TABLE OF CONTENTS As powerful as vibration analysis is, no one diagnostic or monitoring technique can be relied upon to assure continued operation of one's important machinery. For this reason, the author has elected to include this appendix on oil analysis to enhance the analyst's aresnal of available tools. Oil is the lifeblood of machinery, and analysis of it on a routine basis will similarly reveal a great deal of information about its health. This guide is aimed at providing a general introduction to the world of oil analysis, introduce the most common tests performed, and demonstrate how the technique is integral in the world of condition monitoring.
Oil analysis as a tool for condition monitoring is not new. It has been used for at least fifty years in determining the wear condition of machinery. Railroad companies in the late 1940s and early 1950s found that the metals in a sample of used oil revealed the condition of the wearing parts in their locomotive engines. Likewise oil analysis has been used by the armed forces since the 1960s, and today they are the largest users in the world, monitoring the condition of everything from aircraft jet engines and helicopter gearboxes to armor vehicle powerplants. Outside of the military, construction equipment operators use the technique widely (Figure I.1), whereas industrial plants are slowly beginning...
