International Journal of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering

2014, Volume 1, Issue 1, Pages 10-19

Published Online 30-12-2014 in IJMEE http://www.ijmee.org

www.atlantisrepublic.com

The Impact of Particle Contaminants Hardness on

the Wear Mechanism of Rolling Element Bearings
Antonios Stathis*, Dimitrios Koulocheris, Theodoros Costopoulos and Vasileios Spitas
School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece
*e-mail: andonis5@mail.ntua.gr, web page: http://www.mech.ntua.gr
Received 22-12-2014

Abstract
The rating life of ball bearings is reduced when hard particle contaminants are present in the lubricant. Usually,
this life reduction is taken into account in the calculation of modified rating life by using the contamination factor
through a general characterization of the lubrication conditions. However, the impact of contaminants variables
such as size, hardness and concentration level should be specified in detail. In this work, greases contaminated with
steel and alumina particles of the same size are tested with the purpose of finding examining the wear mechanism
and its progress inside the bearings. A laboratory rig is utilized for these tests and vibration analysis is performed to
estimate the condition and the residual life of the bearings. After the tests, optical inspections performed in a
stereoscope verify the predictions of vibration analyses and give a graphical point of the wear. It was found that
steel particles, after their initial deformation, produce milder wear than corundum particles. The wear mechanism
is found to be different in the case of hard particles which are causing severe wear due to abrasion. The expected
useful life in this case is much lower than that calculated according to the current methods and therefore the
relevant methodology has to be revised.

Keywords
Wear, bearings, vibration analysis, maintenance, condition monitoring

1. Introduction
Rolling element bearings can exhibit an operational
life much longer than the life of the machine they are
installed on. When bearings have been chosen
correctly, handled, installed and maintained properly,
their service life can be well predicted from their basic
rating life L10 as it is calculated by their manufacturer.
Usually the operating conditions are different from the
ideal conditions on which the L10 life is based, leading
to a reduction of their service life. In order to take into
account these different operating conditions, the
international standard ISO 281:2007 has moved
towards a system approach of the bearing and has
introduced the modified rating life Lnm which is based
on the L10 life, the reliability modification factor a1 and
the modification factor ISO which is a function of
lubricating conditions, lubricant contamination,
operating temperature and fitting stresses.
Most of the largest bearing manufacturers state that
lubricant contamination is the major cause of bearing

failure before they reach their rated life. Lubricant

cleanliness is taken into account when calculating the
rating life. The classification of lubricant cleanliness is
based on the ISO 4406:1999 cleanliness code which is
limited in filtrated oil lubrication systems. For grease
lubricated bearings, which have a large market share,
an equivalent grease cleanliness classification has not
been established in detail.
Other aspects regarding the nature of particle
contaminants such as size, hardness, brittleness and
concentration levels have been investigated by
researchers but they have not been quantified.
In this paper we experimentally evaluate the nature
and the scale of wear under various lubricant
contamination conditions which cause accelerated
wear.
Self-aligned, double row, ball bearings lubricated
with either hard steel or corundum particle precontaminated grease of different particle sizes were
tested. Vibration analysis is performed in the time and
in the frequency domain in order to evaluate the

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Copyright 2014 by author(s) and IJMEE

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Antonios Stathis, Dimitrios Koulocheris, Theodoros Costopoulos and Vasileios Spitas

accuracy of each indicator under these operating
conditions and lubrication. At the end of the
experiments the vibration analyses findings are
compared with optical inspections of the bearings
identifying the different types of wear mechanisms
that appeared.

2. Theory Overview
2.1. The Basic Rating Life of Rolling Element
Bearings
During their operating life, bearings are carrying
loads which cause variable stresses to the contact
surfaces. These Hertzian contact stresses are the main
cause of fatigue, determining the useful operating life.
This service life of rolling element bearings can be
estimated based on the Weibull distribution and its
application on bearings. Based on Weibulls theory
Palmgren and Lundberg [1] proposed that for a given
probability n, the service life of bearing can be
calculated from the equation below:

Ln
where: Ln
Qc
Q
p

Qc p
Q

(1)

= Basic rating life (with a probability n).

= Basic dynamic load.
= Actual load.
= Constant.

