Vibration monitoring
and its benefits
Vibration monitoring on machines or system can replace manual inspections, endoscopy, thermal imaging and oil analyses.
Read here how this works.
Vibration monitoring
Every machine or system creates vibrations during operation. However, vibrations differ depending on whether the system operates within prescribed parameters or whether problems arise due to imbalance or wear.
In some cases, manual inspections can reveal inconsistencies. But deviations from the norm are detected very late this way. There is a risk that defects are only detected when the first components start to fail, leading to long shutdowns and costly repairs. Classical methods for fault detection include endoscopy, thermal imaging or oil analyses. Unfortunately, these are often complex in the implementation and/or imprecise.
If you decide to perform a vibration monitoring, you can often do without the above-mentioned measures.
Online or offline?
After defining the monitoring objective, you need to determine whether an online or offline vibration measuring system is more suitable for your needs. Both methods have their pros and cons. The most profound advantage of online monitoring is the wide variety of measurements which provide a good overview of the actual state of the system. Special algorithms also help with analysis of the system, leading to a certain degree of automation and easy monitoring.
The crucial disadvantage of this method is the high initial investment. It is very well possible that an offline condition monitoring is enough to serve the intended purpose. Less installation effort is needed and the measurement intervals can be selected arbitrarily. In general, offline systems are more suited when you have a large number of measuring spots and less critical contact points, e.g., when monitoring roller bearings of a whole system.
Sensor technology and Industry 4.0
Online sensor technology is an important pillar of industrial IT. Thanks to modern methods and algorithms, it is possible to keep an eye on many system components and even predict upcoming failures. This will continue to have a profound impact on stock-keeping strategy of spare parts: if life-time prognoses of spare parts become more accurate, less spare parts need to be in stock. As a consequence, less capital will be locked up, more storage space will be available and less money will have to be spend on taking inventory.
In the future, it will be possible that your system automatically detects when a components is at risk for failure. It will order spare parts from the manufacturer on its own, so they will promptly be available to the maintenance service to prevent damage on the system at all. Unplanned shutdowns can be reduced to a minimum, saving costs and resources.
Conclusion:
To monitor the actual state of machines and system efficiently, vibration monitoring is a suitable method. A reputable service partner for vibration monitoring will always define a monitoring objective and choose their methods according to the requirements. How the operation is then conducted on the system relies on many parameters. Aside from the amount of the investment, you also need to consider which type of sensor technology you want to use (online or offline monitoring).
What you also need to figure out is how relevant to safety a component or the whole system is. Another important factor is the availability of a fast internet connection, especially in remote areas. To conclude, several parameters are important when choosing the right monitoring solution – it will ensure a safe, cost-efficient and sustainable operation which will integrate with potential Industry 4.0 applications.
