A Review of Rolling Element Bearing Vibration 'Detection, Diagnosis and Prognosis',

Rolling element bearings are among the most common components to be found in industrial rotating machinery. They are found in industries from agriculture to aerospace, in equipment as diverse as paper mill rollers to the Space Shuttle Main Engine Turbomachinery. There has been much written on the subject of bearing vibration monitoring over the last twenty five years. This report attempts to summarize the underlying science of rolling element bearings across these diverse applications from the point of view of machine condition monitoring using vibration analysis. The key factors which are addressed in this report include the underlying science of bearing vibration, bearing kinematics and dynamics, bearing life, vibration measurement, signal processing techniques and prognosis of bearing failure. jg