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In his introduction to this paper the author likened the function of the tribology centres to that of a two‐way bridge—for the drawing in of information about industry's tribological problems and for the outflow of remedial advice and help.

The application of a novel, rapid wear debris monitoring technique, the Particle Quantifier pot method, to the wear of laboratory and industrial gear systems is dealt with. The results are discussed and compared with those obtained using other oil monitoring techniques.

The purpose of this paper is to show the development of an image processing-based portable equipment for an automatic wear debris analysis. It can analyze both the qualitative and quantitative features of machine wear debris: size, quantity, size distribution, shape, surface texture and material composition via color.

It comprises hardware and software components which can take debris in near real-time from a machine oil sump and process it for features diagnosis. This processing provides the information of the basic features on the user screen which can further be used for machine component health diagnosis.

The developed system has the capacity to replace the existing off-line methods due to its cost effectiveness and simplicity in operation. The system is able to analyze debris basic quantitative and qualitative features greater than 50 micron and less than 300 micron.

Wear debris basic features analysis tool is developed and discussed. The portable and near real-time analysis offered by the discussed work can be more technically effective as compared to the existing off-line and online techniques.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a method of qualitative ferrographic analysis by quantitative parameters of wear debris characteristics.

The amount of the wear debris needed for analysis on the ferrogram made by rotary ferrograph is discussed based on the theory of debris group. Quantitative parameters are constituted to express the characteristics of wear debris group, and correlation coefficients are employed to establish the relationship between wear debris and wear condition. The reliability of the method was verified by wear test experiments and ferrographic analysis.

The wear condition of machines should be determined by studying all the debris together as a group rather than by focusing on individual debris. In the proposed method, the qualitative analysis result is obtained by synthetic analysis of quantitative parameters of wear debris characteristics using a computer program, which makes the judgment of the wear system condition more objective and precise.

In the procedure of wear condition monitoring by the proposed method, because the weight factors and correlation coefficients introduced in this paper are determined according to the experiences deriving from practice among mining machinery, further rectifications may be needed if they are applied to other industrial field.

The paper illustrates a more objective and precise ferrographic analysis method for wear condition monitoring.

The aim of this study is to determine the variation of the different oil analysis instruments in terms of standard deviation and CV‐values, when measuring samples of fully formulated hydraulic and gear oils taken from working systems.

In this investigation two different spectrometric techniques, ICP‐OES and RDE‐OES, have been studied to determine the instruments' precision of measurement and ability to measure the absolute level of contamination.

The ICP has better precision of measurement of the two instruments, but cannot predict the absolute values of contamination when oil samples are only treated by organic solvent dilution if the samples include large or dense particles. It is therefore not too good, with the sample pre‐treatment method used, at detecting wear processes that produce dense/large particles, such as pitting failure. For instance, microwave‐assisted acid digestion could be used for sample pre‐treating to obtain accurate results in that case. It should, however, be able to detect wear mechanisms that produce small particles such as abrasive wear in any case: the ICP has a repeatability value of r=3 per cent and a reproducibility value of R=12 per cent for contamination levels of between 50‐400 PPM and r=0.6 PPM and R=2 PPM, respectively, at values below 50 PPM; the RDE cannot predict the absolute value of contamination if this includes large or dense particles if proper sample pre‐treatment is not used. It is therefore not good at detecting wear mechanisms that produce dense/large particles (if the oil samples are not pre‐treated properly) such as pitting but should be able to detect abrasive wear and similar processes that produce small particles in any case; the RDE's precision of measurement is not as good as the ICP, with a reproducibility variation of R=r=25 per cent for contamination levels between 20‐500 PPM and R=r=6 PPM for contamination level below 20 PPM.

Measuring only on fully formulated oils from hydraulic and gear systems.

The study will be of significant support regarding industrial interpretation of measurement results from the most common oil particle measurement methods.

No other similar studies are known.

The dependency on human expertise for analysis and interpretation is the main reason for wear debris analysis not being used in industry to its full potential and becoming one of the most powerful machine condition monitoring strategies. The dependency on human expertise makes the interpretation and result subjective in nature, costly and time consuming. The purpose of this paper is to review work being done to develop an automatic, reliable and objective wear particle classification system as a solution to the above problem. At the same time it also aims to discuss some common off line test methods being practiced for wear debris analysis.

Computer image analysis is a solution for some of the problems associated with the conventional techniques. First it is tried to efficiently describe the characteristics of computer images of different types of wear debris using a few numerical parameters. Then using some Artificial Intelligence tools, the wear particle classification system can be developed.

