On the Integration of Wear Model into Dynamic Analysis for Rolling Element Bearing

Wear modelling is one of the greatest issues for wear fault monitoring and it belongs to condition-based maintenance practices. The early prediction of the fault might provide a more cost effective way for maintenance. It might have the potential to actively influence the design procedures of materials and tribology contact. However, it is the core to gain better understanding of the deterioration process and to achieve better use of Predictive Health Monitoring (PHM) procedures. There are a number of dynamic analyses of spalled components, single-wear prediction models and integrated models considering dynamic analysis and wear predictions. However, rolling element bearing requires more sophisticated models to study wear fault taking into account multi-wear mechanisms and the sliding rolling impact phenomenon. The paper starts with a review of the main contribution within wear prediction modelling and system dynamic analysis. Based on the relevant contributions, a numerical dynamic wear analysis for rolling element bearing is proposed. In the paper, a comparative study was performed based on the empirical findings of real rolling bearing applications and the collected modelling contributions. The paper highlights a number of practical considerations that are needed to be modelled within the whole integrated prediction of wear process. Moreover, the integrated analysis model relies highly on the incremental feedback relationship between basic modules. A wear modelling tool has potential to provide more accurate wear prediction and better support for diagnosis and prognosis purposes. This might lead to reduction of the overall operational losses and their associated costs once it is accurate.