Automated Wear Debris Identification - A Case Study
Typically, diagnosing wear debris has been somewhat interpretive and often inconclusive. Current techniques such as particle counters or spectroscopy are helpful but they can’t pin point where the contamination may be coming from. In the following discussion, we will introduce a particle identification technique new to the wear debris market, which can often provide a more complete picture of exactly what is happening within an assembly. SEM/EDS will be discussed as a new technology, which can provide not only particle size and shape but also the chemical composition. This technique will be reviewed and a specific case study will be discussed as to how this technology was applied to move a maintenance routine from reactive to preventative.