Rolling element bearing diagnostics in run-to-failure lifetime testing

Bearing failure is one of the foremost causes of breakdown in rotating machinery. Such failures can be catastrophic and can result in costly downtime. To date, most research has studied crack propagation resulting from artificial or 'seeded' damage. This damage has been induced in bearings by: scratching the surface, introducing debris into the lubricant or machined with an electrical discharge. The work presented here involves running new undamaged ball and roller bearings through to failure. Traditional vibration metrics such as: root mean square, peak value, kurtosis and crest factor are recorded through the test duration from accelerometers and acoustic emission sensors. (C) 2001 Academic Press.