Ingression can be defined as going in or entering, a right or permission to enter, or a means or place of entering. It is important to understand, recognize, detect and reduce the effects of particle ingression. Doing so will have a very positive effect on your maintenance and reliability efforts.
Dirt is often the root cause leading to bearing damage and reduced equipment reliability. If not monitored correctly, ingression can lead to unexpected failures resulting in high maintenance and inventory costs.
When measured in the Moh’s Hardness scale, dirt is typically more abrasive than the bearing material. This leads to pitting and other damage to the bearing that reduces the life of the equipment. It’s really quite simple: under great load, something has to give and it’s usually the bearings, gears, pump impellers, etc. Our goal should be to remove contaminants from the lubricant to our target cleanliness before placing it in our equipment. Doing so will increase our equipment reliability.
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Lubrication, Maintenance Tips by Pete Oviedo Jr