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Case study

Use of topographic polymeric replica to characterize

electric corrosion failure
E. Forlerer a, , R. Castillo Guerra a , E. Ermini b
a

Comision Nacional de Energa Atomica, G.A. Energa Nuclear, U.A. Materiales, Av. Gral Paz 1499,
(B1650KNA) Sn. Martin, Pcia de Bs. As., Argentina
b Central Nuclear Embalse, Nucleoel
ectrica Argentina (NA-SA)1 , Argentina

Received 2 September 2006; received in revised form 12 December 2006; accepted 14 December 2006

Abstract
Polymeric replica, as a non-destructive technique, is generally used for detecting service failures in mechanical components together with other
complementary methods. The components more frequently inspected are boilers, streamers, heat exchangers, pipes. In most cases, this technique
fulfills the requirement of non-surface modifications of the damaged zone, be it a fracture surface, a gear tooth, a bearing raceway or any other part.
Fracture and corrosion are the type of failures usually studied with this technique. It allows the description of crack morphology and propagation
type, and is also a tool to differentiate crevice corrosion, stress corrosion cracking, pitting corrosion, etc. As far as we know, this technique has not
been used so far to detect wear failures, to measure scar size (volume or critical dimensions) or to determine the type of wear failure.
In this study, polymeric replicas are used to find the root cause of electric corrosion failures or spark-erosion wear in different gear-tooth coupling
of feedwater pumps that convey light water to the steam generators at a Nuclear Power Plant in Argentina (CNE NPP). By means of this in situ
and non-destructive technique we have been able to describe failures, originated in engine electrostatic losses. It was determined that parasitic
currents were distributed in the whole transmission line, and the sparks on the gears teeth melted small hemispheric drops of metal producing
micro voids or craters.
In order to copy the wear scars, foils of cellulose acetate replicas were used on the surfaces and a special elastomer rubber was also applied, filling
the space between the teeth. The scar copies were observed by means of optical microscopy. The micrographies have allowed the characterization
of microscopic holes (of 100 m diameter) produced by electric discharges.
2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: NDT; Replica metallography; Electric corrosion; Predictive maintenance

1. Introduction
Around the two main systems of a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP)
the nuclear reactor and the conventional power turbine generator there is a significant number of circulation pumps, motors
and hydraulic systems (valves, actuators) that require lubrication
and systematic control of lubricant condition and component
integrity [1].
Rotating equipment such as drive gearboxes, journal bearings, pads and couplings are generally lubricated by a centralized

Corresponding author. Tel.: +5411 6772 7239; fax: +5411 6772 7362.
E-mail addresses: forlerer@cnea.gov.ar (E. Forlerer),
casterra@cnea.gov.ar (R. Castillo Guerra), Eermini@na-sa.com.ar (E. Ermini).
1 .

tank system, containing thousands of liters of oil, generally mineral. For economic and environmental reasons the health of the
system must be strictly controlled, so as to extend the useful life
of the lubricant beyond 10 years. Moreover, if lubricant chemistry is carefully maintained, the lubricant can last up to 20 years
[2].
In order to control lubricant condition, a routine of oil
sample extraction from different sites of the system and the
central tank should be established. Moreover, to accomplish a
full predictive/preventive maintenance, a particulate contamination control under ISO 4406-99, and ferrogramme analysis
should also be performed. If external contamination or wear
fragments from components surface are controlled, alarms can
be set on abrasive wear of the surfaces in contact. First level
analysis could be done at the workshop and more specific
tests could be sent to external and specialized laboratories [3].

0043-1648/$ see front matter 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wear.2006.12.063

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Fig. 1. Block diagram of pumps power line.

All those actions allow the control of the mechanical systems

health.
The feed water pumps systems are a critical component of
a NPP. The equipment under study is the rotary driven line of
a centrifugal pump. It is formed by an electric motor, one gear
case, two gear couplings and a blade centrifugal pump (Fig. 1).
In CNE NPP two pumps work together and a third one is in
stand-by state.
Gear-tooth coupling or double engaged coupling or short
coupling (Fig. 1), was located between the motor and the gear
crankcase and was grease lubricated. In all three pumps, these
couplings had a history of electric corrosion or spark erosion
failure [4], and a central oval scar was observed, deep and rough
in all the teeth (Fig. 2).
Gear-tooth coupling located between the gear case and the
pump, also named high speed spacer tube or long coupling
(Fig. 1), it was situated three meters away from the engine
and was lubricated with a centralized oil system. This coupling
shows a surface with many short scratch marks, isolated small

pits and a general and uniform aspect of friction wear produced

by scarce oil provision. The inspection in situ with the unaided
eye or with help of a magnifying glass did not help to explain
the failure (Fig. 3).
As no action could be done on the surface of the components
without modifying their state, a non-destructive metallographic
technique was chosen. The replica technique was implemented
with thin plates of cellulose acetate and elastomeric impression
materials [57].
This study describes the techniques and how to use them to
determine the same root cause, for failures with initial different
scar characteristic detected in the two types of couplings and
other affected components.
2. Experimental method
The gear couplings were disassembled and degreased with
organic solvents (xilenol) in situ. Some teeth were marked to
allow further follow-up of the progression of the failure with the
same techniques in each scheduled standstill.
Two types of impression were done with:
(a) Cellulose acetate plate 50 m thick.
(b) Three-dimensional impression with elastomeric silicone.

Fig. 2. Short-gear coupling, grease lubricated, electric corrosion failure at the

tooth center.

Fig. 3. Long-gear coupling, oil lubricated, undetermined failure.

