven. 2019, 19, 219–229. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  4. Bakoglidis, K.D.; Nedelcu, I.; Ivanov, I.G.; Meeuwenoord, R.; Schmidt, S.; Janzén, E.; Ehret, P.; Greczynski, G.; Hultman, L. Rolling performance of carbon nitride-coated bearing components in different lubrication regimes. Tribol. Int. 2017, 114, 141–151. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  5. Alhasia, S.; Gindy, S.; Arslan, S.; Jawad, B.; Riedel, C. Analysis of failure modes of bearing outer race rotation. SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars-Electron. Electr. Syst. 2015, 8, 240–243. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  6. Gould, B.; Greco, A.; Stadler, K.; Vegter, E.; Xiao, X. Using advanced tomography techniques to investigate the development of White Etching Cracks in a prematurely failed field bearing. Tribol. Int. 2017, 116, 362–370. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  7. Murugesan, V.; Sreejith, P.S.; Sundaresan, P.B.; Ramasubramanian, V. Analysis of an angular contact ball bearing failure and strategies for failure prevention. J. Fail. Anal. Prev. 2018, 18, 471–485. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  8. Cong, F.; Chen, J.; Dong, G.; Petcht, M. Vibration model of rolling element bearings in a rotor bearing system for fault diagnosis. J. Sound Vib. 2013, 332, 2081–2097. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  9. Salam, I.; Tauqir, A.; Haq, A.U.; Khany, A.Q. An air crash due to fatigue failure of a ball bearing. Eng. Fail. Anal. 1998, 5, 261–269. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  10. Gloeckner, P.; Sebald, W.; Bakolas, V. An approach to understanding micro-spalling in high-speed ball bearings using a thermal elastohydrodynamic model. Tribol. Trans. 2019, 52, 534–543. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  11. Walvekar, A.A.; Paulson, N.; Farshid, S.; Nick, W.; Martin, C. A new approach for fatigue damage modeling of subsurface-initiated spalling in large rolling contacts. J. Tribol. 2017, 139, 011101. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  12. Yu, Z.; Yang, Z. Failure analysis of fatigue fracture on the outer ring of a cylindrical roller bearing in an air blower motor. J. Fail. Anal. Preven. 2012, 12, 427–437. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  13. Xu, L.; Yu, Z. Failure analysis of tapered roller bearing inner rings used in heavy truck. Eng. Fail. Anal. 2020, 111, 104474. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  14. Gagg, C.R.; Lewis, P.R. Wear as a product failure mechanism—Overview and case studies. Eng. Fail. Anal. 2007, 14, 1618–1640. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  15. Magalhaes, J.F.; Ventsel, L.; Macdonald, D.D. Environmental effects on pitting corrosion of AISI440C ball bearing steels—experimental results. J. Soc. Tribol. Lubr. Eng. 1999, 55, 36–41. [Google Scholar]
  16. Prashad, H. Diagnosis of rolling-element bearings failure by localized electrical current between track surfaces of races and rolling-elements. J. Tribol. Trans. ASME 2002, 124, 468–473. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  17. Manieri, F.; Stadler, K.; Morales-Espejel, G.E.; Kadiric, A. The origins of white etching cracks and their significance to rolling bearing failures. Int. J. Fatigue 2019, 120, 107–133. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  18. Errichello, R.; Budny, R.; Eckert, R. Investigations of bearing failures associated with White Etching Areas (WEAs) in wind turbine gearboxes. Tribol. Trans. 2013, 56, 1069–1076. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  19. Vartha, V.; Kumar, A.; Saxon, M.; Rajan, A.; John, B.; Tharian, T.; Cherian, S. Failure analysis of ball-bearing of turbo-pump used in liquid rocket engine. Mater. Sci. Forum 2015, 830–831, 709–712. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  20. Juliš, M.; Čelko, L.; Spotz, Z.; Doležal, P.; Pavloušková, Z.; Švejcar, J. Failure analysis of spherical roller bearing. Mater. Sci. Forum 2014, 782, 247–250. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  21. Mishra, R.; Muduli, S.; Srinivasan, K.; Ahmed, S. Failure Analysis of an Inter-shaft Bearing of an Aero Gas Turbine Engine. J Fail. Anal. Preven. 2015, 15, 205–210. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  22. Harris, T.A.; Barnsby, R.M. Tribological performance prediction of aircraft gas turbine main shaft ball bearings. Tribol. Trans. 1998, 41, 60–68. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  23. Fan, G.; Yu, Q.; Gong, P.; Liu, X.; Yan, G. Analysis and improvement of cylindrical roller bearing failure. Fail. Anal. Prev. 2021, 16, 129–133. [Google Scholar]
  24. Xue, B.; Chen, S.; Ren, Y.; Yin, F.; Shan, T.; Shao, M. Effect of tempering heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of GCr15 bearing steel. J. Shandong Univ. Technol. 2021, 35, 73–76. [Google Scholar]