Many shape, size and surface parameters are discussed in the paper. Out of these, nine numerical parameters are selected to describe and distinguish six common type of wear debris. Once the type of debris is identified, the mode of wear and hence the machine condition can be assessed.

The present process of fault and condition monitoring of an equipment by wear debris analysis involves human judgment of debris formations. A set‐up standard for comparison of debris will enable the maintenance team to diagnose faults in a comparatively better way.

The aim of this paper is to discuss the difficulties in identifying wear particles and finding out the exact health of equipment, which, due to its subjective nature, is influenced by human errors. An objective method with certain standards for classification of wear particles compatible with an artificial intelligence system will yield some flawless results of wear debris analysis, which has not been attempted in the past as per available literature.

This paper aims to investigate the mechanism of spur gears running-in and to solve the lubrication problems of teeth running-in.

The elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) model considering solid particles was established by applying multi-grid and multiple-grid integration methods to the numerical solution.

In the region where debris settle, transient pressure increases sharply, and a noticeable increase in the running-in load causes a remarkable increase in both the centre and maximum pressures and a slight increase in the minimum film thickness. Roughness wavelength makes a considerable difference to the minimum film thickness at double-to-single tooth transient. A considerable increase in rotation velocity can cause a remarkable reduction in both the centre and maximum pressures but an amazing increase in the minimum film thickness. The effects of roughness amplitude on the maximum pressure are considerably distinct.

Research on EHL of spur gears in the running-in process considering solid particles, surface roughness and time-variant effect is meaningful to practical gears running-in. Thermal effect can be included in the next study.

The analysis results can be applied to predict and improve lubrication performance of the meshing teeth.

The aim is to reduce gears’ manufacture and running-in costs and improve economic performance.

The EHL model that considers solid particles was established. The Reynolds equation was deduced taking the effects of solid particles into account. The EHL of spur gears running-in was investigated considering the time-variant effect, surface roughness, running-in load and rotation speed.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of misalignment on wear of spur gears and on oil degradation using online sensors.

The misalignment effect on gears is created through a self-alignment bearing, and is measured using laser alignment system. Several online sensors such as Fe-concentration sensor, moisture sensor, oil condition sensor, oil temperature sensor and metallic particle sensor are installed in the gear test rig to monitor lubricant quality and wear debris in real time to assess gearbox failure.

Offset and angular misalignments are detected in both vertical and horizontal planes. The failure of misaligned gear is observed at both the ends and on both the surfaces of the gear teeth. Larger-size ferrous and non-ferrous particles are traced by metallic particle sensor due to gear and seal wear caused by misalignment. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images examine chuck, spherical and flat platelet particles, and confirm the presence of fatigue (pitting) and adhesion (scuffing) wear mechanism. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis of SEM particles traces carbon (C) and iron (Fe) elements due to gear failure.

Gear misalignment is one of the major causes of gearbox failure and the lubricant analysis is as important as wear debris analysis. A reliable online gearbox condition monitoring system is developed by integrating wear and oil analyses for misaligned spur gear pair in contact.

Flourishing export business to the value of £120,000 in specially developed standard and custom‐built test equipment helped the Swansea Tribology Unit balance the books in 1983.

The paper aims to study comparatively the fretting behavior in gross slip regime of fretting both under grease lubrication and dry condition and to investigate the mechanism of palliation of fretting wear with grease lubrication.

All fretting tests were carried out on high‐temperature fretting devices with standard GCr15 bearing steel ball against 45 steel flat and against GCr15 bearing steel flat contact pairs. The wear scar was examined by optical microscope, surface profiler and the confocal laser scanning microscope as well as energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy.

Compared with dry condition, the coefficient of friction and wear are decreased drastically and wear occurs mainly at the early stage of fretting under grease lubrication. The palliation effect of grease lubrication is closely associated with the amount of oil separated from the grease, the low‐oxidation corrosion and high‐hardness white layer. However, the bubbles which expelled from the contact edges have little influence on fretting wear.

The tested greases do not contain any additives for preventing possible misinterpretations of the results, but it is necessary to investigate the influence of different lubricant additives added to grease on friction and wear at different fretting conditions.

The research reveals that the palliation effect of grease lubrication on fretting wear is related closely to the amount of oil separated from the grease. The bigger penetration and more susceptible greases, which are easier to separate from the base oil, should be taken into account for palliation of fretting wear.

The presented results help to understand the palliation mechanism of grease lubrication and could be useful for designers of engineering assembly for which fretting wear is an issue.