QUANTITATIVE LUBRICATING OIL DEBRIS MONITORING AND ANALYSIS

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS TO EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF AN ON-LINE MONITOR OF OIL CONDITION WHICH WOULD DETECT THE PRESENCE AND NATURE OF DEBRIS PARTICLES IN LUBRICATING OIL SYSTEMS. THIS WOULD PROVIDE A MORE TIMELY AND LESS LABOR INTENSIVE METHOD OF OIL CONDITION MONITORING THAN PRESENT METHODS THAT INVOLVE OFF-LINE ANALYSIS. THE PROPOSED APPROACH WOULD CONSIST OF MEASURING THE FORCES GENERATED AS WEAR PARTICLES IN THE LUBRICATING STREAM ENCOUNTER THE ROLLERS OF A SPECIFICALLY INSTRUMENTED ROLLING ELEMENT BEARING. THE PHASE I STUDY WOULD INVESTIGATE SOME OF THE KEY FACTORS AFFECTING THE FEASIBILITY OF THE CONCEPT, AND WOULD PRODUCE A PROOF-OF-PRINCIPLE MODEL OF THE SYSTEM.