Session: 23-03 Oil & Rolling Element Bearings

Paper Number: 152401

A Novel Approach for Diagnostic of Aeroderivative GT Roller Bearings Through Ultrasonic Reflectometry Combined With Acoustic Emissions 

Rolling element bearings are among the most significant components impacting aeroderivative Gas Turbine (GT) reliability. Their life varies from engine to engine, leading to non-predictable stops and maintenance intervals. Current state-of-the-art instrumentation does not provide a reliable or accurate monitoring for a rolling element bearing condition-based maintenance approach.

A reliable, real-time prognostic system for the bearings can result in significant savings to the customer through optimized maintenance intervals, optimized maintenance planning, reduction in the number of days of outage associated with maintenance, reduction in unplanned outages.

This paper explores a novel approach to monitoring these bearings through the use of ultrasonic reflectometry combined with ultrasonic acoustic emissions as applied to aeroderivative GTs. Ultrasound is exceptionally sensitive to changes in a bearing’s operating conditions, such as loads, speeds, lubricated conditions, early on-set defects and temperatures.

The measurement approach is performed by both collecting the response from an emitted soundwave that is sent through the roller bearing (active ultrasonic reflectometry), and by capturing the acoustic emissions. Different parameters can be measured by the two approaches due to the difference in frequency ranges they operate over.  

This combinatorial ultrasonic approach is described in this paper through instrumenting a bearing from a Baker Hughes aeroderivative gas turbine on a dedicated test rig. This test rig replicates the bearing geometry in 1:1 scale, reproducing faithfully the assembly, and operational functionality. The new ultrasonic approach is corroborated using existing rig sensors such as accelerometers and Bently Nevada probes. The operating conditions (rotor speed, radial load and oil flow) are varied to collect data across the range of operating conditions that a bearing will experience in service. The test is conducted both in a baseline condition (healthy bearing), and in presence of a defect on the bearing raceway.

Presenting Author: Christian Patrizio Baker Hughes

Presenting Author Biography: Christian Patrizio has completed his studies at University of Calabria in December 2023. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master's Degree in Energy Engineering. He joined Baker Hughes as intern in July 2023, to carry out his Master thesis project about reciprocating compressors for Hydrogen applications. From February 2024, he is part of Engine Configuration Design Team, mainly working on bearings, engine architecture definition and assembly.

Authors:

Christian Patrizio Baker Hughes
Lorenzo Naldi Baker Hughes
Matthew Harmon Tribosonics Ltd
Phil Harper Tribosonics Ltd