VA

Vibration Analysis 

VA – Vibration Analysis is a condition monitoring (CM – see ‘What the Hec?!’, October 2011) method for checking the condition of, and diagnosing faults in, machinery. VA supports the application of predictive maintenance programmes, allowing companies to plan maintenance and minimise the risk of unexpected breakdowns. VA is the process of monitoring the overall vibration of a rotating machine so as to be able to identify problems such as imbalance, misalignment, rolling element bearing faults and resonance conditions. Transducers are mounted on the machine and the signals are recorded. Analysis can be performed either in the time domain or the frequency domain of the signals obtained to identify changes from the ‘normal’ signature of the machine.

As with other CM and NDT methods, the effectiveness of VA depends on the capabilities of the operators who perform the measurements and analyse the data. The training and competence assessment requirements for operators are defined in a British Standard, in a similar manner to other CM and NDT methods.

For more information on VA see:
www.bindt.org/What-is-CM/Vibration-monitoring-and-analysis/
www.bindt.org/What-is-CM/Condition-Monitoring-Method-Selector/
BS ISO 13373-1:2002 Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines – Vibration condition monitoring – Part 1: General procedures

What the hec?! articles are not intended to be the definitive account on the topic or acronym in question. Readers’ comments and contributions are welcomed. Email: ndtnews@bindt.org