Back to News
News

Routine vibration monitoring provides early warning of imminent bearing failure for an industrial client

Posted on January 13, 2022
3 minutes read
Routine vibration monitoring provides early warning of imminent bearing failure for an industrial client

Farrat work with OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and Production Engineers within manufacturing plants and factories across the world, to reduce spoilage and optimise OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) through vibration control.

Our goal is to prevent the need for unexpected machine maintenance or downtime affecting plant productivity and profitability for our clients, by identifying vibration-induced issues before overt symptoms arise.

The Scenario

During a recent routine maintenance service visit to a manufacturing plant in the UK, Farrat Application Engineers noticed a vibration issue on a large vertical boring machine, which could have potentially led to serious impact on the machinery and the wider plant, both in the short and long term.

The Investigation

Analysis of the vibration levels generated when running the table of the vertical boring machine, revealed a significant peak at the outer race defect frequency of the bearing (bearing cage frequency x number of rolling elements).

By comparing this result with the results of similar measurements made previously at regular intervals on the same machine, significant escalation predicted imminent bearing failure.

This forewarning allowed production engineers at the plant to schedule the installation of a replacement bearing for a forthcoming maintenance stop and prevented the inevitable lost production time that would have resulted from catastrophic failure.

The Conclusion

Regular monitoring of the workings of a factory or manufacturing plant needs to go beyond visually assessing machinery and products. It is often only with specialist monitoring and experience that you can ensure productivity, efficiency, and the safety of machinery.

Farrat support industrial clients with regular and planned maintenance to avoid the risk of machine failure, optimise machine performance and reduce spoilage.

To learn more about our range Industrial services, visit our Industrial Vibration Control Hub here.

Useful links

Challenge our engineers

Contact us now for an initial consultation.

Contact Us