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A Brief Introduction To Vibration Analysis of Process Plant Machinery
A Brief Introduction To Vibration Analysis of Process Plant Machinery
A Brief Introduction To Vibration Analysis of Process Plant Machinery
(I)
Basic Concepts I
Machinery Vibration is Complex
Vibration of a machine is not usually simple
• Many frequencies from many malfunctions
• Total vibration is sum of all the individual vibrations
• Unfiltered overall amplitude indicates overall condition
• Displacement amplitude is not a direct indicator of vibration severity unless combined with
frequency
• Velocity combines the function of displacement and frequency
• Unfiltered velocity measurement provides best overall indication of vibration severity
Characteristics of Vibration
Simple Spring- Mass system Movement plotted against time
Free and Forced Vibration
When a mechanical system is subjected to a sudden impulse, it will vibrate at its natural
frequency.
• Eventually, if the system is stable, the vibration will die out
Forced vibration can occur at any frequency, and the response amplitude for a certain force
will be constant
Relationship between Force and Vibration
• Forces that cause vibration occur at a range of frequencies depending on the malfunctions
present
• These act on a bearing or structure causing vibration
• However, the response is not uniform at all frequencies. It depends on the Mobility of the of
the structure.
• Mobility varies with frequency. For example, it is high at resonances and low where
damping is present
Various Amplitudes of a Sine Wave
• A = Zero to Peak or maximum amplitude – used to measure velocity and acceleration
• 2A = Peak to Peak = Used to measure total displacement of a shaft with respect to
available bearing clearance
• RMS = Root Mean Squared amplitude - A measure of energy - used to measure velocity
and acceleration – mainly used in Europe
• Average value is not used in vibration measurements
Characteristics of Vibration (2)
• RMS amplitude will be equal to 0.707 times the Peak amplitude if, and only if, the signal is a
sine wave (single frequency)
• If the signal is not a sine wave, then the RMS value using this simple calculation will not be
correct
Displacement, Velocity & Acceleration
• Weight “X” is at the upper limit and “Y” is at neutral position moving to lower limit
• These two weights are vibrating 90 deg “out of phase”
Displacement, Velocity and Acceleration Phase Relationship
• Displacement
– Metric - Micron = 1/1000 of mm
– English - Mil = 1/1000 of Inch
• Velocity
– Metric - mm / sec
– English - inch / sec
• Acceleration
– Metric - meter / sec2
– English - g = 9.81 m/sec2 =
• Displacement
1 Mil = 25.4 Micron
• Velocity
1 inch/sec = 25.4 mm/sec
• Acceleration
Preferable to measure both in g’s because g is directly related to force
• Where the frequency content is likely to be low (less than 18,000 CPM) select displacement
– Large, low speed, pumps and motors with sleeve bearings
– Cooling tower fans and Fin fan cooler fans. Their gear boxes would require a higher
frequency range
• For intermediate range frequencies ( say, 18,000 to 180,000 CPM) select Velocity
– Most process plant pumps running at 1500 to 3000 RPM
– Gear boxes of low speed pumps
• For higher frequencies (> 180,000 CPM = 3 KHz) select acceleration.
– Gear boxes
– Bearing housing vibration of major compressor trains including their drivers
• Larger machines would require monitoring more than one parameter to cover the entire
frequency range of vibration components
• For example, in large compressor and turbines
– The relative shaft displacement is measured by permanently installed eddy current
displacement probes.
– This would cover the frequency range of running speed, low order harmonics and
subharmonic components
– To capture higher stator to rotor interactive frequencies such as vane passing, blade
passing and their harmonics, it is necessary to monitor the bearing housing acceleration
• Monitoring one parameter for trending is acceptable
• However, for detailed analysis, it may be necessary to measure more than one parameter
Example in Selecting Units of Measurement
• Amplitude measurement units should be selected based upon the frequencies of interest
• Following 3 plots illustrate how measurement unit affects the data displayed. Each of the
plots contain 3 separate component frequencies of 60 Hz, 300 Hz and 950 Hz.
