Measuring bearing loads.
Monitoring lubrication.
Preventing damages.

HCP-Surface
damage detection

HCP Sense technology vs. Current solutions

In addition to force measurement and lubrication monitoring, HCP Sense sensor technology also offers the possibility of detecting rolling bearing damage at an early stage and tracking its progress.

Especially in applications with very low speeds, bearing damage cannot be reliably detected by today’s common oscillation monitoring. This is due to very low vibration generation when the damaged track is slowly rolled over. The same applies to environments where a single bearing signal is strongly masked by environmental vibration and noise. 

HCP Sense’s sensor technology, on the other hand, directly measures the electrical characteristics of the bearing. Therefore, each bearing can be uniquely assigned to the corresponding measurement signal without environmental disturbances.

How it works

Darstellung eines Graphs, der das Entstehen von Schaden durch Veränderungen im Impedanzsignal misst

The following figure shows how bearing damage is measured with the impedance signal. 

At the beginning of the measurement, many short deflections occur, which are due to initial roughness peaks on the running surfaces. These are removed during running-in, which leads to a smoothing of the signal. Initial changes in the signal occur shortly before the damage, which enables early detection. As soon as damage – in this case pitting – occurs, strong deflections of the impedance become visible, which occur each time the damage is rolled over. 

The deflections also allow analysis of the extent of the damage and its progression, as the duration of the deflection corresponds to the length of the damage along the surface.

The advantages of our technology

In applications that can tolerate minor pitting, such as cylindrical roller bearings with low running accuracy requirements, it is possible to track the damage until it exceeds a critical level.

Thus, there is no need to act directly when the first damage occurs, which optimizes maintenance intervals and downtimes and reduces costs.

Discover now the other basic functions of our sensors.

Discover now the other basic functions
of our sensors.

Read more about how HCP Sense sensors collect data on lubrication, wear and the forces acting on the bearing
Read more about how HCP Sense sensors can provide information about lubrication and perform continuous monitoring