Condition monitoring of slow-speed shafts and bearings with Acoustic emission

For various rotating machinery applications, condition monitoring using high-frequency Acoustic emission (AE) technology has remained a subject of intense study since the late 1960s. This paper demonstrates the results of an investigation for detecting and monitoring natural crack initiation and propagation in slow-speed rotating machinery with the AE technology. In addition to highlighting previous work published by the authors [1-3] on condition monitoring of slow-speed rotating machinery, this paper presents experimental results on accelerated bearing fatigue under starved lubricating conditions. For these investigations, purpose-built test rigs were employed for generating natural degradation on both a bearing and a shaft. It is concluded that crack initiation and propagation on slow-speed bearings and shafts can be detected with the AE technology.