Displacement
This data was taken using displacement. Note how the lower frequency at 60 Hz is
accentuated
Velocity
The same data is now displayed using velocity. Note how the 300Hz component is more
apparent
Acceleration
The same data is now displayed using acceleration. Note how the large lower frequency
component is diminished and the higher frequency component accentuated
A Brief Introduction to Vibration Analysis of Process Plant Machinery
(III)
Basic Concepts III
Forced Vibration
• Exciting Force = Stiffness Force + Damping Force + Inertial Force
• Stiffness
– Stiffness is the spring like quality of mechanical elements to deform under load
– A certain force of Kgs produces a certain deflection of mm
– Shaft, bearing, casing, foundation all have stiffness
• Viscous Damping
– Encountered by solid bodies moving through a viscous fluid
– Force is proportional to the velocity of the moving object
– Consider the difference between stirring water versus stirring molasses
• Inertial Forces
– Inertia is the property of a body to resist acceleration
– Mainly weight
Stiffness Influence
• Stiffness is measured by the force in Kgs required to produce a deflection of one mm.
• Stiffness of a shaft is
– Directly proportional Diameter4 and Modulus of Elasticity
– Directly proportional to Modulus of Elasticity
– Inversely proportional to Length3
• Typical Stiffness values in pounds / inch
– Oil film bearings – 300,000 to 2,000,000
– Rolling element bearings – 1,000,000 to 4,000,000
– Bearing Housing, horizontal – 300,000 to 4,000,000
– Bearing housing, vertical – 400,000 to 6,000,000
– Shaft 1’ to 4” diameter – 100,000 to 4,000,000
– Shaft 6” to 15” diameter – 400,000 to 20,000,000
Damping Influence
• Lateral motion involves displacement from its central position or flexural deformation.
Rotation is about an axis intersecting and normal to the axis of rotation
• Axial Motion occurs parallel to the rotor’s axis of rotation
• Torsional Motion involves rotation of rotor’s transverse sections relative to one another
about its axis of rotation
• Vibrations that occur at frequency of rotation of rotor are called synchronous vibrations.
• Vibrations at other frequencies are nonsynchronous vibrations
The Relationship Between Forced and Vibration
• Forces generated within the machine have may different frequencies
• The mobility of the bearings and supports are also frequency dependent. Mobility =
Vibration / Force
• Resultant Vibration = Force x Mobility
• Relative shaft displacement has limited frequency range but has high amplitude at low
frequencies – running speed, subsynchronous and low harmonic components
• Accelerometer has high signal at high frequencies – rotor to stator interaction frequencies –
blade passing, vane passing
• Values are for filtered readings only – not overall
• Velocity is expressed in peak units (not RMS units)
• Severity lines are in velocity
• Displacement severity can be found only with reference to frequency.
• In metric units
• Very rough > 16 mm/sec
• Rough > 8 mm/sec
• Slightly rough > 4 mm/sec
• Fair - 2 – 4 mm/sec
• Good - 1 – 2 mm/sec
A Brief Introduction to Vibration Analysis of Process Plant Machinery
(V)
Basic Concept V
Vibration Transducers
• Transducer is a device that converts one form of energy into another.
• Microphone - sound (mechanical) to electrical energy
• Speaker - electrical to mechanical energy
• Thermometer - thermal to electrical energy
• Vibration is mechanical energy
• It must be converted to electrical signal so that it can easily be measured and analyzed.
• Commonly used Vibration Transducers
• Noncontact Displacement Transducer
• Seismic Velocity Transducer
• Piezoelectric Accelerometer
• Transducers should be selected depending on the parameter to be measured.
