Monitoring Inductance Change to Quantitatively Analyze Magnetic Wear Debris in Lubricating Oil

Wear debris in lubricating oil can be indicative of potential damage to mechanical parts in rotating and reciprocating machinery. Therefore, on-line or in-line monitoring of lubricating components in machinery is of great importance. This work presents a device based on inductive measurement of lubricating oil to detect magnetic wear particles in a tested volume. The circuit in the device consists of Maxwell Bridge and LVDT to measure inductance differences between pure and contaminated oil. The device detects the passage of ferrous particles by monitoring inductance change in a coil. The sensing principle is initially demonstrated at the microscale using a solenoid. The device is then tested using iron particles ranging from $50{\mu}m$ to $100{\mu}m$, which are often found in severely worn mechanical components. The test results show that the device is capable of detecting and distinguishing ferrous particles in lubricating oil. The design concept demonstrated here can be extended to an in-line monitoring device for real-time monitoring of ferrous debris particles. A simulation using the CST code is performed to better understand the inductive response in the presence of magnetic bodies in the oil. The CST simulation further verifies the effectiveness of inductance measurement for monitoring magnetic particles within a tube.