Machine Condition MonitoringVibration monitoring for gearboxes, fans, motors, pumps, etc.

Condition-Based Monitoring (CBM)

Machine condition monitoring (or condition-based monitoring - CBM) is the process of monitoring conditions in critical machinery while in operation (vibration, temperature, etc.), in order to identify a significant change that is indicative of a developing fault or malfunction. It is a major component of predictive maintenance.

Dewesoft is a leading provider of high-end data acquisition systems (DAQ), DAQ software covering test and measurement applications in different industries. We also offer low-cost, high-performance, totally distributed, and easy-to-use machine condition monitoring systems for condition-based monitoring.

The solution suits applications such as permanent condition-monitoring of gearboxes, fans, motors, blowers, and any other rotating machinery in automotive, mining, pulp, paper, iron, steel, chemical, cement, oil and gas, facility management, and power generation.

This cost-effective solution enables production facility owners to start permanent monitoring of critical equipment with high ROI. Ultimately, it helps reduce production downtime, lowers maintenance and repair costs, and increases company profitability.

What Parameters Can We Measure and Observe?

• Temperature monitoring

• Vibration monitoring

• Strain monitoring

• Pressure monitoring

• Rotational speed monitoring

• Force monitoring

What Faults Can We Detect?

• Bearing faults

• Overheating

• Shaft un-balance

• Detached mounting

• Gear-tooth failure

• Load misalignment

• Stator excentricity

• Other machine catastrophic failures

Distributed Hardware

Dewesoft introduced the latest machine condition monitoring hardware:

• IOLITE-2xASI: data acquisition device with two vibration input channels (with 40 kS/s sampling speed per channel) for interfacing with two ASI-1xVIB-50g vibration probes and one digital input channel for connecting an RPM sensor (tacho).

• ASI-1xVIB-50g: a 1-axis high bandwidth (10 kHz) and low noise vibration sensor probe which also includes a temperature sensor and 3-axial low-speed accelerometer for orientation identification.

The solution is designed for applications where distributed measurements of limitless numbers of perfectly synchronized vibration and temperature measurements are of the essence and where cost plays a significant role. Fast and easy mounting of devices is facilitated by using RJ45 connectors. The solution is bringing the DAQ device very close to the sensor eliminating long analog cables and thus reducing noise pick-up and cost.

IOLITE Data Acquisition Systems

IOLITE is our family of measurement devices with single- or multi-channel general data acquisition with a wide range of input types with 24-bit resolution and 20 kS/s sampling speed. Several I/O modules are available for the measurement of voltage, current, strain gauge, vibration (IEPE and MEMS), temperature - universal thermocouple and RTD, digital I/O, and more.

Devices can be easily daisy-chained with a single Ethernet cable with up to 50m node-to-node. EtherCAT communication ensures perfect synchronization between devices.

IOLITE rack units (R8, R8R, and R12) are designed for applications where a larger amount of channels is needed at the same spot while being part of a wider EtherCAT measurement network. All rack units feature a secondary EtherCAT bus that can be used for parallel real-time data output to a 3rd party control & protection system.

KRYPTON Rugged Data Acquisition Systems

KRYPTON DAQ devices feature 3-8 measurement inputs in a rugged, waterproof, and high-temperature range package for harsh environments. Devices can be daisy-chained between each other using a single rugged cable with Lemo connectors for power, data, and synchronization.

KRYPTON devices are meant to be used in the harshest environment while fitting into the same EtherCAT chain as IOLITE devices. 

Condition Monitoring Applications

Dewesoft condition-based monitoring solution is perfect for several applications in:

• Pulp & Paper: Blowers, conveyor belts, chippers, chip classifiers, refiners, pressure screens, screw conveyors, agitators, nip monitoring, felt rollers, etc.

• Iron & Steel: Raw material handling machines, conveyor belts, ship unloaders, galvanization plants, stack reclaimers, continuous casters, cranes, rolling mills, annealing machinery, and also pumps, fans, and gearboxes, etc.

• Automotive: Wind Tunnels, Air handling units, and pumps in paint shops as well as presses and transfer presses, etc.

• Cement: Crushers, gearboxes, conveyor belts, separators, fans, raw mills, ball mills, elevators, and blowers.

