MSOE Fluid Power Institute expands wear debris analysis capabilities

Milwaukee School of Engineering's Fluid Power Institute now uses a powerful trio of wear-particle analysis technologies, including LaserNet Fines, to diagnose machine condition for its industry clients. The Fluid Power Institute is only university lab in the United States to use LaserNet technology, along with ferrography and Atomic Force Microscopy, to examine wear debris particles from fluid power systems and determine the root causes and severity of wear.

The Fluid Power Institute has been a pioneer of motion control and fluid power education since its inception in 1962. In addition to providing hydraulics education to countless fluid power industries leaders, it has active programs in fluid power systems design, electrohydraulics, endurance testing, fluid development and contamination control.

LaserNet Fines
The LaserNet Fines Particle Shape Classifier technology was developed by Lockheed Martin and the Office of Naval Research to identify the rate of production and severity of wear in hydraulic and lubrication systems. This laser particle counter uses an artificial neural network to analyze magnified images of particles as they are projected on a CCD chip.

Through analysis of pixilated silhouettes, LaserNet Fines quantifies the particle size distribution from 4 µm to 100 µm and classifies contaminants larger than 20 µm (8 pixels) within the following categories: cutting wear, fatigue wear, sliding wear, water droplets, fibers and non-metallic contaminants.

Analytical Ferrography
The Fluid Power Institute's Spectro T2FM Analytical Ferrogram Maker is a powerful diagnostic tool for evaluating machine condition. This instrument uses a magnetic field to separate ferrous from non-ferrous particles and sort them by size for microscopic examination. Magnetic particles in the test fluid deposit in strings perpendicular to the direction of fluid flow while non-ferrous particles precipitate in a random orientation. Microscopic examination of the ferrogram reveals details of size, shape and composition from which machine condition may be assessed.

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)
Individual ferrogram particles can be evaluated by a variety of methods including Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). AFM is a high-resolution scanning technique that utilizes a cantilever mounted nano-scale probe to image the three-dimensional structure of surfaces.

MSOE's Atomic Force Microscopy laboratory was provided by Dr. Michael J. Cudahy, vice chairman of the MSOE Board of Regents and co-founder of Marquette Electronics, and the National Science Foundation. Acquisition of LaserNet and ferrography technologies was made possible through the Otto J. Maha Fluid Power Endowment at MSOE.

For more information about wear particle analysis capabilities at Milwaukee School of Engineering's Fluid Power Institute, contact Paul Michael, michael@msoe.edu, a research chemist and the principal investigator for the Optimized Engineered Fluid project at the NSF-funded Engineering Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power.