Failure analysis & repair
You need an expertise on a short-term basis and a durable solution in case of gearbox damages?
- We investigate and analyze gearbox damages in an accurate and swift manner.
- We prepare expertises that can be used for legal cases.
- We create an action plan and organize the repair work if requested.
Our failure analyses typically consist of the following steps:
- Collect and record the damage situation on site.
- Carry out a systematic root cause analysis (RCA).
- Organize the instrumental analyses of the affected components and oil.
- Carry out calculations or simulations, if necessary.
- Assessment of the examination results and detection of the causes of damage.
- Derive actions for damage remediation and prevention.
- Summarize the results in a well-founded report.
Based on our experience, the most common causes of gearbox damages are:
Design
- Selected bearing types or bearing arrangement not in line with the actual force directions
- Effects of elastic deformation of gearbox components under load not considered
- Material properties and / or heat treatment not selected appropriate to the load conditions
Dynamic loads from the drive train
- Not or insufficiently considered in the gearbox design, for example high starting or alternating torques of electric motors
- Not recognized in the drive train design, for example resonances or discontinuous processes
Material
- Inhomogeneities, coarseness or large non-metallic inclusions
A major part of gearbox damages can be attributed to the lack of coordination between design, production and end-user.
Failure prevention instead of failure analysis! Contact us, we will be happy to advise you.