Constant p is a function of the three constants c, e

and h, regarding maximum shear stress exponents,
Weibull slope and the type of the bearing. Several
functions which correlate these constants have been
proposed by researchers [2-3] based on different
assumptions of the importance and the influence of
each one. Regardless of the adopted theory, constant
p has been experimentally approximated to the value
3 for ball bearings and 10/3 for roller bearings. Usually,
the basic rating life L10 is used, expressing the expected
life with 90% reliability. In addition, the basic dynamic
radial Cr or axial Ca load is used in conjunction with the
dynamic equivalent radial Pr or axial Pa load.
In practice, rolling element bearings show longer
service lives than their basic rated L10 life when they
operate under normal conditions. On the other hand,
service lives are shorter when the operating conditions
and especially temperature and lubricating conditions
are worse. The need for calculating the expected
service life under realistic, non-normal conditions led
to the introduction of the modified rating life L nm
which takes into account these operating conditions
and also provides results for probabilities different
from 90%. According to ISO 281:2007 [4], the modified
rating life Lnm of the bearings can be calculated from
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the equation below:

Lnm 1 ISO L10

(2)

where: 1 = Life modification factor for reliability.

ISO = Life modification factor, based on a
systems approach of life calculation.
The life modification factor ISO is a function of the
bearings operating conditions as it is shown in
equation (3):
ec ,Cu
,
P

ISO f
where: ec
Cu
P

(3)

= Contamination factor.
= Fatigue load limit.
= Dynamic equivalent load.
= Viscosity ratio of the lubricant.

The contamination factor ec can be estimated based

on some rough, simple guidelines regarding the
lubrication conditions. The values of the factor have
been found experimentally and they are given in
relevant tables. Generally, life reduction caused by
solid particles in the lubricant film is dependent on:
a. Type, size, hardness and quantity of the particles;
b. Lubricant film thickness and viscosity;
c. Bearing size and clearances.

2.2. Rolling Element Bearings Wear Mechanisms

The researches on bearings wear due to
contaminants point to several possible mechanisms of
wear [5-6]. In terms of contaminant sizes Maru et al.
[7] and Nikas et al. [8] state that the critical size is in
the order of the lubrication film thickness as particles
entrapped in the contact zone are causing local oil
starvation, increased heating and material melting,
while others report that when particles larger than the
oil film thickness enter the contact zone, they cause
stress peaks and permanent indentations in the
raceway as they are over rolled. These stress peaks
lead to a reduced life of the rolling bearing due to
fatigue.
Usually the contaminants are larger than the typical
lubricant film but rather small compared with the
contact bodies. As they enter the contact zone it is
difficult to move the bearing elements apart, so they
are deformed. Ductile contaminants are rolled into
pellets and brittle contaminants are crushed into
fragments. The damage to the contact surfaces is
controlled by the size of these deformed particles
which in turn depends on the hardness of the ductile
particles and the toughness of the brittle particles [9].
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Antonios Stathis, Dimitrios Koulocheris, Theodoros Costopoulos and Vasileios Spitas

When ductile particles enter the contact zone, the
contact surfaces are deformed in order to
accommodate the volume of the particle. If the
particles size is small enough, these deformations are
not permanent but larger particles cause dents and
pits. The critical size over which permanent
deformations are caused depends on the particles
hardness. For particles with hardness less than the
hardness of the bearing materials, Ai [10] proposed
the following equation:
1
3

3
=( )

2
Where:

Hs
Hp

[ ln (23 )]

2
3

(4)

= Particles size diameter.

= Lubricant film thickness.
= Friction coefficient between particlecontact surfaces.
= Hardness of contact surface.
= Hardness of particle.

these dents depends on the contact gap, counter

surface velocities, fracture toughness, fragment size
and contact surface hardness [6].
As wear depends on the particle fragmentation size
it is important to evaluate this ultimate size. DwyerJoyce et al. [13] proposed the following equation (6)
based on experimental data:
=

2
1
3
[
]
(1 2)

(6)

Where: = Minimum particles size.

1/2
= Particles fracture toughness MPam

= Poissons ratio for the bearings

material.
Hs = Hardness of contact surface.

From equation (4) and experimental data it is found

that a rolling element bearing operates satisfactory
when the ratio / ranges from 17 to 22 [11] for
speeds up to 3m/s.
For particles with equal or higher hardness than the
bearings hardness, Ai [10] suggests the following
equation:

2
= [1 ( ) ]

Where:

Hs

(5)

= Particles size diameter.

= Lubricant film thickness.
= Hardness of contact surface.
= Youngs modulus.

