転がり軸受の非破壊余寿命診断法の開発

抄録

Rolling bearings are important mechanical elements used for rotating systems in various industrial machineries. Failures such as flaking by steel fatigue, may eventually occur if the bearings are used for a long period without any measures. A common practice is to replace the bearings even if they have not failed. For this reason, accurate failure prediction may allow the usage of bearings just before failure and contribute to the saving of natural resources. Various methods for evaluating fatigue damage of bearings have been studied. Rolling contact fatigue causes microstructural change in the bearing steel, which is quantified by X-ray diffraction method. It is known that fatigue damage can be estimated from the amount of microstructural change utilizing X-ray, however, this is a destructive method. Therefore, a non-destructive and simple diagnostic method to estimate the remaining life of bearings using Eddy current testing has been developed. This based on the fact that rolling contact fatigue causes a change in magnetic properties and microstructures of steel.