  25. Warda, B.; Chudzik, A. Effect of ring misalignment on the fatigue life of the radial cylindrical roller bearing. Int. J. Mech. Sci. 2016, 111–112, 1–11. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  26. Qiu, L.; Liu, S.; Chen, X.; Wang, Z. Lubrication and loading characteristics of cylindrical roller bearings with misalignment and roller modifications. Tribol. Int. 2022, 165, 107291. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  27. Li, S. Strength analysis of the roller bearing with a crowning and misalignment error. Eng. Fail. Anal. 2021, 123, 105311. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  28. Aditya, S.; Amarnath, M.; Kankar, P. Failure analysis of a grease-lubricated cylindrical roller bearing. Procedia Technol. 2014, 14, 59–66. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  29. Savaskan, T. On the wear and failure of high speed roller bearings. Wear 1987, 116, 361–380. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  30. Oktaviana, L.; Tong, V.; Hong, S. Skidding analysis of angular contact ball bearing subjected to radial load and angular misalignment. J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 2019, 33, 837–845. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  31. Wang, G. Effect of Tempering Temperature on Microstructure and Properties of GCr15 Bearing Steel. Fail. Anal. Prev. 2016, 11, 361–363. [Google Scholar]
  32. Smelova, V.; Schwedt, A.; Wang, L.; Holweger, W.; Mayer, J. Electron microscopy investigations of microstructural alterations due to classical rolling contact fatigue(RCF) in martensitic AISI 52100 bearing steel. Int. J. Fatigue 2017, 98, 142–154. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  33. Warhadpande, A.; Sadeghi, F.; Evans, R.D. Microstructural alterations in bearing steels under rolling contact fatigue part 1: Historical overview. Tribol. Trans. 2013, 56, 349–358. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  34. Jin, Y.; Zeng, X.; Sun, Z.; Zhou, D.; Cui, Y. Analysis of punching-induced crack of H62 brass washer. Heat Treat. Met. 2016, 41, 197–200. [Google Scholar]
  35. Harris, T.A.; Kotzalas, M.N. Advanced Concepts of Bearing Technology: Rolling Bearing Analysis, 5th ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2016; p. 235. [Google Scholar]
  36. Laithy, M.E.; Wang, L.; Harvey, T.J.; Vierneusel, B.; Correns, M.; Blass, T. Further understanding of rolling contact fatigue in rolling element bearings—A review. Tribol. Int. 2019, 140, 105849. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  37. Halme, J.; Anderson, P. Rolling contact fatigue and wear fundamentals for rolling bearing diagnostics-state of the art. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part J 2009, 224, 377–393. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  38. John, S.; Mishra, R.; Hari, K.; Ramesha, H.; Ram, K. Investigation of bearing failure in a turbo shaft engine. J. Fail. Anal. Preven. 2020, 20, 34–39. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  39. Ejaz, N.; Ali, L.; Rizvi, S. Failure of an aero engine ball bearing due to axial loading. J. Fail. Anal. Preven. 2015, 15, 15–24. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
  40. ISO 15243: 2017; Rolling Bearings—Damage and Failures–Terms, Characteristics and Causes. International Organization for Standardization: Geneva, Switzerland, 2017.
  41. Wang, P.; Yang, Y.; Ma, H.; Xu, H.; Li, X.; Luo, Z.; Wen, B. Vibration characteristics of rotor-bearing system with angular misalignment and cage fracture: Simulation and experiment. Mech. Syst. Signal Process. 2023, 182, 109545. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Applsci 12 09658 g001 550
Figure 1. Assembly diagram of the deep-groove bearing.
Figure 1. Assembly diagram of the deep-groove bearing.
Applsci 12 09658 g001
Applsci 12 09658 g002 550
Figure 2. Appearance of the bearing and bearing housing.
Figure 2. Appearance of the bearing and bearing housing.
Applsci 12 09658 g002
Applsci 12 09658 g003 550
Figure 3. Macroscopic damage of the inner ring raceway: (a) severely damaged area; (b) lightly damaged area; (c) least damaged area.
Figure 3. Macroscopic damage of the inner ring raceway: (a) severely damaged area; (b) lightly damaged area; (c) least damaged area.
Applsci 12 09658 g003
Applsci 12 09658 g004 550
Figure 4. Contact fatigue spalling morphology of the inner ring raceway.
Figure 4. Contact fatigue spalling morphology of the inner ring raceway.
Applsci 12 09658 g004
Applsci 12 09658 g005 550
Figure 5. Metal extrusion and accumulation of the inner ring raceway.
Figure 5. Metal extrusion and accumulation of the inner ring raceway.
Applsci 12 09658 g005
Applsci 12 09658 g006 550
Figure 6. Typical heavy damage appearance of the balls: (a) macroscopic appearance of contact fatigue spalling; (b) fan-shaped morphologies, lamellar damage and cracks.
Figure 6. Typical heavy damage appearance of the balls: (a) macroscopic appearance of contact fatigue spalling; (b) fan-shaped morphologies, lamellar damage and cracks.
Applsci 12 09658 g006
Applsci 12 09658 g007 550
Figure 7. Typical light damage appearance of the balls: (a) macroscopic appearance of the wear; (b) microscopic appearance of the wear.