• Proximity probes measure the displacement of shaft relative to the bearing housing
• They observe the static position and vibration of shaft
• By mounting two probes at right angles the actual dynamic motion (orbit) of the shaft can
be observed
• Sensitive to measured surface material properties like conductivity, magnetism and finish
– Scratch on shaft would be read as vibration
– Variation in shaft hardness would be read as vibration
• Shaft surface must be conductive
• Low response above 90,000 CPM
• External power source and electronics required
• Probe must be permanently mounted. Not suitable for hand-holding
• Machine must be designed to accept probes – difficult to install if space has not been
provided
Seismic Velocity Pick-Up IRD 544
• Permanent magnet is attached to the case. Provides strong magnetic field around
suspended coil
• Coil of fine wire supported by low-stiffness springs
• Voltage generated is directly proportional to velocity of vibration
Piezoelectric Accelerometers
• Piezoelectric crystal is sandwiched between a seismic mass and outer case.
• When mounted on a vibrating surface seismic mass imposes a force equal to mass x
acceleration
Piezoelectric Accelerometers
Converting Charge to Voltage
– Charge amplifier has high input impedance and low output impedance so that long cables
can be used.
• Charge amplifier can be external or internal
Accelerometers Mounting
• Screw mount has the highest resonance and, therefore the highest frequency response
• This film of silicon grease improves contact.
Use the smallest magnet that holds the accelerometer without slipping. Use a machined
surface for the best grip
Frequency Response Hand Held
• Hand holding accelerometers should be avoided except for low frequency work
• Any high frequency vibration in the resonant range will be highly amplified.
– Amplification can be up to 30 dB or almost 1,000 times
– By previous example – 32 KHz for screw mount. Only 2 KHz for handholding
– Analyst must know frequency response of accelerometer used for different mounting
conditions.
Advantages of Accelerometers
• Units available from a cryogenic temperature of minus 200oC to a high temperature of >
600oC
Disadvantages of Accelerometers
• Double integration to displacement suffers from low frequency noise – should be avoided
Polar Plot
• Polar plot is made up of a set of vectors at different speeds.
• Vector arrow is omitted and the points are connected with a line
• 1x uncompensated Polar Plot shows location of rotor high spot relative to transducer
• This is true for 1x circular orbits and approximately true for 1x elliptical orbits
Read more »
8/06/2011
X transducer measurement axis is drawn together with perpendicular lines that are tangent
to maximum and minimum points on the orbit
• In the right orbit the shaft has reverse precession for a short time at the outside loop at
bottom
• Orbits are from two different steam turbines with opposite rotation. Both machines are
experiencing high radial loads
• Red arrows indicate the approximate direction of the applied radial load.
• When keyphasor dots of simultaneous orbits at various bearings along the length of the
rotor are joined an estimate of the three dimensional deflection shape of the rotor shaft can
be obtained
* This is a rigidly coupled rotor system
The Orbit
• The orbit represents the path of the shaft centerline within the bearing clearance.
• Two orthogonal probes are required to observe the complete motion of the shaft within.
• The dynamic motion of the shaft can be observed in real time by feeding the output of the
two orthogonal probes to the X and Y of a dual channel oscilloscope
• If the Keyphasor output is fed to the Z axis, a phase reference mark can be created on the
orbit itself
• The orbit, with the Keyphasor mark, is probably the most powerful plot for machinery
diagnosis
Precession
Once a gyroscope starts to spin, it will resist changes in the orientation of its spin axis. For
example, a spinning top resists toppling over, thus keeping its spin axis vertical. If a torque,
or twisting force, is applied to the spin axis, the axis will not turn in the direction of the torque,
but will instead move in a direction perpendicular to it. This motion is called precession. The
wobbling motion of a spinning top is a simple example of precession. The torque that causes
the wobbling is the weight of the top acting about its tapering point. The modern gyroscope
was developed in the first half of the 19th cent. by the
Construction of an Orbit
• On the right, when the probes are mounted at 45oL and 45oR, the orbit plots are
automatically rotated
• The oscilloscope, however, must be physically rotated 45o CCW to display the correct orbit
orientation
• Slow roll vector compensation can considerably change the amplitude and phase of the
orbit
– Data converted to two new spectra – one for each direction of precession – Forward or
Reverse
Second
Waveform and its half spectrum
Forward Precession
Spectrum on forward side of plot
Original orbit cannot be reconstructed from full spectrum because there is no phase
information.