In this case and for common bearings materials, the

ratio has a value of about 0.02 indicating that
the critical particle size that causes plastic
deformations to the contact surfaces is in the order of
the lubricant film thickness.
When brittle particles enter the contact zone they
fracture down to a critical size. This critical size
depends on the material toughness and this size is
larger on materials with higher fracture toughness [1213]. Brittle particles of low toughness cause small
dents before their fracture to small fragments and
these small dents have minimal interaction with the
subsurface stresses which cause fatigue. Surface
initiated cracking is more possible due to higher
surface stresses on these cases.
On the other hand, particles of high toughness are
causing larger dents and grooves when trapped in the
contact zone before they fracture [14]. The size of
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Figure 1. Particle behavior as it enters the contact zone

in relation with its characteristics [6].
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Antonios Stathis, Dimitrios Koulocheris, Theodoros Costopoulos and Vasileios Spitas

Denting is causing high stresses and the continuous
over rolling is leading to a reduction in the fatigue life.
The bearing life is found to be decreased by a factor of
ten when brittle particles with high toughness have
been used [13]. Dents, grooves and surface
deformation are causing abnormal operation of the
bearing. When these faults are present the vibration
signals from the bearing are increasing and with the
proper analysis the size and the location of these faults
can be identified.

3. Experiments
3.1. Experimental Setup
In order to investigate the impact of particle
contaminants hardness we are using a test rig that
simulates a common industrial arrangement where a
shaft is radially loaded on its free end. The schematic
of the bearing test rig is shown in Figure 2. Three
different types of bearings are used, having the same
bore diameter. This selection has been made in order
to use in each housing bearings with different
characteristic frequencies and as a result to have a
clearer indication about the source of the measured
vibration signal. All bearings have conical internal rings
with a bore diameter of 35mm and they are mounted
on the shaft with the use of proper adapter sleeves.
Two
Kistler
type
8792A25T
three-axial
accelerometers are mounted with magnets on the top
of the two plumper type housings. Visualization and
processing of the signals is made through HBM
CATMAN software installed on a Laptop PC. The
naming of the axes is following the naming of the
accelerometers axes which is: x for the axis of the
shaft, z for the axis of the load direction and y for the
axis vertical to the plane xz. Also, a K-type
thermometer was used in order to measure the shaft,
bearings and housings temperatures and the ambient
temperature.

3.2. Pre-contaminated Grease

The pre-contaminated grease was made by mixing
solid contaminant particles with clean grease. The
grease used was SKF LGMT3 mineral oil based, lithium
soap thickened grease with base oil viscosity of 1202
o
2
o
130mm /s at 40 C and 12mm /s at 100 C. The solid
particles which were used as contaminants were steel
particles with a hardness of about 700HV and
corundum particles with a hardness of about 2000HV.
Four samples with different average particle size were
used for each material as it is shown on Table 1. The
corundum particles were obtained as sand blasting
expendables in typical commercial grit sizes. The steel
particles were screened with the designated mesh
sizes in order to obtain four samples with equivalent
grit sizes.
In order to achieve similar volumetric
concentration of particles in the contaminated grease,
3
a quantity of 0,75cm of particles was mixed with
50grams of clean grease. Most of the quantity used
remains in the housing and only a small amount of
grease is recirculating. The actual amount of particles
which enter the contact zone is only a fraction of the
used quantity.

3.3. Procedure of Experimentation

A series of eight tests were conducted using the
above configuration. At the beginning of the
experiments the rear housing and the bearing was
cleaned from the preservation oil and then the bearing
was filled with clean grease. The same procedure has
been followed for the front housing using one of the
grease mixtures described above.
A load of 2,800N was applied to the flanged
housing resulting in a load of 3,500N at the front
bearing and a load of 700N at the rear bearing. The
motor and shaft rotation speed was set to 2,400rpm
(40Hz). The signal from six channels was recorded,
corresponding to the three axes of each of the two
accelerometers. The sampling rate was set to 2,400
samples per second (sampling frequency) for each
channel.
Table 1. Material and size table of the used
contaminants.

Figure 2. 3D model of the experimental setup.

