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What is Vibration?
• What is It?
• What causes It?
• Why measure It?
• What does The Transducer measure It?
• What are “Vibration characteristics” we measure?
It should be understood that the failures of short-term basis (i.e. loss of lubrication, sudden failure of a component, etc.) are not
protected by any program that only collects data periodically. The time between last-take and failure in these cases (which are
rare) may take only minutes (in extreme cases), hours, days or weeks
1. Amplitude
2. Frequency
3. Phase
Amplitude Tells Us :
How Much Movement Occurs
Conventions are standards that you set or adopt that apply to every machine and application
in the program. These conventions simplify training of new personnel and make sure everyone
involved in the program is on the same page. There are at least three basic conventions that
should be set up. They are:
• Most programs use numbers to identify bearings (or alphabet, although rare)
• The next bearing reached will be Position "2" or "B". That bearing will be found at
the drive end of the motor or turbine (the driver component)
• Etc
The image below shows a typical 4-bearing, belt driven fan with the bearings numbered
Directional conventions are also the most importance to set up and use. This
convention insures that whomever is collecting the data is aware of the
correct transducer location and direction
Let's start with direct drive machines. These machines are the most simple to define.
• Axial Direction - Runs along the axis of the machine's shaft (parallel to the shaft &
ground).
• Vertical Direction - The shortest line that connecting the machine shaft and the
machine base.
• Horizontal Direction - A line drawn out from the machine shaft that runs
exactly parallel to the ground.
Belt drives can be oriented in any direction and thereby require a directional convention
The convention shown here has been adopted for some very simple reasons which help
illustrate not only its usefulness but the importance of conventions in general
Reason #1: The belt (reaction) forces are usually directed in-line (parallel) with the belts.
Reason #2: To capture these belt related vibrations and matched frequencies, higher resolution readings are set up in the
database parallel to the belts.
Reason #3: To make it easier to both set up the database and analyze collected data, these higher resolution readings are always
taken horizontally.
A vibration transducer is the instrument that measures or senses the vibration and
is commonly referred to as a pickup or sensor. The basic understanding and proper
selection of an appropriate transducer is important.
There are basically three types of transducers commonly used. They are:
• Displacement Transducer
• Velocity Transducer
• Accelerometer
By Umbar Basuki