Condition Monitoring at IN.STAND 2021

Increased availability through vibration diagnosis on mechanical drives

The fact that defective drives generate different vibrations than intact ones has probably been known for centuries. In the 1960s, VDI Guideline 2056 was one of the first standards on the subject. In the early 1990s, frequency-selective machine diagnostics became established. While the techniques were known beforehand, there was simply a lack of affordable, portable technology. Higher resolution in the spectra and more and more variable-speed drives led to the need for diagnosis in order spectra from the 2000s onwards. At about the same time, algorithms for the automation of machine diagnostics prevail; because only automatic systems that work with little personnel effort will achieve acceptance for the mass use of machine diagnostics.

GfM offers both online condition monitoring systems that are permanently installed on the drive and monitor the drive for the development of mechanical irregularities without further human intervention, as well as mobile systems with which entire machine parks can be monitored on a recurring basis.

The systems all operate on the basis of vibration signals recorded at 50 kilohertz, which are processed by resampling into order spectra with at least 32,000 lines. The automatic diagnosis is then carried out by detecting significant spectral components, for which an attempt is then made to assign them to a damage pattern based on the kinematic frequencies. Only when this succeeds do the systems provide a detection that forms the basis for a later alarm.

Especially in the field of relevant damage patterns, GfM has learned a lot in recent decades and implemented this knowledge in the systems. While in the 1990s the search was often only for the calculable kinematic frequencies, or possibly also their multiples, today we know that some damage is only expressed in higher-harmonic families of the kinematic frequency. Slow runners also behave differently than fast runners.

Due to this knowledge, which is tied to fixed algorithms, the systems of GfM impress with their extremely high reliability, which also means that the number of false alarms is extremely low. Finally, the latest addition is an automatic report generator. A module for multi-level operational balancing at variable speeds has also been added to the mobile system.

We invite you to talk to us in detail about the technical possibilities of our systems. You will find us at the IN.STAND 2021 in Stuttgart in exhibition hall C2 at booth no. 2D11.8.