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test

Material

Mesh size

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Steel
Steel
Steel
Steel
Corundum
Corundum
Corundum
Corundum

180-220
150-180
120-150
80-120
180-220
150-180
120-150
80-120

Particle
size (m)
62-73
73-78
88-104
105-177
62-73
73-78
88-104
105-177

Average
size (m)
68
80
91
141
68
80
91
141

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Antonios Stathis, Dimitrios Koulocheris, Theodoros Costopoulos and Vasileios Spitas

The duration of each experiment is 35 hours for the
tests where steel particles are used and 14 hours for
the tests with the corundum particles. Each test
represents 5 and 2 millions of revolutions respectively.
After the completion of each test, the front housing
was opened and cleaned from the remaining grease.
The bearing was dismantled and its parts were cleaned
from the grease. After cleaning, the parts of each
bearing were subjected to optical inspection with a
LEICA stereoscope.
During the tests, the vibration signals from the
accelerometers were monitored in real time and
recorded. All data were recorded and saved in .BIN
type file format which can be further processed with
Matlab software.

3.4. Data and Calculations

According to ISO 281:2007, the L nm life of the
tested bearings can be calculated from the equations
(1) and (2). For the applied load the L10 life of each
bearing is calculated based on the manufacturers
basic dynamic load. The results are given in Table 2.
For the modified basic rating life Lnm the life
modification factor for reliability 1 equals to 1 for a
90% reliability. The life modification factor for system
approach ISO depends on the contamination factor ec,
the fatigue load limit Cu, the actual load P and the
viscosity ratio .
The contamination factor ec can be estimated from
the given guidelines. The bearings pitch diameter d is
about 54mm and the viscosity ratio of the grease
o
used at the test temperature of the bearings (65 C) is
about 3.5. For grease lubrication under high
cleanliness, ec can be as high as 0.8 for the dimensions
of the tested bearing (Pitch diameter d 54mm) and
for the viscosity ratio of 3.5. In severe contamination
conditions, ec is in the range of 0.05 and in very severe
contamination it tends to zero. The results from these
calculations are shown on Table 3.
Table 2. Loads and Basic Rating Life calculations for the
all testing rigs bearings.
SKF 1207
EKTN9
front
Basic dynamic
load
Max. allowed
static load
Actual load
L10 (rev.)
L10 hours
(@2,400rpm)

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SKF 2207
EKTN9
rear

SKF YSA
207 - 2FK
load

19,000N

30,700N

25,500N

6,000N

8,800N

15,300N

3,500N
6
160 x10

700N
6
84,400 x10

2,800N
6
760 x10

1,110

585,800

5,250

Table 3. Modified Rating Life calculations for various

lubricant conditions for the tested bearing.
Lubricant condition
High
cleanliness
Normal
cleanliness
Slight to typical
contamination
Severe
contamination
Very severe
contamination

ec

ISO

L10m

0.8

3.8

4,240

0.6

2.6

2,850

0.18

0.77

856

0.05

0.36

400

0.1

111

4. Visual inspection and verification of

results
After the completion of the tests, the bearings
were dismantled and cleaned from the greases. The
bearing elements and the faults on them were
photographed with the use of a stereoscope and a
digital camera attached to it. The findings from the
visual inspections are conforming to the results of the
vibration analyses.
On the bearings from the first set of tests, the
rolling marks on the raceways can be seen, but no
severe damage is visible. Most of the damage is made
on the plating of the outer raceway but no significant
indentations or deformations exist except scratching
and scoring (Figure 3). The width of the affected
contact zone is about 500m for all the tests were
steel particles were used. On the inner ring the surface
on the contact zone is dull and there is also some small
scale pitting (Figure 4). The width of the inner ring
contact area is about 2mm, wider than the outer
raceways due to the different curving.
When using strong magnification it can be seen
that small metal particles are attached to the contact
surface of the outer raceways (Figures 5, 6 and 7). As
the contaminant size increases, the amount of these
adhered particles is increasing and oxidation and
burning marks are present in the center of the contact
zone (Figure 8).
Generally, as larger particles were used, the
bearing seems to have rougher marks and the findings
indicate that the severity of the damage is increasing.
As the performance of the bearings has not change
dramatically, it can be assumed that the damage after
the test do not seem to be critical.

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Antonios Stathis, Dimitrios Koulocheris, Theodoros Costopoulos and Vasileios Spitas

Figure 3. Typical scratching and scoring on the contact

surfaces of the outer raceways using steel particle
contaminated grease.

Figure 6. Contact surface of the outer raceway using

steel particle contaminated grease with average size
80m (test 2).

Figure 4. Typical damage on the inner raceways with

dull finishing and micro-pitting using steel particle
contaminated grease.

