Track: Reliability and Maintenance

Abstract

Industrial equipment’s reliability is affected by various aspects, but the fact that over 90% of industrial equipment utilize rolling element bearings makes the reliability of bearings of crucial significance to the overall equipment reliability in industrial plants. One of the major causes of failures for rolling element bearings is brinelling. Rotating equipment are prone to the impacts of true and false brinelling, and the industrial impact of brinelling has compelled bearing manufacturers to research extensively on ways to minimize the impact of brinelling on industrial equipment. Recently, there is an upsurge of patented greases and equipment designs all done with the objective to minimize or eliminate the effect of true and false brinelling on industrial rotating equipment. This research was carried out to evaluate the measures applicable to curtail the effects of brinelling on rotating equipment reliability. Literature review was carried out to reveal measures necessary to prevent or alleviate the impact of brinelling on rotating equipment and then followed by a survey to ascertain industrial practices relevant to preventing brinelling.