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Common Causes of Machine Vibration

The most common causes of machine vibration are imbalance, misalignment, wear, and looseness. Imbalance is caused by a heavy spot in a rotating component that creates centrifugal force as it rotates. Misalignment occurs when machine shafts are out of line. Wear in components like bearings and gears can cause vibration. Looseness in bearings or mounts allows existing vibration to damage equipment. Vibration can accelerate wear, waste power, and cause downtime, but when measured properly it can help technicians identify problems early through preventative maintenance.

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26 views

Common Causes of Machine Vibration

The most common causes of machine vibration are imbalance, misalignment, wear, and looseness. Imbalance is caused by a heavy spot in a rotating component that creates centrifugal force as it rotates. Misalignment occurs when machine shafts are out of line. Wear in components like bearings and gears can cause vibration. Looseness in bearings or mounts allows existing vibration to damage equipment. Vibration can accelerate wear, waste power, and cause downtime, but when measured properly it can help technicians identify problems early through preventative maintenance.

Uploaded by

jaysonquitelgonzales06
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Most common causes of machine vibration

19 Jun 2013 | Vibration


Vibration is simply a back and forth movement—or oscillation—of machines and
components in motorized equipment. Vibration in industrial equipment can be a
symptom, or cause, of a problem, or it can be associated with normal operation. For
example, oscillating sanders and vibratory tumblers rely on vibration to function.
Internal combustion engines and gear drives, on the other hand, experience a certain
amount of unavoidable vibration.
For the most part, mechanical equipment is engineered to avoid vibration rather than
produce it. This article focuses on equipment engineered to avoid vibration.
Watch "See the unseen" video

Vibration can indicate a problem and if left unchecked can cause damage or expedited
deterioration. Vibration can be caused by one or more factors at any given time, the
most common being imbalance, misalignment, wear and looseness
.

 Imbalance - A "heavy spot" in a rotating component will cause vibration when


the unbalanced weight rotates around the machine's axis, creating a centrifugal
force. Imbalance could be caused by manufacturing defects (machining errors,
casting flaws) or maintenance issues (deformed or dirty fan blades, missing
balance weights). As machine speed increases the effects of imbalance
become greater. Imbalance can severely reduce bearing life as well as cause
undue machine vibration.
 Misalignment /shaft runout - Vibration can result when machine shafts are out
of line. Angular misalignment occurs when the axes of (for example) a motor
and pump are not parallel. When the axes are parallel but not exactly aligned,
the condition is known as parallel misalignment. Misalignment can be caused
during assembly or develop over time, due to thermal expansion, components
shifting or improper reassembly after maintenance. The resulting vibration can
be radial or axial (in line with the axis of the machine) or both.
 Wear - As components such as ball or roller bearings, drive belts or gears
become worn, they might cause vibration. When a roller bearing race becomes
pitted, for instance, the bearing rollers will cause a vibration each time they
travel over the damaged area. A gear tooth that is heavily chipped or worn, or
a drive belt that is breaking down, can also produce vibration.
 Looseness - Vibration that might otherwise go unnoticed can become obvious
and destructive if the component that is vibrating has loose bearings or is
loosely attached to its mounts. Such looseness might or might not be caused
by the underlying vibration. Whatever its cause, looseness can allow any
vibration present to cause damage, such as further bearing wear, wear and
fatigue in equipment mounts and other components.

Vibration effects
Vibration can accelerate machine wear, consume excess power, and cause equipment
to be taken out of service, resulting in unplanned downtime. Other effects of vibration
include safety issues and diminished working conditions. When measured and
analyzed properly, however, vibration can play an important role in preventive
maintenance programs. It can serve as an indicator of machine condition and allow
plant maintenance professionals to act before damage or disaster strike.
Consider these variables when analyzing vibration:

 Direction, such as radial or axial


 Amplitude, severity
 Frequency, expressed in cycles per minute (CPM) or Hertz (Hz)—one Hz
equals one second, or 60 CPM

Plant maintenance technicians need to be able to differentiate between normal and


abnormal vibration. A good understanding of vibration basics and the right tool is all
a plant maintenance technician needs to quickly and reliably get to the bottom of
vibration-related issues, including finding the root cause and severity, then
determining the need for service or repair.

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