Figure 7. Typical light damage appearance of the balls: (a) macroscopic appearance of the wear; (b) microscopic appearance of the wear.
Applsci 12 09658 g007
Applsci 12 09658 g008 550
Figure 8. Typical fracture morphology of the cage: (a) fatigue striations; (b) fracture appearance; (c) fracture origin.
Figure 8. Typical fracture morphology of the cage: (a) fatigue striations; (b) fracture appearance; (c) fracture origin.
Applsci 12 09658 g008
Applsci 12 09658 g009 550
Figure 9. Damage morphology of the outer ring raceway.
Figure 9. Damage morphology of the outer ring raceway.
Applsci 12 09658 g009
Applsci 12 09658 g010 550
Figure 10. Microstructure, cracks and metal extrusion of the inner ring raceway.
Figure 10. Microstructure, cracks and metal extrusion of the inner ring raceway.
Applsci 12 09658 g010
Applsci 12 09658 g011 550
Figure 11. Microstructure, metal extrusion and deformation of the outer ring.
Figure 11. Microstructure, metal extrusion and deformation of the outer ring.
Applsci 12 09658 g011
Applsci 12 09658 g012 550
Figure 12. Microstructure and cracks of the heavily damaged ball.
Figure 12. Microstructure and cracks of the heavily damaged ball.
Applsci 12 09658 g012
Applsci 12 09658 g013 550
Figure 13. Microstructure of the cage.
Figure 13. Microstructure of the cage.
Applsci 12 09658 g013
Applsci 12 09658 g014 550
Figure 14. Cracks located on the angle of two adjacent pockets.
Figure 14. Cracks located on the angle of two adjacent pockets.
Applsci 12 09658 g014
Applsci 12 09658 g015 550
Figure 15. Two contact marks in the end face of the spring and the cap.
Figure 15. Two contact marks in the end face of the spring and the cap.
Applsci 12 09658 g015
Applsci 12 09658 g016 550
Figure 16. Transmission path of spring force received by outer ring: (a) under the normal condition of whole surface contact; (b) under the abnormal condition of local contact.
Figure 16. Transmission path of spring force received by outer ring: (a) under the normal condition of whole surface contact; (b) under the abnormal condition of local contact.
Applsci 12 09658 g016
Applsci 12 09658 g017 550
Figure 17. Comparison of the working tracks.(a)Working track of the outer ring raceway of the failure bearing; (b)working track of the outer ring raceway of the test bearing corresponding to the faulty spring; (c)working track of the outer ring raceway of the bearing corresponding to the normal spring.
Figure 17. Comparison of the working tracks.(a)Working track of the outer ring raceway of the failure bearing; (b)working track of the outer ring raceway of the test bearing corresponding to the faulty spring; (c)working track of the outer ring raceway of the bearing corresponding to the normal spring.
Applsci 12 09658 g017
Table
Table 1. Chemical compositions of ZGCr15 steel(wt.%).
Table 1. Chemical compositions of ZGCr15 steel(wt.%).
Elements CCrMnSiCuPS
Content1.031.560.370.290.160.0210.006
Table
Table 2. Chemical compositions of H62 brass(wt.%).
Table 2. Chemical compositions of H62 brass(wt.%).
ElementsCuZnPbFe
Content61.738.230.030.04
Table
Table 3. Main experimental instruments used in this paper.
Table 3. Main experimental instruments used in this paper.
NameTypeManufacturer
Stereo optical microscopeLeica DM6000Leica Microsystems Inc., Wetzlar, Gernmany
Optical metallographic microscopeOlympus DM6000Olympus Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
Scanning electron microscopeCamscan 3100Obducat Camscan Ltd., Cambridge, United Kingdom
Scanning electron microscopeFei Nova nano SEM 450Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Brno, Czech Republic
Microhardness testerQ10A+QATM, Golling, Austria
Table
Table 4. Calculation results of the contact stress and L10 life of the deep-groove bearing under different axial load.
Table 4. Calculation results of the contact stress and L10 life of the deep-groove bearing under different axial load.
Axial Load
(N)		Contact Stress of the Inner Raceway (MPa)Contact Stress of the Outer Raceway (MPa)L10Life
(h)
115187714263824
120189814433442
128193414702925
140198315082312
150202215381930
160205915671637
180212816201227
20021911669953
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Hou, X.; Liu, Y.; Li, T.; Liu, C.; Zhang, Z.; Tao, C. Root Cause Failure Analysis of Deep-Groove Ball Bearing Used in a Governor. Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 9658. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12199658

AMA Style

Hou X, Liu Y, Li T, Liu C, Zhang Z, Tao C. Root Cause Failure Analysis of Deep-Groove Ball Bearing Used in a Governor. Applied Sciences. 2022; 12(19):9658. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12199658

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hou, Xueqin, Yujian Liu, Tianyu Li, Changkui Liu, Zheng Zhang, and Chunhu Tao. 2022. "Root Cause Failure Analysis of Deep-Groove Ball Bearing Used in a Governor" Applied Sciences 12, no. 19: 9658. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12199658

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Back to TopTop