Practical Machinery Management for Process Plants: Volume 2

Machinery Failure Analysis and Troubleshooting

Heinz P. Bloch, Fred K. Geitner

• Publisher: Gulf Professional Publishing
• Year: 1997
• eBook ISBN: 9780080510583
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Mechanical Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

This newly expanded edition discusses proven approaches to defining causes of machinery failure as well as methods for analyzing and troubleshooting failures.

Practical Machinery Management for Process Plants, Vol. 2, Suppl. (C), 1999

ISSN: 1874-6942

doi: 10.1016/S1874-6942(99)80003-0

Chapter 1 The Failure Analysis and Troubleshooting System

Troubleshooting as an Extension of Failure Analysis

For years, the term “failure analysis” has had a specific meaning in connection with fracture mechanics and corrosion failure analysis activities carried out by static process equipment inspection groups. Figure 1-1 shows a basic outline of materials failure analysis steps.¹ The methods applied in our context of process machinery failure analysis are basically the same; however, they are not limited to metallurgic investigations. Here, failure analysis is the determination of failure modes of machinery components and their most probable causes. Figure 1-2 illustrates the general significance of machinery component failure mode analysis as it relates to quality, reliability, and safety efforts in the product development of a major turbine manufacturer.²

Figure 1-1 Failure analysis steps—materials technology (modified from Ref. 1).

Figure 1-2 Failure analysis and the “wheel of quality.”²

Very often, machinery failures reveal a reaction chain of cause and effect. The end of the chain is usually a performance deficiency commonly referred to as the symptom, trouble, or simply “the problem.” Troubleshooting works backward to define the elements of the reaction chain and then proceeds to link the most probable failure cause based on failure (app...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Practical Machinery Management for Process Plants:
• Front matter
• Dedication
• Copyright page
• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• Chapter 1: The Failure Analysis and Troubleshooting System
• Chapter 2: Metallurgical Failure Analysis
• Chapter 3: Machinery Component Failure Analysis
• Chapter 4: Machinery Troubleshooting
• Chapter 5: Vibration Analysis
• Chapter 6: Generalized Machinery Problem-Solving Sequence
• Chapter 7: Statistical Approaches in Machinery Problem Solving
• Chapter 8: Sneak Analysis
• Chapter 9: Formalized Failure Reporting as a Teaching Tool
• Chapter 10: The “Seven Cause Category Approach” to Root-Cause Failure Analysis
• Chapter 11: Cause Analysis by Pursuing The Cause-and-Effect Relationship*
• Chapter 12: Knowledge-Based Systems for Machinery Failure Diagnosis
• Chapter 13: Training and Organizing for Successful Failure Analysis and Troubleshooting
• Appendix A. Machinery Equipment Life Data1,2
• Appendix B. Theory of Hazard Plotting*
• Appendix C. Glossary of Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Terms
• Appendix D. Gear Nomenclature
• Index