Figure 7. Contact surface of the outer raceway using

steel particle contaminated grease with average size
91m (test 3).

Figure 5. Contact surface of the outer raceway using

steel particle contaminated grease with average size
68m (test 1).

Figure 8. Contact surface of the outer raceway using

steel particle contaminated grease with average size
141m (test 4).

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Antonios Stathis, Dimitrios Koulocheris, Theodoros Costopoulos and Vasileios Spitas

In the tests where the harder corundum particles
were used, the damage made is much greater. The
marks on the outer raceways are about 2mm in width,
indicating an increase in the contact area comparing
with the width of 500m seen on the first set of tests.
The main cause of this kind of damage is abrasive
wear. As the hard corundum particles come in contact
with the bearing steel they cause smearing at the
contact area, shaping it with the ball curvature. Serious
faults are obvious on the outer raceways at the point
where the balls are entering and exiting the load zone.
At these areas, a step has been formed, as it shown in
Figure 9.
In addition, various deformations on the raceways
are present as waviness with random distribution
(Figure 10). This kind of deformation has occurred
probably due to local differences in the hardness of
the bearing material. This kind of failure is more severe
in the first and the second tests where smaller
corundum particles were used.

Figure 11. Polished surfaces of the test using

corundum particle contaminated grease
On the inner raceways the marks are less severe
than those on the tests with the steel particle
contaminants and the surfaces look very polished as
on Figure 11.

Figure 9. Formation of a step on the outer raceways at

the beginning of the load zone at the tests using
corundum particle contaminated grease (test 5).

Figure 12. Contact surface of the outer raceway using

corundum particle contaminated grease with average
size 68m (test 5).

Figure 10. Deformation of the outer raceways in a

wave-like manner (test 7)

Figure 13. Contact surface of the outer raceway using

corundum particle contaminated grease with average
size 80m (test 6).

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Antonios Stathis, Dimitrios Koulocheris, Theodoros Costopoulos and Vasileios Spitas

Test5
Frequency spectrum x axis

0.08

X: 140
Y: 251.2
Z: 4.657

FFT2

FFT2

0.06
0.04
0.02

14
100

200

10
300

400

Frequency (Hz)

100

6
500

600

20

Fre

Time (hours)

Figure 16. Typical spectral plot showing the increasing

th
vibration levels during
theTest6
5 test
Frequency
spectrum
x axis where corundum
particle contaminated grease was used [16].

Figure 15. Contact surface of the outer raceway using

corundum particle contaminated grease with average
size 141m (test 8).
In this second group of tests, the findings when
using stronger magnification show similar wear
pattern (Figures 12, 13 and 14) and only on the fourth
test some pitting and small scale spalling can be seen
(Figure 15).
Generally, in all tests using corundum particle
contaminated grease, the wear is significant and a
serious amount of material has been removed from
the contact surfaces, deepening the contact area and
cause permanent deformations.
All the aforementioned permanent faults are the
main reason for the peaks in the spectral plots. The
severity of the vibrations depends on the number of
these faults and their size. Have in mind that multiple
faults on different areas on the raceways produce
vibrations of the same frequency but with different
phase. When a fast Fourier transform algorithm is
applied these vibrations are summarized [15].

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FFT2

5. 1.5
Discussion

0.04

X: 140
Y: 251.4
Z: 1.578

FFT2

Figure 14. Contact surface of the outer raceway using

corundum particle contaminated grease with average
size 91m (test 7).

The optical inspections of the tested bearings are in

conformity
with the vibration analyses findings [16].
0
14
10 steel
The bearings
of the first set of tests using the
100
200
6
300
particles show less400damage
than 2the second set of
500
600 0
Time (hours)
Frequency
tests, despite
the(Hz)
longer operating duration.
The hardness of the grease particle contaminants is
of great importance as it determines the wear and
failure mechanism. Particles enter and leave the
contact zone according to the concentration levels and
the flow of the contaminated grease. As particles enter
the contact zone they are deformed due to the high
stresses. Ductile particles, like the steel particles used,
are rolled over forming round flakes. Brittle particles
are crushed down [9] or if they are stiff enough, they
penetrate into the contact surfaces. The rather hard
materials of the bearing elements seem to withstand
the scratching from the steel particles but when they
are trapped in certain areas, the continuous rolling and
the excessive heat produced causes them to melt and
adhere to the contact area. The harder corundum
particles show a different behavior as they cause
significant scoring and smearing. Maru et al [7] report
that the ratio of particle contaminant hardness to
bearing steel hardness determines the severity of the
wear process, pointing that at a ratio of 1.4 there is a
transition limit between mild and severe wear.
When comparing the results from the tests
regarding the size of the contaminant particles, it
seems that size affect the wear process in a different
way when ductile or brittle particles are present.
Ductile steel particles are rolled over and although
their height is reduced, as they are flattened, their
volume remains the same. Due to the vortexes of the
lubricant, these rolled particles recirculate and they
can reenter the contact zone in a different position. As
a result, larger particles are causing more vibrations.
From the conducted experiments it seems that
particles larger than 100m are causing significant
acceleration peaks but the overall acceleration rms
value remains low.
0.5

