Fault Analysis

z z z z z z z z z z z z

Unbalance Misalignment Eccentricity Bent shaft Shaft crack Mechanical looseness Journal bearing faults Rolling element bearing faults Rotor rub Cavitation Electrical motor problems Gear faults

The main advantage of making vibration measurements on rotating machinery, is the possibility to detect faults, before they make the machine break down, and thereby reduce economical losses, such as damaged equipment and production loss. To this the constant percentage band width spectrum has shown to be the most efficient. When a fault is detected, vibration analysis can be used to diagnose the fault. Making diagnosis using vibration analysis requires skill and experience. Additional measurements of FFT spectra and phase measurements is often required. In the following some simple rules for the most common machine faults are drawn up giving the fault type and a characteristic vibration measurements. The spectra in the examples are all made as drawings, in order to emphasize the typical feature of each fault.

Page 1

Unbalance
Static Unbalance
Equal phase on each bearing Mainly radial vibration

Typical Typical Unbalance Unbalance Spectrum Spectrum

Dynamic Unbalance
Phase changes 180 across bearing Mainly radial vibration

RPM Radial

Please Note: Strong unbalance cause harmonics

Overhung Rotor Unbalance

Both Radial and horizontal vibration Often both Static and Dynamic unbalance are seen together

Unbalance is the most common fault associated with rotating shaft. Unbalance vibration is mainly radial. On overhung rotor axial components may be present as well. High 1X is often believed to be unbalance, however it can be misalignment, bent rotor or cracked shaft, and further investigation of what may cause the defect is often necessary. Often Static Unbalance and Dynamic Unbalance are seen together. The phase difference across the shaft therefore may vary.

Page 2

Misalignment
A. Parallel misalignment
10 3.1 1 0.31 mm/s

mm/s 1X

2X

3X

Radial Vibration approx. 180 phase shifted 2X often highest peak B. Angular misalignment

10 3.1 1 0.31

1X

2X

3X

Please PleaseNote: Note: Axial Vibration approx.. 0 phase shifted 1X , 2X or 3 X highest

Misalignment Misalignmentoften oftenappears appearson on1X 1X component componentonly only

Misalignment is traditionally associated with a 2nd harmonic component, which according to some sources is due to to 2 times the stress reversal during one rotation. More probably the harmonic occurs due to distortion of the ideal sinusoidal vibration signal. It is quite common that misalignment occurs on the 1st harmonic only in the spectrum. An investigation of the phase relationship across the rotor and across the coupling should therefore always be carried out for distinguishing misalignment from unbalance. A misaligned rotor tend to wear in. That is after a while the bearing will get deformed after the misalignment. In the spectrum this is seen as the 2nd order component will decrease and the third order will increase as wear develops.

Page 3

Bent Shaft
mm/s

10 3.1 1 0.31

1X

2X

Axial And Radial Vibration 180 Phase shift in Axial Vibration 0 Phase shift in radial vibration

A Bent Shaft to many extents is looking like a misalignment in the spectrum. A phase measurement for axial vibration across the shaft will distinguish between misalignment and bent shaft as the bent shaft will produce a 180 Degrees Phase shift.

Page 4

Eccentricity
10 3.1 1 0.31

Fan RPM

Motor RPM

Center of rotation different from geometrical center

Vertical an horizontal phase either equal or 180 different

The Eccentric rotor will produce high vibration at the rotation speed. The Phase will be the same in both horizontal and vertical direction. If you try to balance an eccentric rotor, you may reduce the vibration readings in one direction, but the readings will increase in the other.

Page 5

Looseness
mm/s

Loose Foundation 2X often high Sub-harmonics

10 3.1 1 0.31

.5X 1X 1.5X 2X

3X

Loose shaft
Often series of sub harmonic components , 1/3, ... 1/n
10 3.1 1

mm/s

0.31

.5X 1X 1.5X 2X

3X

Mechanical looseness produce a strongly distorted signal. The inter harmonics (, 1/3 etc.) are attributable to the fact that the loose part bounces and thus does get excited every 2nd or 3rd revolution of the shaft.

Page 6

Rotor Rub
mm/

10 3.1 1 0.31

Truncated Wave form

.5X 1X 1.5X 2X 3X

Symptoms same as Mechanical Looseness Subharmonics ,1/3 etc. Strong Harmonic pattern Caused by truncation

The characteristics of Rotor Rub are very similar to mechanics looseness.

Page 7

Shaft Crack
Shaft ShaftCracks Cracksmay maybe bedetected detected by monitoring of by monitoring of Amplitude Amplitudeand andPhase Phaseof of 1X first and 2X and 1X first and 2X and second secondharmonic harmonicof ofRPM. RPM. Monitoring of Coast Monitoring of Coastdown down and andRun Run- -up upcharacteristics characteristics when whenpassing passingthrough through resonance resonance X/Y Position History

Longitudinal Crack

Radial Crack

Nyquist

Bode

1X Run Up

Shaft Cracks have been detected by continuously monitoring of 1st and 2nd harmonics, or by comparing run ups and coast down, where a cracked shaft will change the characteristic curve as it passes through the resonance. Shaft Cracks are often mistaken for the far more common misalignment.

