A Novel Method for Detecting Ferromagnetic Wear Debris with High Flow Velocity

Abstract

Inductance detection is an important method for detecting wear debris in ship lubricating oil. Presently, an LCR (inductance, resistance, capacitance) meter is generally used to detect wear debris by measuring the inductance change of the sensing coil. When ferromagnetic debris passes through the sensing coil, a pulse will appear in the inductance signal. Previous studies have shown that the amplitude of the inductance pulse decreases significantly with the increase in the particles’ velocity. Therefore, it is difficult to detect ferromagnetic debris with a high flow velocity using an LCR meter. In this paper, a novel method, high-frequency voltage acquisition (HFVA), is proposed to detect ferromagnetic debris. Different from previous methods, the wear debris was detected directly by measuring the voltage change of the sensing coil, while the synchronized sampling method was utilized to ensure the higher-frequency acquisition of the sensor output signal. The experimental results show that when the velocity of particles increased from 6 mm/s to 62 mm/s, the amplitude of the signal pulse obtained by HFVA decreased by only 13%, which was much lower than the 85% obtained by utilizing the LCR method.

A Critical Review of On-Line Oil Wear Debris Particle Detection Sensors

“…Furthermore, the sensor successfully accomplished the objective of swiftly detecting impurities in hydraulic oil. Wang et al developed an inductive wear particle detection sensor that employs the high-frequency voltage synchronous sampling technique in 2022 [8]. This sensor is specifically designed to detect ferromagnetic particles that are flowing rapidly, while ensuring that the signal amplitude remains unaffected.…”

“…Marine engineering machinery and equipment typically consist of ferromagnetic, paramagnetic, and diamagnetic materials [7,8]. The friction and wear process of mechanical equipment is a multifaceted and dynamic phenomenon that can be divided into three distinct stages: the running-in period, the stable wear period, and the severe wear period [9,10].…”

Numerical Approach and Verification Method for Improving the Sensitivity of Ferrous Particle Sensors with a Permanent Magnet

“…These particles usually contain ferrous, non-ferrous, and non-metal debris such as ceramics and polymers. To measure wear particles, wear particle sensors commonly utilize inductance- and capacitance-based methods [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ], acoustic methods based on ultrasonic transducers [ 20 , 21 , 22 ], optical methods [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ], magnetic methods [ 27 , 28 ], and a method based on a combination of a permanent magnet and inductance [ 29 ]. Among them, ferrous particle sensors are widely used to diagnose machine condition because machines are made of iron as their main component.…”