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0.03
0.02
0.01
0
100

20

Fre

Antonios Stathis, Dimitrios Koulocheris, Theodoros Costopoulos and Vasileios Spitas

Brittle particles entering the contact zone are
crushed down to a certain size depending on their
material. After reaching that threshold, other wear
mechanisms are causing deformations on the
raceways and the vibration levels are increased. Their
initial size of the contaminants does not seem to affect
the phenomena proportional.
The faults on some of the bearings, especially on
those from the second set of tests, are critical and the
performance of the bearings is poor. In the case of the
steel particles, bearings do not have permanent
deformations and the main source of the increased
vibrations was the presence of the contaminants.
Although the acceleration amplitude was elevated,
bearings could operate for longer periods. In the
second set of tests, acceleration peaks and rms values
were high, especially on the first test where
acceleration peak amplitude was more than 15g and
acceleration rms value was more than 4g, indicating
that the bearing should be replaced soon.
When the hard particles were used, the results of
the tests showed that on the fifth test the bearing has
reached its useful life during the test which lasted 14
hours and the vibrations from the bearings on the sixth
and eighth test indicate that a critical level of vibration
will be reached soon. On the rest of the tests, vibration
levels are lower and the bearings can continue
operating but the progress of the vibration amplitude
on the spectra plots indicate that the remaining useful
lives are short.
Comparing the above findings with the calculated
modified rating lives of the bearings shown on Tables
2 and 3, it seems that the manufacturers advanced
calculating methods are very optimistic as they exceed
250 hours of operation in all cases. A better approach
is made when using the simplified guidelines. Then the
contamination factor ec is taken as zero, the life
modification factor ISO has the value 0.1 which results
in 111 hours of operation. This operational life could
be reached in some of the cases were the steel
particles were used and they had not shown any
increased vibration levels.

contaminants are causing abrasive wear removing a

great amount of material from the bearing raceways.
The tests showed similar results regardless the size of
the contaminants. It seems that the larger particles are
crushed down to a certain size and the wear they
cause depends on their shape and concentration
levels.
In all cases where contaminated grease was used,
the life of the bearings was dramatically reduced. The
calculations made using the ISO 281:2007 adopted
equations result in much higher rating lives than those
during the experiments, pointing out that these
calculations do not take into account the hardness and
the size of the particle contaminants in the wear
mechanism.
It is difficult to establish an equation that describes
the wear progress involving parameters such as the
hardness, the size and the concentration levels of the
solid contaminant particles due to the stochastic
nature of the wear mechanisms. A statistical approach
of the residual life expectancy seems to be more
practical. In order to make that approach a large
number of experiments are necessary.

References
[1]

Palmgren A. and Lundberg G., 1947, Dynamic capacity

of rolling bearings, Acta Polytechnica, 1(3).

[2]

Harris T.A. and Kotzalas M.N., 2007, Advanced

Concepts of Bearing Technology, 5th edition, CRC Press.

[3]

Zaretsky E.V., Poplawski J.V. and Miller C. R., 2000,

Rolling Bearing Life Prediction - Past, Present and
Future, NASA TM-2000-210529, NASA Glenn Research
Center, p.13.

[4]

International Organization for Standardization, 2007,

ISO 281:2007, Rolling Bearings - Dynamic Load Ratings
and Rating Life.

[5]

Godet M., 1984, The third body approach: a

mechanical view of wear, Wear, 100, pp.437-452.
doi:10.1016/0043-1648(84)90025-5

[6]

Nikas G.K., 2010, A state-of-the-art review on the

effects of particulate contamination and related topics
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6. Conclusions
From the conducted tests it is concluded that the
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but the size seems to have different effects depending
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increased, with a higher increase when the particle
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