Delft University of Technology
Faculty Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering Transport Technology
B.E. Hamer Condition monitoring of bearings in belt conveyors
Literature survey, Report 2006.TL.7069, Transport Engineering and Logistics.
The need for effective Condition Monitoring of belt conveyor systems has increased rapidly the last decade. With an ever growing complexity and size of the machinery new automated condition monitoring systems are developed to prevent failure of the components, to decrease the down-time and to decrease the costs of maintenance.
One of the most important components of a belt conveyor is the bearing. Bearings form an important source of failure in belt conveyors. The purpose of this literary survey is to investigate the Condition Monitoring techniques for belt conveyor systems and especially for bearings in belt conveyor systems. The monitoring techniques for the main components of the belt conveyor are listed and described briefly. The Monitoring techniques for bearings are
investigated in more detail. For a better understanding of the failure of bearings, the causes and effects of deterioration in bearings are described. The available Condition Monitoring techniques for bearings are:
Ultrasonic monitoring Vibration monitoring Oil/lubricant analysis Infrared/thermal monitoring Acoustic emission monitoring Shaft motion monitoring
At this moment vibration monitoring is the most used to monitor the condition of bearings. Although this technique gives good results, the acoustic emission technique is a better alternative because it can detect faults in bearings at an earlier stage.
The Smart Bearing and Housing are the result of the integration of sensor, pre-processor and transmitter into the bearing or housing. In combination with wireless data transfer techniques, networks can be formed that monitor the condition of the bearings in the complete system. Central computers can store and process the data for further analysis. The implementation of condition monitoring on bearings can give the following advantages:
An early detection of deterioration;
Location, problem and source of the problem can be detected; Maintenance can be scheduled;
Failure of bearings can be prevented; Catastrophic shut-down of can be prevented; Shut-down time is decreased;
Costs of maintenance can be decreased; Trends and analysis can be made;
Research for more effective condition monitoring systems should continue, to prevent failures and catastrophic shutdowns and to further reduce the maintenance costs. A promising and relative new monitoring technique that is well suitable for condition monitoring of bearings is Acoustic Emission monitoring. The integration of Acoustic Emission sensors into bearing housings can give a very accurate and effective monitoring system for bearings and should therefore be investigated more.
Reports on Transport Engineering and Logistics (in Dutch)
