The diagnosis and cause analysis of rolling-element bearing failure have been well studied and established in literature. Failure of bearings due to unforeseen causes were reported as: puncturing of bearings insulation; grease deterioration; grease pipe contacting the motor base frame; unshielded instrumentation cable; the bearing operating under the influence of magnetic flux, etc. These causes lead to the passage of electric current through the bearings of motors and alternators and deteriorate them in due course. But, bearing failure due to localized electrical current between track surfaces of races and rolling-elements has not been hitherto diagnosed and analyzed. This paper reports the cause of generation of localized current in presence of shaft voltage. Also, it brings out the developed theoretical model to determine the value of localized current density depending on dimensional parameters, shaft voltage, contact resistance, frequency of rotation of shaft and rolling-elements of a bearing. Furthermore, failure caused by flow of localized current has been experimentally investigated.

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