Condition Monitoring

TechNote #CM19 OMNITREND®

Entering roller bearing characteristic frequencies in Hz

Introduction
OMNITREND calculates roller bearing characteristic
frequencies from the bearing geometric data that are
entered in the Frequency Editor. The geometric data
can usually be found in the manufacturer catalog.
If the characteristic frequencies are provided instead 1
of the geometric data, you can enter these in OMNI-
TREND as follows.

Overview of procedure
1. Enter the characteristic frequencies in a text-based
file and save it with the ‘bif’ extension. 2
2. Import the ‘bif’ file with the bearing characteristic
frequencies into OMNITREND using the roller bear-
ing frequency editor.
The Frequency Editor calculates the characteristic frequencies (2)
of the newly created bearing from the geometric bearing data (1).
1. Create a file with the bearing
characteristic frequencies
• Create a new file in a text editor (for example, Manufacturer Bearing No. F inner1 outer1 ball1 cage1
Windows Editor, TxEditor). test 2005 F 10 20 30 40
• Enter the bearing data in columns (see the example SKF 306474 D F 9.3 7.68 10.26 0.4518
SKF 312967 E F 18.48 15.54 11.46 0.4566
on the right): SKF 7056 BGM F 12.54 10.44 8.4 0.4548
- The first row contains the name of the column
(fixed). Example: Structure and content of a file with bearing characteristic
- Separate all entries with a tab (do not use spaces). frequencies.
1
- Normalize the characteristic frequencies for a shaft inner = Inner race, pass frequency
outer = Outer race, pass frequency
rpm* of 60 rpm, or 1 Hz.
ball = Rolling element, pass frequency
- Use a period for the decimal separator, not a cage = Cage, rotational frequency
comma.
• Save the file with the extension ‘bif’ (= bearing
import file).
* Shaft rpm = rpm of inner bearing race

2. Import the file with the bea-

ring characteristic frequencies
PRÜFTECHNIK Condition Monitoring 01.2010

into OMNITREND
• Open the Frequency Editor in OMNITREND (Tools /
Frequency markers / Roller bearing..).
• Click on <Import> and select the previously created
‘bif’ file.
The bearing is selected in the Frequency Editor via
the manufacturer name and bearing number (in
the example on the right:
Manufacturer: ‘test’; bearing number: ‘2005’). Bearing characteristic frequencies - imported via a ‘bif’ file.