Oil debris analysis is the investigation of wear particles and contaminates in grease or oil lubricant. Investigating and analyzing these particles help develop a clear picture of the type of wear or contamination occurring within a system. Information obtained from oil debris analysis can lend insight into a system well beyond just describing the condition of the lubricant. The minimization of downtime and unexpected failures, and an increase in uptime can be achieved into a system well beyond just describing the condition of the lubricant. The minimization of downtime and unexpected failures, and an increase in uptime can be achieved.
Oil debris analysis is a proactive and predictive technique. Industrial maintenance departments are constantly evaluating their systems and looking for areas where reliability can improve. Improved reliability means an increase in Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF). The best way to increase MTBF is to eliminate the failure’s root cause. Oil debris wear analysis helps determine some key elements in assessing root cause analysis. Oil debris analysis gives an observation or proof that a certain type of wear has occurred or is under development. In addition to determining the root causes of a particular problem, maintenance personnel can receive advanced notice of upcoming machine issues by using technology such as wear debris analysis. This is referred to as predictive maintenance
.