• Industrial plant and facilities: Gearboxes, UPS, AC, electric motors, fans, pumps.

Condition Monitoring Software

The Dewesoft machine condition monitoring software is unique on the market. It combines PC client software with in-depth machine condition analysis features, relevant for PdM expert engineers. It also offers a high-level web-based software layer with an overview of data of the machinery state, appropriate for quick decision making, and a Historian time-series database for permanent storage of the data.

Dewesoft machine condition monitoring software user interface is translated into all major languages - English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, Italian, French, Russian, and others. 

Learn more about Dewesoft machine condition monitoring software.

Bearing and gear analysis

Envelope acceleration is a powerful technique used to demodulate high-frequency acceleration spikes into characteristic frequencies associated with bearing faults and gear mesh patterns. This allows for the detection of faults such as cracks, wear, and misalignments within rotating machinery components.

Dewesoft’s software includes a comprehensive bearing database that contains a wide range of bearing models, making it easy to analyze specific bearings. The database is fully customizable, allowing users to add new bearings as needed, ensuring flexibility for different applications.

The software automatically identifies critical frequencies in the spectrum, such as inner and outer race defects, cage pass frequencies, and gear mesh frequencies. These frequencies are highlighted for each part of the bearing or gear system, making it easier to pinpoint potential issues and ensure timely maintenance.

This advanced diagnostic capability helps improve machine reliability, reduce downtime, and extend the life of rotating components.

Continuous and Run-up / Coast-down Monitoring

The order tracking software module supports both typical analysis types:

• Continuous - constant RPM

• Run-up / coast-down - increasing/decreasing RPM during machine start and stop routines

The monitoring software automatically detects the operation mode and provides order domain data over time during continuous operation and over RPM during run-up and coast-down.

Order amplitude values over time or over RPM can be extracted in their own channels that can be used for further computation.

Acceleration, Velocity, and Displacement

Any number of the acquired channel can be integrated (acceleration to velocity) or derived (displacement to velocity). Acceleration, velocity, and displacement channels are preconfigured for machine monitoring needs.

The software offers a very simple way to display and visualize acceleration, velocity, and displacement waveform, and spectrum plots, all in real time.

Integration and derivation channels can be reconfigured in detail:

• Freely settable high-pass and low-pass filters (type, order, frequency)

• Freely settable sampling and FFT resolution for each signal - enable high-frequency resolution in the band of interest with a low number of lines

Dewesoft Historian - Database Storage

The Historian software package provides a time-series database for long-term data storage. The database can be either located locally, on the remote server or in the cloud. The solution is based on the InfluxDB time-series database open source project.  

Historian provides several useful features for your historic data:

• Raw and reduced data: while raw data is always stored in the measurement unit for an in-depth analysis, the Historian takes the role of long-term reduced data storage in the cloud database.

• Data safety and retransmit: if the connection between the measurement hardware and the database is lost, the data is safely stored locally on the measurement unit and then retransmitted to the database when the connection is available.

• Trending and Analysis: Historical data can always be recalled and loaded from the Historian database and used for trend analysis as well as for in-depth analysis and root cause identification.

Octave Band Analysis

Octave band analysis is used for condition monitoring based on a machine sound footprint over a wide frequency range. Dewesoft octave analysis solution meets all of the IEC and ANSI Class I specifications for octave filters.

Octave Band Analysis core features:

• True octave analysis

• Synthesized analysis

• Resolution up to 1/24 octave

• Frequency sound weighting

• Frequency averaging

Torsional and Rotational Vibration

Torsional vibrations are quite often a source of issues and faults on long shafts. The rotational and torsional vibration provides an in-depth analysis of torsional angle behavior between two ends of a shaft as well as into the vibration of the rotating velocity.

• Easy sensor setup; no need for the same sensor type on both ends

• Access to all data: resulting channels used in further calculation

• Advanced math: input filters, rotational DC filters

• Order tracking analysis integration

Integration Into 3rd-party Enterprise Software

SCADA, CMMS, or ERP systems can be connected to the Dewesoft Historian service over the MQTT messaging protocol or directly to the InfluxDB database using its API.

The Historian acts as an MQTT broker, enabling data stream to a 3rd party MQTT client.

InfluxDB database provides a well-documented open API that is easy to implement and enables historical data access, typically for integration into machine learning software.