Free Engineering Tool #057
Bearing Damage Classifier
Interactive bearing damage type identifier per ISO 15243. Select the visual symptoms you observe, and get the likely damage mode, root cause, and corrective actions.
Diagnosis
Six Main Categories
| Category | ISO 15243 Code | Sub-types |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fatigue | 5.1 | Subsurface-initiated, surface-initiated |
| 2. Wear | 5.2 | Abrasive, adhesive (smearing) |
| 3. Corrosion | 5.3 | Moisture corrosion, fretting corrosion |
| 4. Electrical erosion | 5.4 | Excessive current, current leakage (fluting) |
| 5. Plastic deformation | 5.5 | Overload, indentations (brinelling) |
| 6. Cracking & fracture | 5.6 | Forced fracture, fatigue fracture, thermal cracking |
ISO 15243 classifies rolling bearing damage into six main categories: fatigue, wear, corrosion, electrical erosion, plastic deformation, and cracking/fracture.
Fatigue spalling is the expected end-of-life failure. Premature failures are most often caused by contamination, inadequate lubrication, and improper mounting.
Fatigue shows material flaking in the loaded zone (develops over time). Brinelling shows permanent indentations matching rolling element spacing (single overload event).
Stray currents from VFD-driven motors cause characteristic fluting patterns. Use insulated bearings or shaft grounding rings to prevent it.
Proper lubrication, contamination control, correct mounting, alignment, and vibration monitoring are the key prevention measures.
The procedures described on this page were developed and field-tested by the Vibromera team using the Balanset-1A, a portable dual-channel balancer and vibration analyzer for on-site rotor balancing.
Professional vibration analyzers for bearing condition monitoring. Detect damage early.
