FERROGRAPHY Wear Particle Oil Analysis Technology
is the microscopic identification & evaluation of wear particles, their morphology, size & concentration
to determine Type, Severity, Component, and Cause of machine wear.
Step 1: Measure
Wear Particle Concentration WPC using DR instrument
Step 3: Analyse
Ferrogram under microscope using Ferroscope instrument
PREDICT offers the world's most advanced Instrumentation for Ferrography Analysis.
DIRECT READING FERROGRAPH
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The DR-7 Ferrograph quantitatively measures the concentration of wear particles in oil, while providing basic wear trend data to help determine equipment condition within minutes. It utilizes an efficient magnetic (neodymium) gradient to trap and optically measure the amount of ferrous wear particles. The instrument also establishes the baseline wear level for any piece of equipment. Any sudden increase in the wear trend level alerts the user to potential problems prompting preventive actions.
The DR operates by flowing lubricant through a precipitator tube over a high powered magnet. The large wear particles in the lubricant are quickly attracted to the magnet, while the smaller particles gather at the exit end of the magnet. Light is then transmitted through the sample where photo sensors on the other end measure the amount of light passing through the sample. The results received are ferrous large (DL) greater than five microns in size, and ferrous small (DS) which are those particles less than five microns in size. The DL and DS results are used in specific formulas to help determine the Wear Particle Count (WPC), Percentage Large Particles (PLP), and Wear Severity Index (WSI).
FERROGRAM MAKER
The Ferrogram Maker FM-6 dual slide maker is used as the first step in Analytical Ferrography. It deposits particles on a substrate called the ferrogram. The ferrogram is then analysed with the Ferroscope.
Key features:
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Automatically prepares two ferrograms concurrently
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Adjustable controlled sample flow rate ensures uniform substrate deposition and reproducibility.
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Ferrograms are transparent, allowing differentiation of metallic, organic, and non-metallic particles
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Particles are sorted by magnetic susceptibility and size
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The deposition pattern and transparency provides good resolution of large and small particles which inturn facilitates accurate diagnosis of potential wear problems via the ASTM method.
The Ferrogram Maker magnetically separates machine wear debris from the lubricating oil. The oil sample is first diluted for improved particle precipitation and adhesion. The diluted sample flows down a tube on a specially designed glass slide called a ferrogram.
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The ferrogram rests on a magnetic block, which attracts ferrous particles out of the oil. Due to the magnetic field, the ferrous particles align themselves in chains along the length of the slide with the largest particles being deposited at the entry point. Nonferrous particles and contaminants, unaffected by the magnetic field, travel downstream and are randomly deposited across the length of the slide. After the particles are deposited on the ferrogram, a wash is used to remove any remaining lubricant. The wash quickly evaporates and the particles are permanently attached to the slide. The ferrogram is now ready for optical examination using a Ferroscope.
FERROSCOPE
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The Ferroscope is an analytical ferrography optical industrial microscope. It comes with three magnification powers: 100x, 500x, 1000x. An Analyst could scan a Ferrogram quickly at 500x looking for obvious abnormal particles, interpret particle origin & wear mechanism, and use 1000x to get more insight into stress directions.
The Ferroscope is equipped with reflective and transmitted light sources so that a Ferrogram can be illuminated from above and below which aids in the identification of particles. A red light source illuminated above the Ferrogram causes the light to be reflected off particles and a green light source below the Ferrogram causes light to be transmitted. Any metallic particles will reflect light and non-metallic particles will transmit light.
It uses an infinity-corrected optical system, high quality objective lenses corrected for chromatic aberration and with a high numerical aperture. Tri-nocular observation tube and revolving quintuple nosepiece provides a wide field and allows the addition of a camera for image capture.