LUBRICATING GREASE CONDITION MONITORING

摘要

A method of in-situ capacitive condition monitoring of grease within a mechanical system, such as a sealed bearing, uses a pair of electrodes (12) separated by and at least partially in contact with the grease (G), such that the grease acts as a dielectric between the electrodes. A multi-frequency alternating voltage is applied between the electrodes (12) and the resulting current is measured to determine the complex impedance of the equivalent circuit formed by the electrodes (12) and the grease (G). This is compared with preset values to determine a composition of the grease (G).