Vibration Analysis for Predictive Maintenance of Manufacturing Equipment

As the modern-day business environment gets increasingly competitive and new disruptive technologies enter the scene, manufacturers are facing the need to maximize productivity and minimize machinery and equipment maintenance costs. The ability to identify machine defects before they cause failures, resulting in unplanned downtime and production losses, is one of the most crucial prerequisites for achieving a stable and uninterruptible manufacturing process.  

It is essential to plan maintenance and have replacement parts ready in advance today, in the time of COVID-19 crisis, as global shortages and logistic problems caused by the epidemic could result in prolonged delays. Unfortunately, when it comes to machinery maintenance strategies implemented by many companies, there is often much to be desired. Some manufacturers have no maintenance strategy at all, running machinery until it fails, which obviously makes the production process poorly predictable and leads to production defects and extended downtime. Other companies rely on preventive calendar-based maintenance when the equipment is repaired or changed in accordance with the schedule even if the machinery shows no defects or signs of failure. This leads to higher costs and unnecessary production process interruptions. 

As these approaches prevent manufacturers from being able to meet growing manufacturing efficiency requirements, progressive companies are adopting condition-based maintenance strategies, measuring the state of the machinery with modern methods that can test the equipment condition without the need to interrupt the manufacturing process. One of the ways to achieve such efficiency is vibration analysis.

What is vibration analysis? 

Vibration analysis is an approach adopted by various kinds of manufacturers as it proved to be one of the most efficient and cost-effective tools for identifying defects and faults in the machinery at early stages of their occurrence.  Vibration analysis sensors are typically affixed to the machinery and enables operators to detect subtle changes in equipment health that are not detectable by the human ear.

Mechanical vibration can provide a lot of valuable information about the state of the moving parts of the equipment. Vibration analysis is used to identify early faults within a machinery and notify personnel about the need to address such problems. Excessive or deviations from standard equipment vibration alert potential damage and malfunction, allowing technicians to predict problems well before the actual breakdown occurs. If excessive vibration is left unattended, mechanical and electrical faults within machinery typically won’t take long to manifest.

How does vibration analysis work? 

Here is how the process of vibration analysis is conducted. All rotating parts of the machinery generate vibration at a specific frequency, picked up by the vibration sensor attached to the equipment, which then transmits these signals to a data collection device.

As vibration typically comes from multiple different sources, such as machine foundation, rotating components, rotating shaft, adjacent machines, flow turbulence and so on, these different noises tend to overlap. Upon data collection, the vibration testing device performs frequency analysis in order to separate individual vibration signals, which then can be identified and addressed accordingly.

The majority of vibration analysis techniques rely on a combination of online and offline monitoring. For the offline part of this process to take place, a trained technician is required to manually test the machinery in order to collect the vibration data. 

Today most vibration analysis is performed by IoT devices utilizing wireless network connections. This enables on-time, fast and reliable delivery of important vibration data to the cloud where the data can be analyzed and presented to the maintenance personnel. In places where no network access is available, the data collection can be performed through a combination of robotics and NFC-enabled vibration monitoring devices. In such a case, an autonomous robotic device is programmed to perform routine inspections of the manufacturing floor and collect the vibration data from vibration sensors using NFC at specified intervals, the data will be analyzed and uploaded to the cloud upon completing the collection process. 

Robotic-assisted vibration analysis is a functional solution in cases when the manufacturing is located in hazardous or hard-to-reach environments or situations where the analysis needs to be performed from afar, as robots can be remotely controlled by technicians, performing video inspection or taking pictures when needed.

Benefits of vibration analysis 

Let’s talk about the most significant benefits of vibration analysis in more detail. 

• Quick testing results. 

Speed is one considerable advantage of this technology as the testing doesn’t require much time to be performed and the results are typically available almost immediately after the data is collected. This allows companies to obtain crucial insights about the functional state of the equipment and start acting without further delays. 

• Safety. 

As vibration analysis allows to detect potential defects early, dangerous equipment failures can be averted. While the support of remote vibration testing techniques makes it easy to perform the analysis in hazardous areas without the need to put human staff at risk. 

• Increased reliability and prolonged machinery lifespan. 

The ability to prevent serious unexpected failures results in much better reliability of the equipment, ultimately extending its lifespan. 

• Predictable maintenance schedule and costs. 

Implementing vibration analysis allows companies to keep the maintenance needs predictable. Having the access to accurate and timely information about the condition of the equipment, they are able to pre-order parts that show signs of deterioration ahead of time, to schedule the repairs and replace worn-out equipment precisely when needed, avoiding unforeseeable maintenance costs. 

• High automation potential. 

The availability of latest technological solutions, such as AI (artificial intelligence), machine learning, embedded intelligence, etc., makes it easy to automate the vibration analysis process, enabling real-time data collection and automated maintenance decisions. Supporting software solutions can generate automated alerts and notifications sent to human staff instantly. 

• Reduced production downtime and lower maintenance costs. 

As a result, companies that adopted vibration analysis methods are able to considerably reduce the production downtime and minimize maintenance costs of their machinery and equipment. 

Summary 

Vibration analysis is an indispensable predictive maintenance technology for companies dealing with heavy and intricate machinery. The utilization of this method is almost a guarantee of reduced equipment maintenance and labour costs, minimized lost production time, increased safety and overall efficiency of all manufacturing processes. The integration of this method with Industry 4.0 innovations can further enhance all the benefits of vibration analysis and empower equipment technicians with valuable real-time data. 

We at Tauro Technologies have accumulated an extensive experience of applying this technology to various kinds of industrial machinery and automating the vibration analysis process. As an embedded systems design firm with a proven track record for on-time, on-budget, and high-quality product realization, we have the expertise to design and implement vibration analysis solutions customized for your specific manufacturing equipment. 

Interested to know more? Get in touch with us for details.