Predictive Maintenance Has 3 Main Elements: Detection, Analysis, and Correction

Oftentimes, when there is a prominent 1X vibration level present in the collected data and displayed as a spectral plot, it is easy to attribute the problem to an unbalance condition. In most cases, this will actually be the root-cause problem about 40% of the time. However, before sending out the balancing crew to make a correction, the analyst might go a step beyond the initial detection of the problem, and jump into a bit more analysis work. A prominent 1X component could be due to several faults, including bent shaft, mechanical looseness, resonance, etc. There are some tools available to the analyst to help isolate and pinpoint the root cause of the 1X reading. These include making a few cross-channel phase measurements to note machine components movement and performing some bump tests to note natural frequencies. These extra steps will prove useful and actually save some time and resources in making the right call for correction.