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Development Of Prognostic Techniques For Surface Defect Growth In Railroad Bearing Rolling Elements, Nancy De Los Santos, Robert Jones, Constantine Tarawneh, Arturo A. Fuentes, Anthony Villarreal

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Prevention of bearing failures which may lead to catastrophic derailment is a major safety concern for the railroad industry. Advances in bearing condition monitoring hold the promise of early detection of bearing defects, which will improve system reliability by permitting early replacement of failing components. However, to minimize disruption to operations while providing the maximum level of accident prevention that early detection affords, it will be necessary to understand the defect growth process and try to quantify the growth speed to permit economical, non-disruptive replacement of failing components rather than relying on immediate removal upon detection. The study presented here …