On Patrol with the Vibration Detective

By taking vibration measurements on a monthly basis, from up to 70 items of critical equipment on the lines feeding the furnaces, Schaeffler’s Vibration Detective can identify deterioration of rolling bearings, gears, fan blades and more, on everything from electric motors to gearboxes, fans, conveyors and pumps.

Bad vibes

There are three basic vibration measuring parameters which help identify equipment issues:

• Velocity – which arises from mechanical issues including imbalance, misalignment and looseness
• Acceleration – which is typically used to monitor gear and progressing bearing defects
• Enveloped acceleration – which is a measure of high frequency, impact-type events, typified by early bearing or gear faults

Once the data has been collected using the handheld FAG III, it’s analysed by Schaeffler’s field service engineer, using the detectors free-of-charge Trendline software. The results are then written-up in an analysis report for the customer.

Ready, steady, stop

Knowing how close a piece of equipment is the failure makes it possible to plan for scheduled maintenance which won’t disrupt operations. This means not only is the rest of the facility unaffected, but also there’s no unplanned downtime as a result of unforeseen failure.

Looks like another case solved for the Vibration Detective!