--- title: Aerospace Bearing Failure Analysis with Robo-Met.3D description: Looking to analyze premature aerospace bearing failures, SKF Aeroengine turned to Robo-Met.3D®. We sectioned a failed SKF bearing to uncover the cause of failure. --- [![ues_bluehalo_dark](https://www.ues.com/hs-fs/hubfs/ues_bluehalo_dark.png?width=172&height=72&name=ues_bluehalo_dark.png "ues_bluehalo_dark")](https://www.ues.com/) Search # Aerospace Bearing Failure Analysis with Robo-Met.3D *February 09, 2018* The expert bearing engineers at [SKF Aeroengine North America](http://www.skf.com/us/products/bearings-units-housings/index.html) had a challenge. SKF was notified by a customer that several commercial jet turbine main-shaft engine bearings had been removed from service prematurely. An alarm was activated in the early stages of each event, minimizing damage to a single spalled ball in most cases.SKF suspected that an inclusion was the cause of failure, but normal techniques could not reveal this. To present evidence to their material supplier that the bearing failures were caused by subsurface inclusions, SKF selected serial sectioning analysis using [Robo-Met.3D®](https://www.ues.com/robo-met-3d/) to investigate this failure.UES’ expert Robo-Met.3D teams achieved these objectives. They: - Analyzed a 300x300x840 micron volume of a failed SKF bearing - Identified and analyzed a butterfly formation associated with subsurface stressed regions - Uncovered an inclusion of about 400 microns that initiated this formation - Matched its morphology to two classifications as defined by ASTM E45, Type A-Sulfides and Type C-Silicates The results, a collaboration between [SKF](http://www.skf.com/us/products/bearings-units-housings/index.html), [AFRL](https://www.afresearchlab.com/), and [UES](https://www.ues.com/), have been published as Ganti, S., Turner, B., Kirsch, M., Anthony, D., McCoy, B., Trivedi, H., & Sundar, V. (2018). Three-dimensional (3D) analysis of white etching bands (WEBs) in AISI M50 bearing steel using automated serial sectioning, Materials Characterization 138 (2018) 11–18. Find the full publication here: [Three-dimensional (3D) analysis of white etching bands (WEBs) in AISI M50 bearing steel using automated serial sectioning.](https://www.ues.com/hubfs/Robo-Met%20Publications/Aerospace%20Bearing%20failure%20analysis%20with%20RoboMet3D.pdf)[Contact us here](https://www.ues.com/contact/) to consult with us on your own challenge!  Comments ### Sign Up for our Blog Enter your email to get updates with our latest blog posts  ©2025 | BlueHalo, an AV Company| All Rights Reserved [Privacy Policy / Terms & Conditions](https://www.ues.com/privacy-policy) #### Subscribe Fill out the form to subscribe to updates #### Contact us BlueHalo, an AV Company 4401 Dayton-Xenia Rd Dayton, OH 45432   Phone: 937-426-6900 Fax: 937-429-5413