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Vibration monitoring made easy: Condition assessment using meaningful characteristic values

Reducing complexity by calculating KPIs from vibration and machine data in ibaPDA using ibaInSpectra

A customer from the aviation industry operates a friction welding machine for the production of engine parts. The high and long-term availability of the machine is very important here. However, the previous vibration analysis system was outdated and the associated support contract with an external service provider had expired. This meant that the monitoring and diagnosis of the machine could no longer be guaranteed.

To ensure continued vibration monitoring of the machine at this point and to provide more transparency internally, the company finally decided to replace the old system. In addition to wear monitoring based on vibration data, more attention was also to be paid to the current operating status of the machine, without changing the existing measuring points. Another important requirement for the customer was that the system should provide easily interpretable data, prepare it for comparison and ultimately store it for long-term trends. In the search for a suitable solution, the company finally opted for the iba system, which, in addition to its technical performance, scored points above all for its flexibility, openness and comprehensive data analysis capability: In the iba system, both control and vibration sensor data can be recorded synchronously and calculated into meaningful characteristic values (for example, the effective value of the vibration velocity or the crest factor). This allows different machine states, such as the warm-up run or welding processes with different flywheel masses, to be monitored easily and separately - even without in-depth knowledge of condition monitoring. As a result, the work of the customer's personnel is made easier and the reaction speed and diagnostic capability are increased in the event of a fault. In addition, the installation of the iba system has enabled numerous new requirements to be covered.
 

Business Benefits

Faster detection
of deviations and error states

Simplified vibration analysis
through operating point-dependent trend display of vibration KPIs

Open system for flexible adaptation
to different process and machine situations for the customer

Possibility of detailed analysis
by saving the raw data


The Technology


Eight vibration sensors detect the vibrations along the rotary welding machine and log them in ibaPDA. In addition, the relevant process data of the machine is captured in ibaPDA, time-synchronized directly from the S7 PLC. The defined characteristic values are then calculated in ibaInSpectra and assigned to the respective operating status. These can be used to perform initial checks of the machine's condition, such as comparing the vibration velocities with the corresponding alarm and warning values. For trend analysis, a dashboard was also created for the plant operator, which filters and visualizes the data based on the respective operating setting. All recorded raw vibration data, KPIs and machine process data are automatically exported to the customer's own database with iba data processing, using ibaDatCoordinator and ibaAnalyzer, and stored there for the long term. This enables trending over longer periods of time as well as subsequent detailed analysis on a raw data basis via drill-down, as this is particularly relevant for experts in the event of deviations or errors. During the course of the project, iba provided support with system design, setting up and configuring the iba system, defining and calculating the necessary KPIs and creating an ibaAnalyzer profile for in-depth offline analyses.


"With ibaInSpectra, we can convert complicated signals into simple indicators and thus provide the customer with meaningful data on the machine condition."

Eugen Graz
Application & Consulting Engineer,
iba AG

iba Products


Measuring value acquisition - ibaPDA
ibaPDA

As the central core of the iba system, ibaPDA has proven itself as one of the most versatile data acquisition systems for maintenance and production for many years. Among the many powerful features of ibaPDA are asset-agnostic acquisition, high-speed synchronous archiving, and real-time streaming analytics.

Automatic post processing - ibaDatCoordinator
ibaDatCoordinator

ibaDatCoordinator is a powerful tool for processing and managing measurement data automatically. Typical fields of application are automatic data management, creating reports or the extraction of product-related characteristic values in databases or other systems. In synergy with ibaAnalyzer, various tasks can be done fully automatically and routine procedures can be simplified.

Analysis of vibrations - ibaInSpectra
ibaInSpectra - Real-time Condition Monitoring of process vibrations

With ibaInSpectra, vibrations are monitored continuously and possible error sources can be detected in an early stage. As ibaInSpectra is integrated in ibaPDA, not only can pure vibration analyses can be done, but possible relations between vibrational effects and process behavior can also be determined.

Analysis software - ibaAnalyzer
ibaAnalyzer

ibaAnalyzer is characterized by its broad capability for analyzing and evaluating data. The application is intuitive and offers an advanced set of functions. The license for analyzing measurement files, which have been generated with the iba system, is free of charge.


Schematic vibration analysis
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