Vibration

Vibration of equipment and components is often unavoidable. Vibration of a component as a whole is usually harmless. It is when the component is not well secured and one part of the component is secured differently from another, that flexing and bending stresses within the component are produced and they lead to failures through metal fatigue. Another mechanism of failure involves relative movement and rubbing between two or more components. The amplitude of vibration increases greatly due to resonance between the natural frequency and the forcing frequency. This hastens and increases the intensity of the degradation processes.

Vibration can cause:

• High acceleration rates of wear
• Create noise and cause safety problems
• Machinery consume excessive power
• Damage equipment as soon as it can
• Bearing failures
• Bearing housing and shaft fit wear
• Looseness of mechanical parts

Understanding why vibration occurs and how it manifests itself is a key first step toward preventing vibration from causing trouble in the production environment.