• Flatness of ellipse is determined by the relative size of forward and reverse components
• Therefore, the smaller the difference between components, the more elliptical the
orbit.
• Full spectrum clarifies the complex orbit which is a sum of ½ x, 1x and their harmonics.
Differentiating ½ x Rub and Fluid Instability from Full Spectrum Plots
• Half and full spectrum display of a ½ x rub (red data) and fluid induced instability (blue data)
• The full spectrum plots clearly show the difference in the subsynchronous vibration
– The ½ x rub orbit is extremely elliptical – small difference between forward and reverse
components
– The fluid induced instability orbit is forward and nearly circular – large difference between
forward and reverse 1x and ½ x components.
• Order lines drawn diagonally from the origin show vibration frequencies that are
proportional to running speed
• Base of each spectrum is the rotor speed at which the sample was taken
• Diagonal lines are “Order” lines. Usually 1x, 2x and ½ x are plotted
Vertical ellipse shows ½ x rub frequency is almost equal to first critical. Slight shift to right is
due to stiffening of rotor system from rub contact.
• High vibration at mains frequency (60 Hz) during start up (red). 1x is low.
• Vibration reduces when normal speed and current are reached (green)
• Full Spectrum is constructed from the output of a pair of transducers at right angles.
– Ratio of forward and reverse orbits gives information about ellipticity and direction of
precession
• Cascade and Waterfall plots can be be constructed either from half or full spectra
• Machines can vibrate at many different frequencies simultaneously 1x, 2x, 3x, vane
passing etc.
• Timebase and orbit have frequency information but only a couple of harmonics can be
identified – impossible to identify nonsynchronous frequencies
• Using an analog tunable analyzer the amplitude and phase at each individual frequency can
be identified but only one at a time.
– Each frequency sweep may take one minute during which short duration transient events
may be missed
Spectrum Plot-2
• Spectrum plot is the basic display of a Spectrum Analyzer. It the most important plot for
diagnosis
• Spectrum plot displays the entire frequency content of complex vibration signals in a
convenient form.
• Spectrum plots can be used to identify harmonics of running frequency, rolling element
bearing defect frequencies, gear mesh frequencies, sidebands
Illustration of how the previous signal can be described in terms of a frequency spectrum.
Left - Description in time domain
Right - Description in frequency domain
Spectrum Frequency as a Function of Pulse Shape
Construction of Half Spectrum Plot - 1
• Phase for each signal can be measured with respect to trigger signal
Construction of Half Spectrum Plot - 2
• If we rotate the plot so that the time axis disappears we see a two dimensional spectrum
plot of amplitude v/s frequency
These plots show why it is impossible to guess the frequency content from the waveform.
Vertical lines in top plot show one revolution
It is clear that 2x and higher frequencies are present
But 3x and 6x could not be predicted from the waveform.
A Fourier spectrum shows all the frequencies present
• Logarithmic scaling is useful for comparing signals with very large and very small
amplitudes.
– Log scale makes it difficult to quickly discriminate between significant and insignificant
components.
– Weak, insignificant and low-level noise components are eliminated or greatly reduced in
scale
• Most of our work is done with linear scaling
Illustration of Linear and Log scales
– FFT algorithm extends sample length by repeatedly wrapping the signal on itself
– Unless number of cycles of signal exactly matches length of sample there will be
discontinuity at the junction
• Without window function the “lines” are not sharp and widen at the bottom
• This “leakage” is due to discontinuity at sample record ending
• When “Hanning” window is applied to the sample record 1/2x spectral line is narrower and
higher
• Noise floor at base is almost gone.