Page 8

Journal Bearings
wo= 0 Oil Instability wo= ws
normally 42 %- 47 % of 3.1 running speed May appear from 0.3 -0.7X 1 in some occasions 0.31 Non Synchronous
10

wo ~

0.3 - 0.5

ws
mm/

0.43X 1X

2X

Wear Clearance Problems

Harmonic Series of Rotation Speed

10 3.1 1 0.31

1X 2X 3X 4X 5X 6X 7X 8X 9X 10X...

Oil Whirl Simplified explanation. In a journal bearing the shaft is surfing on an oil wave. Let us look at the speed profile of the oil film. At the boundary of the shaft the oil film has the same speed as the shaft. At bearing boundary the oil film is stationary. Some bearing designs may develop instability at certain conditions of oil viscosity and bearing load. In such cases the oil film will pump around the shaft with about the average speed of the oil film speed profile. The speed of such pumping normally appears around 42 % - 47% of the shaft speed though instability has been reported in the range 30% to 70 % of shaft speed. Clearance Problems In a worn journal bearing harmonics up to 10 or 20 times the running speed may be seen.

Page 9

Rolling Element Bearings

Faults in Rolling Element Bearings are Detected with CPB in the High frequency range

Envelope Spectra can be used both for Detection and Diagnosis of Rolling Element Bearing Faults

No Defects on Rolling Element Bearing Flat Envelope Spectrum.

Rolling element bearing faults normally start with small cracks or spalls, which produce very hard impacts by the passing of the balls. As the bearing impacts are very short, they will contain energy in very high frequencies - the resonances of the force path will be excited and ring. Detection of bearing wear is done by seeing increases of the resonances of the bearing and the machine structure in the 2kHz 14 kHz frequency range. Using Envelope analysis the modulation of the high frequency can be analyzed. Envelope analysis provides thus an excellent tool for both detection and diagnosis of bearing signals. If no modulation is present in the signal. There will be no peaks in the envelope spectra.

Page 10

Rolling Element Bearing Frequencies

D1 D2

PD =

D1 + D 2 2

n = number of balls

f r = rotation frequency

The rolling element bearing can be considered as a planetary gear with the inner ring as the sun weal and the balls as planets. Different defects will be repeated at frequencies which can be calculated with above formulas. The Ball Diameter and the Race diameters, as well as the contact angle beta is normally given by the manufacturer. The number of balls is given in newer literature from the bearing manufacturers. You may use the mounting diameters of the bearing for calculating the Pitch Diameter if the Outer and Inner Race diameter is not available. It is general experience that these frequencies show up in a FFT spectrum at a very late stage of bearing wear. With envelope analysis the bearing frequencies are seen at a very early stage of fault development however. The envelope analysis can be used for accurately predicting the breakdown of a bearing. It should be noted that the balls will slip few percents in the bearings specially when lightly loaded.

Page 11

Typical Bearing Defects Development Envelope Analysis

1. Outer Race Faults
Lead Time Months Ball Pass Frequency Outer Race ( BPFO) and Harmonic

BPFO

2. Inner Race Faults

Lead Time Days - Weeks Ball Pass Frequency Inner Race (BPFI) With Side bands of Rotation speed

RPM

BPFI

3. Ball Defects
Requires Immediate action Ball Spin Frequency BSF with Harmonics. Often in combinations with above with various inter-harmonics.

BSF

The typical bearing fault start as a crack or spall in the outer race. Depending on bearing load a rolling element bearing can survive long time with an outer race fault. An outer race spall will eventually develop to a wear. This can be seen in the envelope spectrum by the reduction of harmonics of the BPFO and an increase of the BPFO itself. At as certain stage the balls off tracked by the outer race fault will cause a fault in the inner race. As the fault in the inner race is rotating into and out of the load zone, the fault frequency will be modulated with the rotation speed, and thus produce side bands with RPM spacing. An inner race fault is often faster growing than an outer race fault. In the end of a bearing fault, often faults and the balls are seen as well as inter modulation frequencies between the different fault types.

Page 12

Bearing Mounting Defects Analyzed With Envelope Analysis

Rotor Misalignment Rotor Unbalance Radial Tension of Bearing Misalignment of outer Race
1*RPM
RPM

2*RPM
2*RPM

2*BPFO
2*BPFO

Slip of Race in the Mounting Seat

Harmonics of RPM
RPM

Lubrication Defect

Increase of Background level

The earliest detection of bearing fault is done by placing the envelope filter on a resonance of the bearing. By doing so however, one miss the opportunity of classifying the defect depth, by the height of the peaks in the envelope spectrum. Also one misses the opportunity of being able to analyze above defects in the envelope spectra. For getting the best information about modulations of random noise produced by a rolling element bearing, it is recommended to place the envelope filter in the high frequency at a place where signal is available, but not amplified by resonances. (There should be maximum 10dB variation across the envelope filter range).

