Always Report Changes to Endpoints
At Augury we pride ourselves on providing accurate insights into the health of your machines. Those insights are enabled by our algorithms, the experience and knowledge of our Vibration Analysts, and the experience and knowledge of our customers. All three rely on accurate inputs and the free flow of pertinent information. However, many users often overlook documenting changes to Augury Endpoints inside the machine page in the Augury platform. This can result in misinterpreted data.
Vibration Analysis is much more complicated than determining if overall levels have increased or decreased. Vibration is directional and often faults will manifest in primarily one axis. For example, when a machine is suffering from structural looseness, vibration will be highest in the direction of least stiffness. For a horizontally mounted machine, gravity provides additional stiffness in the vertical axis, so the horizontal axis is more likely to be where the vibration manifests. Whereas, on an overhung fan which is suffering from imbalance the vibration is most likely to manifest in the axial axis.
Therefore, accurate information regarding the orientation of our tri-axial endpoints is critical to the accuracy of our insights. If the orientation is ever changed and it is not logged in our platform, our algorithms and analysts are much more likely to misinterpret the change in the data as a change in machine health and/or choose the incorrect fault condition.
Similarly, vibration attenuates as it travels from its generation point to its collection point such as from the bearing to the Augury Endpoint. As the vibration travels over things like flanges or through dust and oil, the signal is reduced, making fault identification and severity assessment more difficult. Thankfully, our installation teams are trained on how to properly clean and prep surfaces, as well as the best locations to mount the endpoints. Even with differences in signal transmission from one machine to another, by collecting hourly data from the exact same locations we are able to establish what is normal for a given data set and use a qualitative approach, looking for anomalous changes.
However, if the endpoint is remounted in even a slightly different location, there may be significant changes in the data. At times, adjusting the mounting location is necessary and though not ideal, it will usually not be a problem especially if the change is recorded in the platform. Often after a motor endpoint is moved we will see that the amount of electrically-related vibration and magnetic forces change significantly. This is typically a result of the endpoint being moved to a spot along the stator where more electrically-related vibration and higher magnetic field strength is transmitted to the endpoint, not because there was a change in machine health.
In summary, machine health analysis is both an art and a science. It relies on accurate inputs and assumptions. By logging any maintenance activities related to endpoints such as battery, orientation, remounting, or location changes inside the relevant machine page, you can ensure the most accurate diagnostic results.