The Ultraprobe 15000 is a great ultrasound instrument for bearings monitoring and inspection.

It has been proven that when plants and facilities have a robust proactive maintenance programme, those plants and facilities will operate more safely, with less downtime, and with improved product quality. 

Maintenance and reliability professionals have tools at their disposal to monitor asset health on a routine basis.  Similar to the way a doctor may use a stethoscope to listen to a patient’s heartbeat, or a thermometer to measure the patient’s temperature, the maintenance and reliability professional uses condition monitoring tools that can help to assess the health of a mechanical asset.

Slow Speed Bearing Inspection with Ultrasound

Vibration analysis has long been the instrument of choice to use for bearings and other rotating equipment.  More commonly, ultrasound is being used in conjunction with vibration analysis to help technicians confirm the condition of mechanical assets.  Because of the versatility of ultrasound, if a facility does not have a robust vibration analysis programme in place, ultrasound can be implemented to detect early stage bearing failures, as well as other issues.  If the vibration analysis is performed by an outside service provider on a quarterly or monthly basis, ultrasound can be used during the interim.  This will help the facility to know the condition of some of the more critical assets prior to the service provider entering the facility; therefore, the service provider’s time can be used more efficiently because the plant knows if there are any eminent problems with the assets that are being monitored by ultrasound.   

The on-board Spectralyzer on the Ultraprobe 15000 allows for a sound spectrum overview on the testing point – a great help when inspecting slow speed bearings.

Another scenario in which ultrasound may be used first over vibration analysis is with the monitoring of slow speed bearings.  Slow speed bearing monitoring with ultrasound is actually easier than you might think.  Because most high-end ultrasound instruments have a wide sensitivity range and frequency tuning, it is possible to listen to the acoustic quality of the bearing, especially at slower speeds.  In extreme slow speed bearing applications (usually less than 25rpm), the bearing will produce little to no ultrasonic noise.  In that case, it is important to not only listen to the sound of the bearing, but more importantly to analyze the recorded ultrasound sound file in spectrum analysis software, focusing on the time wave form to see if there are any anomalies present.  If “crackling” or “popping” sounds are present, then there is some indication of a deformity occurring. In bearing speeds above 25rpm, it is possible to set a baseline decibel level and trend the associated decibel level readings over time.

Bad Bearing: 1 rpm bearing on a furnace application. Note all of the anomalies that appear in the Time Wave Form from the “crackling and popping” sounds that were produced by bearing fatigue.

To get the most out of an ultrasound bearing condition monitoring programme, it is best to establish routes for data collection.  Through this effort, maintenance technicians can set baselines and bearing condition alarm levels.  This approach is called the Historical Method.  The inspector first establishes a route in the ultrasound software of the points where the data will be collected.  Once the route is created, the inspector loads the route into the ultrasound instrument.  While collecting the initial data to build the history, the technician should record both the decibel level readings and the sound file recordings. 

Once the baseline has been established, alarm levels can be set.  For most bearings, an increase of 8dB above baseline represents a lack of lubrication for that bearing.  An increase of 16dB above baseline means the bearing is in a failure mode; this is beyond just a lack of lubrication.  For slow speed bearings, these alarm levels may need to be adjusted since slow speed bearings do not produce as much high frequency sound as bearings that are rotating at faster speeds.  The alarm levels for slow speed bearings should be set according to what the initial historical decibel level trend shows.  

The Ultraprobe Grease Caddy 401 is the perfect tool to develop a lubrication program, which will dramatically reduce bearing failures.

Once the baselines and alarm levels have been set, it is only necessary to record the data or dB readings.  From that point forward, a sound file recording is only taken once the point has reached either the low alarm, or the high alarm.  The sound file recording can then be compared to the original baseline sound file.  This is important in diagnosing what the current bearing condition is.  In spectrum analysis software, technicians may also be able to compare the baseline sound file FFT to either the current sound file, or compare up to as many as four identical points on four identical machines.

An ultrasound instrument, used with a stethoscope module, can identify bearing failures at a very early stage, including in slow speed bearings.

Conclusion

Airborne and structure-borne ultrasound instrumentation has become a must-have technology for any maintenance and reliability programme.  Due to its enhanced sensitivity and ability to detect slight changes in the amount of high frequency sound produced by rotating equipment, ultrasound is ideally suited to detect early stage bearing fatigue, even in slow speed bearings. By translating the high frequency sound into the low frequency or audible range, these instruments allow the users to hear, see, and diagnose bearing faults.  

Some advantages of ultrasound are:

1. High frequency sound is very directional; therefore, problems can easily be located.
2. The learning curve to become proficient at using ultrasound is much shorter compared to other technologies.
3. Ultrasound provides an early warning sign of impending mechanical failure.
4. Ultrasound can be used in normal plant/manufacturing environments and background noise is not an issue.
5. Advancements in ultrasound instrumentation and software allow for increased machine health and diagnostics.
6. Airborne and structure-borne ultrasound can enhance efforts from complementary technologies, or be a standalone tool used for a multitude of applications.
7. Cost justification to implement ultrasound is easy since ultrasound can quantify both the cost and losses from compressed air/gas leaks to show a quick ROI.  

Adrian Messer
CMRP, UE Systems, Inc.
adrianm(at)uesystems.com