Page 13

Electrical Motor Cracked Rotor Bars

Stator Stator Bars Bars Broken Rotor Bars Rotors Rotors Cracked Rotor Bar Bars Bars Loose Rotor Bar Shorted Rotor Laminations Poor End Ring Joints Side bands of Slip Freq
around 1X, 2X 3X etc. < - 35 dB = Serious > - 45 dB = OK.
Lin freq. spacing

1X 2X

RBPF

Loose LooseRotor RotorBars Barsmay may also alsocause causeSidebands Sidebandsof of Line Linefrequency frequencyaround aroundRotor Rotorbar bar passing passingfrequency frequencyand and2*RBPF 2*RBPF

35 dB
Pole PolePass PassFreq. Freq.= =Slip SlipFreq.* Freq.*No. No.of ofPoles Poles Slip SlipFreq. Freq.= =Synch SynchSpeed Speed - -RPM RPM Rotor RotorBar BarFreq. Freq.= =No. No.of ofrotor rotorBars Bars**RPM RPM
(1X- n*Slip Freq) 1X (1X+n*Slip Freq)

45 dB

Zoom Zoom Spectrum Spectrum

A motor with loose, broken or shortened rotor bars will produce modulation of the rotation speed with the slip frequency. An efficient way of analyzing this fault is making zoom FFT around the motor rotation speed of the motor current. The motor current can be analyzed using a current probe on one of the motor current supply lines. If the side bands appear less than 45 dB below the RPM component, alert caution should be taken. Side bands appearing less than 35 dB below the RPM component should be regarded as shut down criteria. Please refer to the application note BO 0269 Vibration Diagnostics for Industrial Electric Motor Drives for a detailed description of diagnostics of electrical motors.

Page 14

Electrical Motor Problems

mm/s

Stator Eccentricity Looseness of Stator Support Shored Stator Laminations

2nd Harmonic of line frequency

10 3.1 1 0.31

1X Line

2x 2*Line freq.

mm/s

Eccentric Rotor (Statical)

2 * Line frequency and Sidebands of Pole Pass Freq. around 2 * line frequency

10 3.1 1 0.31

1X Line

2X 2*Line freq.

Pole PolePass PassFreq. Freq.= =Slip SlipFreq.* Freq.*No. No.of ofPoles Poles Slip SlipFreq. Freq.= =Synch SynchSpeed Speed - -RPM RPM

The electrical magnets of an electric motor are contracting twice for every period of the net frequency. Thus electrical faults are appearing at twice the net frequency. The slip frequency is the difference between the rotation frequency of the rotor and the net frequency. The pole pass frequency is the number of poles times the slip frequency. An eccentric electric motor will produce side spaced with the pole pass frequency around twice the net frequency. Zoom is required to analyze these faults.

Page 15

Synchronous Motors, DC Motors

Synchronous Motors Loose Stator Coils
RPM spaced Sidebands around Coil Pass Frequency.
1 RPM spacing

1X 2X

Coil Pass Freq.

DC Motors Silicon Controlled Rectifiers (SCR)

SCR firing frequency increase may show: Bad SCR Loose Connections Broken Field Windings
1X 2X SFC Freq.= 6*Line freq. 2*SCR

Loose stator coils in synchronous motors may generate high vibration at the coil passing frequency which is the number of stator coils times the RPM. Modulation is often present and can be seen as side bands spaced with RPM. DC motors are often controlled by Silicon Controlled Rectifiers ( SCR ). At the SCR frequency which is usually 6 times the line frequency, increases will show problems with the SCR.

Page 16

Cavitation
Cavitation is caused by the collapse of small bubbles that occurs during local boiling at certain condition of the fluid (low dynamic pressure) The Collapses are short in time and thus wide in Frequency.
The resonances are exited throughout the spectrum Specially high Frequencies are exited In Envelope Spectra an increase of the background level with no distinct lines are seen.

CPB Spectrum

Envelope Spectrum

The faster a fluid travels by an object the lower the pressure will be, this phenomenon is well known as Bernoullis law, and it is the reason that aero planes can fly and turbo machines are working. The lower the pressure, the lower the boiling temperature of water. In some instances the water of a pump may start boiling locally as a result of the local fluid speed will decrease local dynamic pressure and hence decreased the boiling point below the fluid temperature. When the local pressure increases again the small bubbles formed in the boiling process collapses very rapidly. The rapid collapse causes shock pulses which may be strong enough to break apart fragments of metal on the location it occurs - cavitation wear. The collapsing bubbles also induce shock waves which are transferred through the structure. Since the pulses are very short, they have a very high frequency content, and they will excite resonances throughout the spectrum range.

Page 17