Continuous Process Monitoring Using Vibration Analysis:

Continuous monitoring of industrial processes or manufacturing equipment using vibration analysis opens a unique and extremely effective method of identifying process variation or failing equipment. Its effectiveness is based in the fact that a vibration spectrum is unique to a specific process and it is immune to background/ambient noise. Low cost monitoring equipment is programmed to view the spectrum (peaks in the data) and monitor for changes in frequency and/or amplitude that is indicative of a change in process performance. Examples of successful monitoring projects that eliminated adverse failures include:

Summary Benefits:

Continuous monitoring reduces process variation, improves product quality and safety, and reduces labor content in identifying and managing failures.

General Approach:

Machine condition and product quality are tracked using vibration analysis of key components. Permanently mounted sensors provide input into a simple signal processing system that simultaneously monitors multiple, independent machine components and provides alarm if a problem arises. Each possible failure mode is easily identified by its unique frequency and associated amplitude which can be reliably distinguished from other machine vibrations and background noise.

Implementation:

 

Chipped forming die found during high volume production.

Example of spectrum comparing a good rolling die to a chipped rolling die.