Gearbox bearing cage damage detected in rolling mill gearbox

High-definition condition monitoring enabled early detection of bearing cage damage in a critical rolling mill gearbox at a steel plant. Timely bearing replacement prevented unplanned downtime and averted potential economic losses amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Application and monitoring setup

In the rolling process, steel coils are subjected to high compressive stress between rotating cylindrical rolls driven by electric motors connected to a gearbox. The gearbox was monitored using an online condition monitoring system with vibration and shock pulse measurements, incorporating HD ENV and SPM HD measuring techniques.

Results and benefits

Bearing cage damage was detected within a critical time frame and an alert was triggered. The customer replaced the bearing, preventing a catastrophic failure.

Subsequent inspection revealed that the bearing cage had split, while the bearing rolls were still intact. Early detection prevented catastrophic gearbox damage and averted potential economic losses amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars.