Portable, real-time alloy identification of metallic wear debris from machinery lubrication systems: laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy versus x-ray fluorescence

Alloy identification of oil-borne wear debris captured on chip detectors, filters and magnetic plugs allows the machinery maintainer to assess the health of the engine or gearbox and identify specific component damage. Today, such identification can be achieved in real time using portable, at-line laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and Xray fluorescence (XRF) instruments. Both techniques can be utilized in various industries including aviation, marine, railways, heavy diesel and other industrial machinery with, however, some substantial differences in application and instrument performance. In this work, the performances of a LIBS and an XRF instrument are compared based on measurements of a wide range of typical aerospace alloys including steels, titanium, aluminum and nickel alloys. Measurement results were analyzed with a staged correlation technique specifically developed for the purposes of this study - identifying the particle alloy composition using a pre-recorded library of spectral signatures. The analysis is performed in two stages: first, the base element of the alloy is determined by correlation with the stored elemental spectra and then, the alloy is identified by matching the particle’s spectral signature using parametric correlation against the stored spectra of all alloys that have the same base element. The correlation analysis has achieved highly repeatable discrimination between alloys of similar composition. Portable LIBS demonstrates higher detection accuracy and better identification of alloys comprising lighter elements as compared to that of the portable XRF system, and reveals a significant reduction in the analysis time over XRF.