Vibration is a sign of mechanical stress. These stressors can create a negative impact on your equipment’s performance. The impact can be in the form of premature failure to production inefficiency.
We offer services that target all types of vibration in your equipment’s motion chain. Whether it is a machine moving, a component rotating, or an assembly vibrating, we have the technology and the experience to identify and troubleshoot the source of the problem.
We are here to help you analyze and reduce energy consumption, improve productivity, and increase equipment life.
Route Based Analysis:
Having a machine in proper working order is essential to the production process. Vibration analysis is performed on a regular schedule by using specially built and calibrated tools that monitor the vibration on machine components such as gears, shafts, bearings, pulleys and couplings. Think of it as a “regular health check” for your machines.
Vibration is an effect caused by machine condition. Vibration is simply the oscillation about a reference point (i.e., a shaft vibrates relative to the casing of a piece of machinery and a bearing vibrates relative to a bearing housing). Vibration exists when a system responds to some internal or external excitation.
The components of vibration are:
- Free Body Vibration
- Meshing and Passing Vibration
- Frictional Vibration
By combining trend and spectrum analysis, problems can be detected before serious damage can occur. Graphical reporting produces clear vibration data/results and recommends the steps in resolving issues with the machine. Trending of vibration data gives you a history that can be watched over time to see any changes in the operation of the machine.
Troubleshooting and Damage Analysis:
When machine and component damage is a repeating phenomenon, it’s time to find the cause of the problem and identify possible solutions. Measurements on running machines are a good source of information on the major causes of damage. Our goal is to make sure your equipment keeps running as efficiently as possible.
Once the vibration monitoring program flags a machine as potentially having a mechanical problem, the following questions must be answered.
- How severe is the problem?
- What is the problem?
- When must the machine be taken out of service for repair?
Machinery diagnostics using vibration analysis provides information that addresses these questions.
Using machinery diagnostics techniques we can see specific mechanical events, such as unbalance, misalignment, looseness, bearing defects, aerodynamic and hydraulic problems, and gearbox problems that usually generate vibration frequencies in specific patterns. The frequency, amplitude and pattern of the peaks in a vibration spectrum can be a telling indication of the type of problem being experienced by the machine. The principles of “fault mode” analysis include:
- Measurement of mechanical faults such as unbalance and misalignment generate mechanical vibration in a well defined frequency pattern.
- Comparing the vibration levels and vibration spectra on similar types of machines will help establish the severity and cause of a vibration problem.
On-Site Balancing Services:
Our on-site balancing services aim to ensure the optimal functioning of machinery and reduce vibration.
Heavy machinery is prone to a number of uncontrollable factors that can lead to vibration problems. These factors may include structural defects, material defects, and unbalanced masses. The product of any imbalance condition is vibration, which can cause premature wear, loss of efficiency, and costly shutdowns.
Our on-site balancing services aim to ensure the optimal functioning of machinery and reduce vibration. We are able to detect and eliminate unbalanced situations. The balancing results are automatically compared to the evaluation criteria for the balance condition of rotating, rigid bodies.
Vibration Monitoring Programs:
Industrial equipment vibration monitoring is vital to the maintenance of your equipment. Often, problems do not become obvious until it is too late. By being aware of the health of the components of your equipment you can significantly increase their life.
Consistent monitoring of industrial equipment is key to maintaining peak performance and ensuring reliability in the field.
Pinnacle Services offers a wide range of industrial vibration monitoring services to help protect your valuable machinery.
When rotating equipment such as motors, compressors, gearboxes, fans and pumps fail, the first sign can often be an increase in vibration levels.
Our fully qualified staff use a range of industry standard measurement tools to collect vibration data via sensors that are attached directly to the rotating equipment. Remote location monitoring is also available.
Acceptance and Baseline Testing:
Baseline Vibration Test – The accepted method of establishing normal vibration levels for a machine is by performing an accepted baseline process. This test is performed prior to the start-up of a new or re-started machine, after overhauls, repairs, or modifications, and at periodic scheduled intervals in between inspections. Factors such as motor speed, bearings, belts and pulleys, electric motor operation, etc. are recorded and noted on the data sheet. The data is then analyzed to establish a baseline vibration level for the equipment. If operator initiated settings are used such as speed change overload or change in direction, these settings should also be recorded.
Other vibration tests such as impact or bump testing, critical speed testing and phase analysis can also be used to identify potential points of concern.
Resonance and Critical Speed Testing:
Resonance is the phenomenon that occurs when a machine (or a part of a machine) is excited into motion at a frequency that matches its natural, or resonant frequency. When this happens the machine vibrates uncontrollably, resulting in unacceptable levels of vibration which can lead to extra wear and tear on components and premature failure of the machine. Critical speed tests and impact testing are important tools in determining the resonant frequencies of a machine.