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3. Cellulose acetate replicas

In order to soften the acetate plate to copy the surface topography, the surface was previously sprinkled with acetone, allowing
the solvent to evaporate until a minimal, observable layer was
formed. The plate was pressed against the metal surface with the
fingers, extending the solvent layer and spreading it out of the
acetate, copying in this way the roughness of the surface. In case
of flatter or a pitting hole with very small radius, a micro-volume
of solvent can accumulate. This will, in turn, prevent the contact between the plate and the bottom of the holes, resulting in
replica depth being smaller than the true depth. The finger pressure was exerted on the plate for a period of time ranging from 5
to 10 min. Then, the surface was left to dry in room conditions.
Finally, it was conditioned for transportation [8].
4. Elastomeric replicas

Fig. 4. Acetate topographic scar replica, long-gear coupling, M = 100.

Once the cleaning and drying of the surface was done, the
space between teeth was filled up with an elastomeric silicone,
applying a soft finger pressure. It was left to dry for several
minutes. This impression material copies the roughness of the
surface more efficiently than the cellulose acetate, but does not
penetrate into the holes.
5. Preparation and optical microscopy observation
Both types of replicas were coated with an Au layer less
than 0.5 m thick in an evaporation coating chamber, Edwards
Speed Vac. The observations were made by means of a Metallography Microscope Olympus model BX60M.
The depth of the holes was measured by focusing the replica
surface first, and then the hole bottom. The latter could be
seen sometimes as a protuberance, due to melted microparticles
deposited on it.
The sliding precision of the microscope object stage was
1 m, but the field depth of the objectives lens is insignificant
in front of the imprecision of the human eye. The precision in
the focus for an expert eye could be estimated as near 3 m.
6. Experimental results
The replica samples were observed under the optical microscope for different magnifications. The cellulose acetate sample
is shown in Fig. 4 and the elastomer sample in Fig. 5.
Circular holes were observed in all images. They were not
observable to the naked eye because, in general, their diameter
is less than 200 m. Fig. 4 shows an acetate replica with a hole
of 100 m diameter that forms part of the oval scar in Fig. 2.
In Fig. 5, the elastomer technique allowed the discovery of a
row of holes that in the visual inspection were seen like an
isolated scratch line, as can be seen on Fig. 3. The circular shape
indicates the disappearance of material with spherical form due
to arcing, which caused micro-melting of semi-spheres.
Moreover, at a scale greater than 1 mm, little metal hemispheres were found in the bottom of the gear crankcase. These
hemispheres fit into several holes in the multiplier gear teeth

Fig. 5. Topographic elastomer replica, long-gear coupling, M = 50.

(Figs. 6 and 7). It is pertinent to indicate that with complementary

techniques of oil and grease analyses, metallic hemispheres with
approximately 100 m of diameter were detected [4]. Table 1
shows the holes depth measured by focusing the top and the

Fig. 6. Electrostatic corrosion holes in gear multiplier teeth.

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to produce small spherical particles from very hard alloys

[14,15].
In the case presented here, the water excess lowers the permittivity of the mineral oil, allowing the establishment of arcing
at even lower static voltages. The circular form of the cavities
observed in Fig. 6 and the craters detected by the topographic
polymeric replica technique Figs. 4 and 5 evidence that
the root cause of deterioration of all the parts was electric discharge, and that it propagated along the line of components. The
intensity of arcing being lower when distance from the engine
increased. For that reason, cavities were almost one order of
magnitude deeper in the short couplings than in the long ones
(Table 1).
The particles observed in references [1315] are similar to
those we have found in the used oil [4] and in the crankcase
(Fig. 7) as a product of spark erosion.
Fig. 7. Typical 700 m diameter hemisphere found in the crankcase of the speed
multiplier.

Table 1
Acetate replicas scar depths (m)
Short couplings scar depth (m)

Long couplings scar depth (m)

Position 12

Position 23

Position 1B

Position 2B

80/92

135/210

20/25

24/32

bottom of those holes founded in the teeth of the short and long
couplings.
The oil used in the system was oil for turbines API Grade
32 and the recommended operating conditions properties were
established with standard ASTM D 4378-97. The tests indicated in the standard were done at a dedicated laboratory. It was
found that the water content of 0.07% P exceeded the standard
recommendation.

8. Conclusions
(1) The root cause of worn surfaces in the case presented here
was the electrostatic discharge between metallic elements
in contact, which produces craters invisible to the naked
eye.
(2) The metallographic and non-destructive in situ techniques
of cellulose acetate replicas and elastomer impressions
complement each other and have shown efficiency in the
determination of electric corrosion failure or spark-erosion
wear, in power plant mechanical components.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the help of Nucleoelectrica
Argentina S.A. staff and personnel and personnel of Embalse
NPP, Ro Tercero, Cordoba, Argentina.
References

7. Discussion
In a pioneer work, Bushan et al. [9] have described a wear
failure named electrical-arc-induced wear. There, they showed
worn areas with arc craters and localized melting (Fig. 2 of reference [9]). Later on, Prasad [10] observed that a voltage as low
as 1.12 V allows a current of 50 A on rolling bearings, showing
circular craters with lips on the inner race surface. In a further
work [11], he carried out a theoretical investigation taking into
account the resistivity and electric permittivity of the lubricant.
Moreover, the spark-erosion or electro-discharge machining
technique (EDM) is a well known and established industrial
process to machining conductive materials with kerosene as
a dielectric. As the spark develops on a very small area, the
energy surface density is very high and the surfaces temperature
rapidly reaches the melting point, and craters like those presented in Figs. 46, were observed on the electrodes and sample
surfaces [12]. In this process, dark slurry formed by spherical
particles of metal oxides accumulates at the bottom of the vessel [13]. This spark-erosion phenomenon has been employed

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